Bending the Arc

This summer, the United States has witnessed families torn apart, communities full of fear, and people afraid to go to church and work because of the threats and realities of deportations on a wide scale. Catholic leaders have been on the frontlines speaking out and standing in solidarity with immigrants, united in a belief in the God-given dignity of all people, and faced with one of the most dramatic disruptions of the U.S. Church’s life in recent decades.

Pope Francis reminded the U.S. Catholic bishops in February 2025 that the “common good is promoted when society and government, with creativity and strict respect for the rights of all… welcomes, protects, promotes and integrates the most fragile, unprotected and vulnerable.” And in recent weeks, Pope Leo XIV has encouraged us to see migrants as “messengers of hope” in a world darkened by ongoing violence and war—a stark contrast to the rhetoric and fear stoked by many politicians. 

As bishops and other Catholic leaders uphold these teachings through their public witness, policymakers and the rest of us must seek the common good, find paths to unity and solidarity, and remember that a just society defends the rights and interests of its most vulnerable members. This urgent dialogue will bring together Catholic bishops, academic and policy experts, and community leaders to explore how the principles of Catholic social teaching can help us seek a better way forward.

Georgetown University’s Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life invites you to a special initiative roundtable titled, “Deportations and Assaults on Human Dignity: Catholic Principles, Human Costs, Pastoral Challenges” on Thursday, September 11 at 5 pm CT.

This will be livestreamed and recorded for later viewing.

RSVP here: https://catholicsocialthought.georgetown.edu/events/deportations-and-assaults-on-human-dignity#rsvp 

Note: Above photo credit to U.S.Catholic.org from the article, “The church must risk all to support migrants, says Bishop Seitz.”