Event: Catholics

A nation that cannot control its borders is not a nation. That statement should not be controversial for Catholics. It is not a partisan slogan; it is a basic moral premise of political community. And yet, for years, many faithful Catholics have been left with the impression that the Church’s teaching on immigration begins and ends with a single imperative: “Welcome the stranger,” full stop. Now, as the temperature drops in places like Minneapolis and the national conversation becomes less apocalyptic and more concrete, there is a window for real catechesis. This is precisely when our bishops should step forward and offer what the country badly needs: a better understanding of Catholic Social Teaching on immigration, with its full architecture intact. Catholic teaching does affirm that people often have powerful reasons to leave their homeland—violence, corruption, persecution, economic collapse, family obligation. The Church has always insisted on the dignity of the person, including the migrant. But Catholic teaching also insists on something else that is routinely minimized in ecclesial messaging: Political authorities have the right and duty to regulate migration for the sake of the common good. That is not a loophole; it is part of the moral structure of social life. The state is not an enemy of charity. It is a real moral actor charged with order, justice, peace, and the protection of its people, including the protection of the vulnerable from exploitation by criminals who thrive on chaos. When bishops speak as if the only settled teaching is the migrant’s right to leave and the Christian’s duty to assist, while treating enforcement as morally suspect by default, confusion is guaranteed. It leaves many Catholics thinking they must choose between fidelity to the Church and the basic belief that laws matter. That is a catechetical failure. The bishops…