Archbishop recalls his uncle standing up for and dying for faith
Archbishop Gustavo García‑Siller issued a pastoral letter titled "We Will Come to You: United in Solidarity with Our Brothers and Sisters in Migration" on the 100th anniversary of San Antonio's elevation to a metropolitan archdiocese. The letter calls for greater discernment and pastoral action to welcome and accompany immigrants, referencing Pope Leo XIV’s exhortation "Dilexi te" and addressing fears of deportation, detention, and family separation in the archdiocese. Archbishop García‑Siller highlights recent U.S. immigration policy changes, such as the removal of sanctuary status for churches, schools, and hospitals, the use of an 18th‑century wartime statute to deport people without due process, and increased federal spending on detention camps. He shares his own background as a Mexican‑born priest who grew up during the Cristero War, drawing parallels between historical persecution and the current plight of migrants.
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Archbishop Gustavo García‑Siller of San Antonio issued a pastoral letter titled We Will Come to You: United in Solidarity with Our Brothers and Sisters in Migration, marking the archdiocese’s centennial and calling Catholics to accompany and defend the dignity of migrants amid rising enforcement measures and fear in the community. 1
The letter opens with a quotation from Pope Leo XIV’s apostolic exhortation Dilexi te, emphasizing the Church’s role as a mother who builds bridges for the rejected. 1
Archbishop García‑Siller notes recent policy shifts, including the loss of sanctuary protections for churches, schools, and hospitals, the revival of an 18th‑century wartime statute to deport individuals without due process, and increased federal funding for detention facilities. 1
Born in Mexico, García‑Siller grew up hearing stories of the Cristero War, a century‑old conflict in which the Mexican government attempted to outlaw religion. His uncle was arrested and executed for his faith, a memory that shapes the archbishop’s empathy for today’s migrants. 1
He recounts his own migration to the United States at age 23, describing it as “a small taste of fear” compared with the hardships faced by contemporary migrants, and affirms his commitment to walk with them on their journey. 1
The letter outlines four pillars for the archdiocese’s response:
Parishes, Catholic schools, and campus ministries will be provided with reflection guides and liturgical resources, especially for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees in September. 1
The full letter, available in English and Spanish, includes prayers and a video reflection from the archbishop. It concludes by entrusting migrants and their supporters to Our Lady of Guadalupe, invoking her protection for families living in fear. 1*
Explore Catholic teaching on migration and sanctity of life
Catholic teaching connects migration and the sanctity of life through one foundational conviction: every human person is created by God, bears inviolable dignity, and must be protected—whether unborn, elderly, disabled, poor, displaced, or seeking refuge. The Church therefore rejects both the direct destruction of innocent life and the treatment of migrants as disposable problems. At the same time, Catholic teaching recognizes the responsibilities of governments to protect the common good and regulate migration justly.
Human life is sacred because it comes from God and remains permanently related to its Creator. The Catechism teaches that every human life, “from the moment of conception until death,” is sacred because the person is willed by God and created in his image and likeness.
This dignity is not earned through citizenship, productivity, health, intelligence, legal status, or social usefulness. It belongs to the person simply because he or she is human. The Compendium of the Catechism explains that human life involves God’s creative action from its beginning and remains directed toward him; consequently, directly destroying an innocent human being is gravely contrary both to human dignity and to the holiness of the Creator.
Pope John Paul II identifies this as a central moral truth:
“Human life is sacred because from its beginning it involves the creative action of God, and it remains forever in a special relationship with the Creator, who is its sole end.”
The same principle applies to the migrant. A person does not lose dignity by crossing a border, lacking documents, fleeing persecution, or being economically poor. Catholic ministries are to serve migrants because they possess the inalienable rights and dignity of every human person, not merely because they are objects of charity.
Catholic teaching on the sanctity of life is broader than opposition to one particular form of violence. It is a consistent defense of human life at every stage and in every condition.
The Church teaches that the direct and voluntary killing of an innocent human being is always gravely immoral. Evangelium Vitae describes the absolute inviolability of innocent human life as a truth grounded in Scripture, Tradition, and the Church’s Magisterium.
The Church therefore condemns direct attacks such as:
The USCCB summarizes this principle by stating that direct attacks on innocent persons are never morally acceptable “at any stage or in any condition,” while identifying abortion, euthanasia, assisted suicide, human cloning, in vitro fertilization, and embryo destruction as serious threats requiring moral evaluation.
This teaching also includes the unborn child. Pope John Paul II states that human life is sacred from conception through every subsequent stage because it is created in God’s image. Deliberately destroying life in the womb violates the sacredness of the developing human being and damages the moral order that protects all human goods.
The sanctity-of-life tradition also requires protection of those exposed to neglect, exploitation, violence, or abandonment. The Church specifically identifies the elderly, dying, women, children, persons with disabilities, and the unborn as requiring defense against violence.
Migrants and refugees frequently belong to this category of vulnerability. They may face trafficking, detention, family separation, exploitation, dangerous journeys, homelessness, discrimination, or violence. Catholic social concern therefore cannot stop at affirming an abstract right to life; it must protect people from the conditions that place their lives and dignity in danger.
Evangelium Vitae expresses this positive obligation clearly:
“Not only must human life not be taken, but it must be protected with loving concern.”
The Christian understanding of migration begins in the life of Christ himself. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph fled into Egypt because of the threat posed by Herod. Pope Francis recalled that the Son of God chose to experience the drama of immigration and identified the Holy Family in exile as a model and consolation for refugees and migrants compelled to leave their homeland through persecution or necessity.
This does not mean that every modern migration policy can be reduced to the biblical flight into Egypt. It does mean that Christians must resist contempt toward people whose circumstances resemble those of the Holy Family: people driven from their homes by violence, persecution, or conditions incompatible with human dignity.
The USCCB similarly describes the émigré Holy Family as an archetype of every refugee family and recalls Christ’s teaching that welcoming the stranger means encountering Christ himself.
The Catechism teaches:
“The more prosperous nations are obliged, to the extent they are able, to welcome the foreigner in search of the security and the means of livelihood which he cannot find in his country of origin.”
This is a real moral obligation, but it is expressed with important qualifications. The duty is exercised according to a nation’s ability and concern for the common good. Governments may establish juridical conditions for immigration, including conditions related to immigrants’ responsibilities toward the receiving country. Migrants, for their part, must respect the laws, culture, material and spiritual heritage, and civic duties of the nation that receives them.
Thus, Catholic teaching rejects two opposite errors:
The correct framework is justice ordered toward the common good, together with respect for the fundamental dignity and needs of migrants.
Christian hospitality is more than private kindness. It involves practical action: safe reception, pastoral care, family support, legal assistance, shelter, education, employment opportunities, and protection from exploitation. Catholic communities are encouraged to offer migrants “hospitality, not hostility” and to provide appropriate pastoral and social services.
The Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development emphasizes that assistance to migrants should not be viewed merely as optional generosity. When it responds to their human dignity and rights, it is also an act of justice. The Church is called to see Christ in migrants and to defend the dignity of every migrant, displaced person, and refugee.
Integration must also involve encounter in both directions. Catholic communities may be unprepared for new arrivals, while migrants may struggle to form relationships with local people. The Church therefore seeks to build bridges, create opportunities for dialogue, and ensure that vulnerable voices are heard.
Pope Francis warns against separating concern for migrants from other life issues. Some Catholics regard migration as a secondary matter compared with bioethical questions, but he argues that this is incompatible with the Gospel’s command to welcome the stranger. Christians are called to stand in the place of those who risk their lives to secure a future for their children.
This does not mean that all moral issues are identical. Abortion, euthanasia, unjust killing, poverty, war, trafficking, and forced migration involve different moral objects and require different forms of analysis. The Church’s condemnation of directly killing an innocent person has a particularly strict character. Yet the distinction between kinds of moral evil must not become an excuse for indifference toward other forms of suffering.
The deeper unity is the person:
All are human beings whose dignity must be recognized and protected.
Catholic teaching does not deny the authority of states. Public authorities have responsibility for national security, social order, economic stability, and the common good. The Catechism explicitly allows governments to regulate immigration through legal conditions.
However, regulation must not become a justification for contempt, unnecessary cruelty, or the denial of basic human rights. The Church’s earlier teaching on refugees warns that restrictive policies can become inconsistent with respect for the human person, especially when legal categories are applied arbitrarily or when the causes of displacement are ignored.
Accordingly, public policy should seek to:
Pope Francis’s 2025 exhortation captures the required moral attitude: Christians should reject narratives that discriminate against migrants and refugees, practice solidarity and fraternity, and build bridges rather than contemptuous barriers.
A Catholic response should unite truth, prudence, charity, and justice.
Catholics should avoid dehumanizing language, stereotypes, and assumptions that equate migration with criminality or social undesirability. The Church’s pastoral guidance calls for accurate terminology, sound evidence, positive public discourse, empathy, and solidarity.
Parishes can embody the Gospel by:
These actions reflect the Church’s conviction that migrants are not merely a burden or a “problem,” but persons and families who can enrich society and the Church.
Catholics should evaluate policies according to whether they protect human dignity, promote the common good, and respect legitimate authority. A Catholic may support regulated borders and lawful immigration procedures while also insisting that migrants and refugees be treated humanely. Conversely, a Catholic may advocate greater welcome while recognizing that public authorities must govern responsibly.
The Church does not prescribe one complete immigration policy for every country. It provides moral principles by which policies should be judged: the dignity of the person, solidarity, the common good, the protection of the family, the preferential concern for the vulnerable, and the responsibilities of both migrants and states.
Catholic teaching on migration and the sanctity of life is unified by the Gospel of human dignity. Life is sacred from conception until natural death, and every person must be protected from direct violence and treated with loving concern. Migrants and refugees are not exceptions to this principle; their displacement often makes their dignity and vulnerability especially visible.
The Church therefore calls for a culture that protects unborn children, cares for the sick and elderly, opposes euthanasia and abortion, resists violence and exploitation, welcomes the stranger, and seeks just structures for migration. Respect for life is incomplete when it excludes the migrant, and hospitality is incomplete when it fails to defend life in all its stages.