To the editor:
With the passing of Pope Francis, we thought it only appropriate his recent letter to the Bishops of the United States be shared. His message that every person, especially the poorest and most marginalized, deserves to be treated with dignity is especially relevant today.
— Bob and Mary Vanasek, New Prague
From the Vatican, Feb. 10, 2025
Dear Brothers,
I am writing today to address a few words to you in these delicate moments that you are living as pastors of the People of God.
The journey from slavery to freedom that the People of Israel traveled invites us to look at the reality of our time, marked by the phenomenon of migration.
These words with which I begin are not an artificial construct. Even a cursory examination of the church’s social doctrine emphatically shows that Jesus Christ did not live apart from the difficult experience of being expelled from his own land because of an imminent risk to his life, and from the experience of having to take refuge in a society and a culture foreign to his own. The Son of God, in becoming man, also chose to live the drama of immigration.
The family of Nazareth in exile, Jesus, Mary and Joseph, emigrants in Egypt and refugees there to escape the wrath of an ungodly king, are the model, the example and the consolation of emigrants and pilgrims of every age and country, of all refugees of every condition who, beset by persecution or necessity, are forced to leave their homeland, beloved family and dear friends for foreign lands.
Jesus Christ educates us in the permanent recognition of the dignity of every human being, without exception.
I have followed closely the major crisis that is taking place in the United States with the initiation of a program of mass deportations. The rightly formed conscience cannot fail to make a critical judgment and express its disagreement with any measure that tacitly or explicitly identifies the illegal status of some migrants with criminality. At the same time, one must recognize 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. That said, the act of deporting people who in many cases have left their own land for reasons of extreme poverty, insecurity, exploitation, or persecution, damages the dignity of many men and women, and of entire families, and places them in a state of particular vulnerability and defenselessness.
This is not a minor issue: an authentic rule of law is verified precisely in the dignified treatment that all people deserve, especially the poorest and most marginalized. The true common good is promoted when society and government, with strict respect for the rights of all welcomes, protects, promotes and integrates the most fragile, unprotected and vulnerable. This does not impede the development of a policy that regulates orderly and legal migration. What is built on the basis of force, and not on the truth about the equal dignity of every human being, begins badly and will end badly.
I exhort all men and women of good will, not to give in to narratives that discriminate against and cause unnecessary suffering to our migrant and refugee brothers and sisters.
Fraternally,
Francis
This letter has been edited for length. To view it inits entirety, visit: https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/letters/2025/documents/2025…