Immigration: our response must be one of respect and hospitality

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, 

On October 4, 2020, Pope Francis published his encyclical Fratelli Tutti (On Fraternity and Social Friendship). Today, I would like to offer some brief reflections on the fourth chapter of Fratelli Tutti, “A Heart Open to the Whole World.”

The Holy Father begins this chapter by calling our attention to the need for practical solutions to the problems that divide us as nations and peoples. “If the conviction that all human beings are brothers and sisters is not to remain an abstract idea but to find concrete embodiment,” the pope writes, “then numerous related issues emerge, forcing us to see things in a new light and to develop new responses.

These “numerous related issues” all relate in some way to the “innate tension” that exists between issues of worldwide concern (globalization) and matters that are much closer to home (localization). Immigration is a key issue, of course, because it touches many of the challenges faced by local communities and the world at large today.

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