source: Dr. Gina Pérez, Welcoming the Stranger Committee, Catholic Diocese of Cleveland
On July 25, 2025, Pope Leo XIV shared a message for 111th World Day of Migrants and Refugees (October 4-5, 2025) titled Migrants, missionaries of hope that affirmed his understanding of the distinctive and holy place migrants have in our world, a vision he shared with Pope Francis. Pope Leo wrote the following:
“In a world darkened by war and injustice, even when all seems lost, migrants and refugees stand as messengers of hope. Their courage and tenacity bear heroic testimony to a faith that sees beyond what our eyes can see and gives them the strength to defy death on the various contemporary migration routes…Migrants and refugees remind the Church of her pilgrim dimension, perpetually journeying towards her final homeland, sustained by a hope that is a theological virtue… At the same time, the communities that welcome them can also be a living witness to hope, one that is understood as the promise of a present and a future where the dignity of all as children of God is recognized. In this way, migrants and refugees are recognized as brothers and sisters, part of a family in which they can express their talents and participate fully in community life.
On this Jubilee, when the Church prays for all migrants and refugees, I wish to entrust all those who are on the journey, as well as those who are working to accompany them, to the maternal protection of the Virgin Mary, comfort of migrants, so that she may keep hope alive in their hearts and sustain them in their commitment to building a world that increasingly resembles the Kingdom of God, the true homeland that awaits us at the end of our journey” (emphasis mine, 25 July 2025, Feast of Saint James, Apostle).
This framing of migrants and refugees as “messengers of hope” is a powerful challenge to the stigmatizing narratives that characterize migrants and global migration in our world today. Pope Leo’s words for those who welcome, accompany and recognize migrants “as brothers and sisters” and who “can also be a living witness to hope” are also a reminder of what we are called to do as Catholics: To welcome the stranger; love our neighbor as ourselves; and to be hope and light to others.
Catholic social teaching is clear about the ways we are called to treat migrants, newcomers, and the most vulnerable in society. These teachings become even more urgent in a moment when the “rule of law” and doing things “the right way” are used to justify the dehumanization and harsh punishment of migrants. In a letter to the Bishops of the United States on February 10, 2025 Pope Francis expressed concern about the treatment of migrants in the United States with the following:
“An authentic rule of law is verified precisely in the dignified treatment that all people deserve, especially the poorest and the most marginalized. The true common good is promoted when society and government, with creativity and strict respect for the rights of all…welcomes, protects, promotes and integrates the most fragile, unprotected, and vulnerable. This does not impede the development of a policy that regulates orderly and legal migration. However, this development cannot come about through the privilege of some and the sacrifice of others. What is built on the basis of force, and not on the truth about the equal dignity of every human being, begins badly and will end badly.” (Letter from the Holy Father Francis to the Bishops of the United States of America, February 10, 2025.)
Welcoming, protecting, promoting and integrating the most fragile, unprotected and vulnerable is precisely what so many in our Diocese do every day, including young people who live their Catholic faith through their pursuit of social justice. These essays by two young women, one a graduate of Magnificat High School (Madeline Nock, 2023) and the other a senior at Magnificat (Lucia Pineda, 2026), reflect this commitment and the ways their formation through campus ministry at Magnificat, their involvement with ecumenical organizations like the InterReligious Faith Task Force on Central America, and participating in prayer vigils, acts of accompaniment, and collaboration across faith and secular communities have prepared them to do this important work. As Madeline Nock writes, immigration advocacy not only inspired her to offer direct support as well as change unjust systems that harm the most vulnerable, but it also instilled “a new sense of pride in my Catholic roots and ethics.” Being willing to stand for justice and what is right, even when so many around you tell you are wrong, is at the heart of Jesus’s teaching and his willingness to be, as Lucia Pineda writes, a contrarian: “[Jesus] was a contrarian guided by love to sit with the sinful, the outcast, to wash the feet of those that wronged him. He shows us that we can resist systems that cast people out on the margins by practicing empathy and recognizing their humanity.”
These essays are a reminder of the value of Catholic social teaching that invites us to see the dignity in all people, have the courage to accompany the vulnerable and change unjust systems, and not be afraid to be contrarians guided by love to make the world a better place.
Dr. Gina Pérez is a cultural anthropologist and was one of the first faculty hired in the Comparative American Studies (CAS) Program at Oberlin College in 2003. Like other CAS faculty, Pérez teaches at all levels of the curriculum and seeks to connect her research and teaching by developing new courses that reflect new intellectual interests in the field of American studies, Latina/o/x studies, and her own research. Her new project focuses on sanctuary movements and multiethnic faith-based organizing among Latina/o communities in Ohio. In her 2024 book Sanctuary People: Faith-Based Organizing in Latina/o Communities, Dr. Pérez presents a practical political strategy to cultivate safety, trust and belonging in all communities. It includes both physical sanctuary, where sacred space becomes a place of refuge, and a broader commitment to accompaniment and public advocacy.
