Why the Bishops’ Statement on Immigration is Not Important

Let’s look at the bishops’ statement on US immigration policy from a completely different angle.

Forget the arguments for and against unrestricted immigration, for and against the Trump administration’s crackdown. Instead ask this question: Why are the bishops making any statement at all?

We can all agree, regardless of our political perspectives, that the immigration problem in the US today is severe. We may disagree about the causes of that problem and about the appropriate remedies. Those are political issues, best resolved in political debates—which are not the bishops’ primary concern.

Our bishops, as spiritual leaders, have the duty to remind us of the moral principles involved in the political debate. In this case, the Catechism of the Catholic Church lays out those principles with admirable balance and clarity:

[2241] 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. Public authorities should see to it that the natural right is respected that places a guest under the protection of those who receive him. 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, especially with regard to the immigrants’ duties toward their country of adoption. Immigrants 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.

How should those principles be applied to the current crisis in the US? The US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has offered one interpretation. Do all Catholics agree with their judgment? Obviously not—as anyone knows who has followed the recent debates. CatholicVote has done a service by providing a very different reading of the situation, explicitly based on the principles set for in the Catechism.

Are faithful Catholic obligated to accept the bishops’ leadership on this issue? No, because a bishop’s authority does not extend to political matters. Unless the bishops can show that only their approach satisfies the moral principles cited in the Catechism, alternative suggestions are not only permissible but undoubtedly desirable.

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