We Cannot Turn a Blind Eye to Injustice, Says Bishop Cahill
WASHINGTON - This week, the Trump Administration ultimately prevailed in a court challenge to its decision to end temporary protected status (TPS) for Haiti and Syria. Bishop Brendan J. Cahill, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on Migration, issued the following statement in response: “Revoking the legal status of hundreds of thousands of people residing in our country creates a moral crisis when returning to their country of origin is not a safe or reasonable option. If we are truly to affirm the God-given dignity of every human person, we as a nation cannot turn a blind eye to such an injustice and the impossible choices it will create for families and communities. “Even if the Administration determines TPS is no longer warranted, deferred enforced departure remains a tool available to the President, and we urge him to exercise right judgement in this way. Forcibly sending families to dire conditions is a legacy all leaders should seek to avoid. To that end, my brother bishops and I also continue to call upon Congress to act—to meet this moment with the moral fortitude that is so desperately needed.” The USCCB’s Committee on Migration has encouraged recent bipartisan efforts in Congress to pass legislation that would require the Secretary of Homeland Security to extend Haiti’s TPS designation. In January, Bishop Cahill was also joined by his fellow chairman in calling on the Administration to extend TPS for Haitians. ###
3 months ago
Bishop Cahill has declared that society must not ignore acts of injustice, urging a proactive response to wrongdoing.
The bishop’s remarks stress the moral imperative to confront and address injustice wherever it appears.
His call to action suggests that religious leaders are encouraging their congregations and the broader public to remain vigilant and engaged in the fight against inequity.
Does the Church mandate clergy to confront social injustice?
Yes—the Church requires clergy (pastors) to confront social injustice, but it distinguishes their proper role from the direct political/legislative work that belongs primarily to lay people.
The Catechism teaches that when the social climate is perverted by sin, it is necessary to call for conversion of hearts and to seek remedies consistent with the Gospel:
“Charity urges just reforms. There is no solution to the social question apart from the Gospel.”
It also states that sinful social realities—like excessive economic and social disparity—are “in open contradiction of the Gospel.”
So the clergy’s obligation includes proclaiming the Gospel’s moral demands and formally evaluating unjust conditions in light of divine law and human dignity.
The Church also teaches that it is part of her mission to make moral judgments even in political matters when necessary:
“It is a part of the Church’s mission ‘to pass moral judgments even in matters related to politics, whenever the fundamental rights of man or the salvation of souls requires it.’”
That explicitly supports the idea that clergy do not remain silent in the face of injustice.
Pope John Paul II makes the pastoral duty very concrete for bishops (and thus for clergy who are Church pastors):
So clergy are mandated to denounce injustice and form conscience, especially for the poor and victims of injustice.
The Catechism draws a crucial boundary:
“It is not the role of the Pastors of the Church to intervene directly in the political structuring and organization of social life.”
Instead, social action in the concrete political sense is the vocation of lay faithful working with their fellow citizens:
“This task is part of the vocation of the lay faithful…”
So, clergy confront injustice primarily through preaching, moral teaching, denunciation, and conscience formation—not by directly running political campaigns or designing state structures.
The Church’s social doctrine has both proclamation and denunciation: it “offers… criteria of judgment,” and it also has “a duty to denounce” sin present in society, especially injustice against the poor and weak.
And the Church’s mission in this area is described as integral to evangelization and the call to justice and solidarity.
So the answer is yes, in a real sense: clergy are mandated to confront social injustice through moral judgment, preaching, denunciation, and guiding the laity—because charity requires just reforms and the Church must speak for human dignity.
But the Church also clarifies that pastors are not to take the role of directly structuring political life, which is primarily the lay vocation.