Sept. 21, 2023
Archdiocese of Baltimore Statement on National Migration Week
While life in Maryland can feel far removed from the struggle migrants and refugees encounter throughout this world, their tragedies and triumphs are very real, and their needs are relevant to those of us in the Archdiocese of Baltimore.
National Migration Week – created by the Holy See a century ago and observed this year by Catholics across the globe from Sept. 18 to 24 – presents the opportunity to reflect on the challenges and contributions of our brothers and sisters who find themselves as migrants or refugees. This year’s theme, selected by Our Holy Father, Pope Francis, is “Free to choose whether to migrate or to stay.”
In his Message for the 109th World Day of Migrants and Refugees Pope Francis emphasizes the natural right families should feel not to emigrate from their homeland. In his letter the Holy Father invokes his predecessor Pope St. John Paul II who once stated, “as regards migrants and refugees, building conditions of peace means in practice being seriously committed to safeguarding first of all the right not to emigrate, that is, the right to live in peace and dignity in one’s own country.”
These children, women, and men often look to find refuge from forced displacement due to conflict, natural disasters, persecution, and economic deprivation. These harsh realities lead many to leave their native lands in search of peace and security. As a Church we not only strive to attend to those in need but also seek to build a more just social order that addresses the reasons why people feel the need to migrate in the first place. We do this with an eye toward working for a world where people need not leave their homeland to live in peace.
As Catholics, our social teaching calls us to live in solidarity with those on the margins and to see each person as possessing fundamental dignity which allows them to be not merely the passive recipients of charity but also true protagonists in the work of building a better world.
This week I would ask Catholics throughout the Archdiocese to join with all people of good will in considering ways to support migrants and refugees through prayer as well as acts of service and charity. May this National Migration Week prompt us to renew our commitment to create together the conditions at home and abroad which allow our sisters and brothers to flourish whether they have chosen to migrate or to stay.
Most Reverend William E. Lori
Archbishop of Baltimore
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For more resources, visit https://justiceforimmigrants.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/NMW-Toolkit.pdf
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To read this media release in Spanish, visit https://www.archbalt.org/declaracion-sobre-la-semana-nacional-de-la-migracion/
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Media Contact
Christian Kendzierski
ck@archbalt.org
410-547-5378 (office)