Highlights of the US Bishops Social Teaching on Migration

The Benedictine Sisters of Atchison, Kansas, steeped in Catholic social theory and teaching, strongly support the statement of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) on migration. (Catholic Social Teaching in Immigration and the Movement of Peoples, 2025).  

Below are the document’s highlights.

First principle: people have the right to migrate to sustain their lives and the lives of their families.

• “This principle is based on biblical and ancient Christian teaching that the goods of the earth belong to all people. Individuals do not have the right to use private property without regard for the common good.”

Second principle: a country has a right to regulate its borders and to control immigration.

• “The overriding principle of all social teaching is that individuals must make economic, political and social decisions, not out of shortsighted, self-interest, but with regard for the common good. That means that a moral person cannot consider only what is good for his or her own self and family but must act with the good of all people as his or her guiding principle.”

Third principle: a country must regulate its borders with justice and mercy.

• “A nation may not simply decide that it wants to provide for its own people and no others. A sincere commitment to the needs of all must prevail…
• “Current immigration policy that criminalizes the mere attempt to immigrate and imprison immigrants who have committed no crime or who have already served a jail sentence for a crime is immoral…Before God, we cannot excuse inhumane treatment of certain persons by claiming that their lack of legal status deprives them of rights given to them by the Creator…
• “It is the position of the Catholic Church that pastoral, educational, medical, and social services provided by the church are never conditioned on legal status.”

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