By Kate Scanlon
OSV News
WASHINGTON — The president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Feb. 11 thanked Pope Francis for his support for the U.S. bishops’ work with migrants and refugees amid the current “struggle” on immigration policies in the U.S.
“I ask for your continued prayers so that we may find the courage as a nation to build a more humane system of immigration, one that protects our communities while safeguarding the dignity of all,” wrote Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, who heads the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services.
Archbishop Broglio added, “As we struggle to continue our care for the needy in our midst and the desire to improve the situation in those places from which immigrants come to our shores, we are ever mindful that in them we see the Face of Christ.”
Earlier the same day, Pope Francis released a letter to the U.S. bishops, Catholics and all people of goodwill urging them not to give in to “narratives” that discriminate against and cause unnecessary suffering to migrants and refugees.
While acknowledging “the right of a nation to defend itself and keep communities safe from those who have committed violent or serious crimes while in the country or prior to arrival,” Pope Francis cautioned “deporting people who in many cases have left their own land for reasons of extreme poverty, insecurity, exploitation, persecution or serious deterioration of the environment, damages the dignity of many men and women, and of entire families, and places them in a state of particular vulnerability and defenselessness.”
Cutline for featured image: The sculpture “Angels Unawares” is seen at The Catholic University of America in Washington April 22, 2022. The life-size sculpture, which depicts a group of migrants and refugees crowded on a boat, is a replica of the original one Pope Francis unveiled in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican during the 2019 World Day of Migrants and Refugees. (OSV News/CNS file, Andrew Biraj, Catholic Standard)
