SAN DIEGO — Each year on the last week of September, the Catholic Church expresses solidarity with immigrants and refugees through prayer, accompaniment and advocacy.
This year, however, the Church will observe the World Day of Migrants and Refugees on the weekend of Oct. 4 and 5 to coincide with the Jubilee of Migrants. This jubilee celebrates immigrants as integral members of the Christian family and recognizes their role in the Church’s mission of evangelization.
In the Diocese of San Diego, Bishop Michael Pham asked pastors to address the issue of immigration in their homilies during that weekend’s Masses. And he asked them to promote two diocesan initiatives to assist undocumented immigrants and their families affected by unprecedented federal enforcement actions.
The Matthew 25 Campaign, led by Catholic Charities, will help to raise funds to help vulnerable immigrant families to meet their basic needs in the immediate aftermath of a detention or deportation. (See story above.)
The initiative known as FAITH (Faithful Accompaniment in Trust & Hope) trains clergy, religious women and lay men and women to accompany individuals going through their immigration court process and facing possible deportation. It’s a collaboration with the San Diego Organizing Project.
In July, Pope Leo XIV issued a message for the celebration of the World Day of Migrants and Refugees in October.
“Their courage and tenacity bear heroic testimony to a faith that sees beyond what our eyes can see and gives them the strength to defy death on the various contemporary migration routes,” the pope wrote.
Migrants and refugees remind the Catholic Church that she, too, is on a journey, and true citizenship is in heaven, he wrote.
“Many migrants, refugees and displaced persons are privileged witnesses of hope,” he continued. “Indeed, they demonstrate this daily through their resilience and trust in God, as they face adversity while seeking a future in which they glimpse that integral human development and happiness are possible.”
“In a world darkened by war and injustice, even when all seems lost, migrants and refugees stand as messengers of hope.”
More information is available at sdcatholic.org/immigration.
