What do the Church and its great minds, such as St. Thomas Aquinas, teach on the political issue of immigration?
The Catechism of the Catholic Church provides a nuanced perspective on immigration, balancing the duty to welcome the stranger with the responsibility of governments to protect their citizens and promote the common good. Contrary to the perception that Catholic teaching demands an open-border policy, the Catechism outlines important qualifications for managing immigration.
Paragraph 2241 of the Catechism emphasizes that “the more prosperous nations are obliged, to the extent they are able, to welcome the foreigner in search of the security and the means of livelihood which he cannot find in his country of origin.” However, this welcome is not without limits. Nations are not required to accept an unlimited number of immigrants, especially if doing so imposes undue burdens on their citizens. The text underscores that public authorities must ensure that natural rights are respected while balancing their responsibility to protect their own populations and the common good of the country.
Decisions regarding immigration policy fall properly to those who hold political authority, to whom the power to govern belongs by office, not to those in the Church’s hierarchy, who do not hold the office of governing a nation. The Catechism underscores the rightful authority of those in political power to regulate immigration, stating, “Political authorities, for the sake of the common good for which they are responsible, may make the exercise of the right to immigrate subject to various juridical conditions.”
Finally, the Catechism places reciprocal obligations on immigrants, stating that they are obliged to “respect with gratitude the material and spiritual heritage of the country that receives them, to obey its laws and to assist in carrying civic burdens.” Thus, immigration is not a unilateral or unconditional right but requires respect and obedience to the laws of the nation in question and an integration into that nation that is ordered toward the common good.
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