804-225-8565 office@vacatholic.org
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • Contact Us
  • View site in English / Spanish
Virginia Catholic Conference
  • Issues
    • Family and Education
    • Life
    • Religious Freedom
    • Social Justice
  • Take Action
    • Action Center
    • Advocacy Tools
    • Legislative Agendas & Outcomes
  • News & Events
    • Updates
    • From the Tiber to the James
    • Virginia Pro-Life Day
  • Resources
    • Catholic Resources
    • Post-Roe Resources
    • End of Life Resources
    • Government Resources
  • About Us
    • Overview
    • Because We Are Catholic
    • Staff
    • Management Committee
    • Contact Us
  • Join us!
Select Page

Sharing the Journey with Refugees

by admin | Jul 6, 2018 | Catholic social teaching, Church teaching, From the Tiber to the James, Immigration, Living the faith, mercy, News, Respect for life

People often wonder why the Catholic Church cares so much about refugees. There are several compelling answers.

  • First, as people forced from their homelands by persecution, refugees (and migrants generally) are among the populations the Bible and Catholic social teaching most often command us to care for.
  • Second, American Catholic institutions have gladly taken on the responsibility of resettling about one million refugees since 1980, about one-third of all refugees who have come to the United States during that period. Our Church has walked with these brothers and sisters and come to know their stories. Their lives have become intertwined with the very life of the Church. And we serve them not because they are Catholic (most of them are not), but because we are Catholic.
  • Third, the world currently faces the largest-scale refugee crisis in recorded history, with 5 million refugees and asylum-seekers forcibly displaced from their home countries. During the unfolding of this crisis, meanwhile, United States commitment to refugee resettlement has been dramatically cut. The United States is closing its doors on those in most need, precisely at the moment they need it.

I was reminded of this when I attended an event organized by the U.S. Catholic bishops’ Share the Journey initiative at Georgetown Law School last month, where both the urgent need for humanitarian assistance and the remarkable contributions of refugees to their adopted countries were on full display. A refugee microenterprise named Foodhini provided catered lunch inspired by recipes from around the world and was, well, out of this world.

I heard Aya Alkhdair recount her story of coming to the United States in 2015. She’s an impressive former refugee from Sudan who now works for Catholic Charities Maine and is applying to medical school. Her experience is typical of young refugees, so motivated to make the very most of a new life in America.

Whenever our government sets future refugee resettlement policy, it would do well to bear in mind the many benefits that people like Ms. Alkhdair bring to American society every day.

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • X

Like this:

Like Loading...

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 272 other subscribers

Archives

Categories

  • Catholic social teaching
  • Christmas
  • Church teaching
  • criminal justice
  • Death Penalty
  • Economic justice
  • Education
  • Environment
  • Faithful citizenship
  • From the Tiber to the James
  • Gender
  • health care
  • Human Sexuality
  • Immigration
  • Living the faith
  • Marriage and family
  • mercy
  • News
  • Norfolk
  • Religious liberty
  • Respect for life
  • Tidewater
  • Uncategorized

Tags

abortion Addiction bipartisan border crisis capitalism Catholic social teaching children climate change Coastal Resilience Research death penalty disabilities drug abuse economy education elections encyclical environment faithful citizenship family free trade gridlock health care human dignity immigration LaudatoSi' legalization life local democracy marijuana marriage Medicaid migrants Pope Francis poverty pro-life refugees religious liberty same sex marriage scholarships school choice social justice tariffs Virginia Virginia General Assembly voting

Latest Tweets

Contact Us

Virginia Catholic Conference
919 East Main St., Suite 1140
(Truist Place)
Richmond, VA 23219
phone: 804-225-8565
fax: 804-225-0166

office@vacatholic.org

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
Take Action on Current Alerts      © The Virginia Catholic Conference
%d