Catholic thought on immigration ‘needs to be formed by the gospel of Jesus’

According to the late Pope John Paul II, the phenomenon of immigration is worldwide, and there is a great division between north and south of the globe, Father John Fahey, CSsR, told a diocesan assembly of the Diocese of Dodge City Feb. 25 in Spearville.

"There is a great movement of people from the south to the north, and people in the north have an obligation to share with those of the south, the pope said, or we would be condemned at the end of ages," Father Fahey told priests and parishioners gathered from several towns.

To talk about immigration is to talk about the poor, the outcast and the hungry, added Father Fahey, a Redemptorist priest from Liberal and director of the Office of Hispanic Ministries for the diocese.

"Any thinking we have on immigration as Catholics needs to be formed on the gospel of Jesus Christ," he explained. "Catholics allow themselves to be formed by other things that are not formed on the gospel of Jesus. But what else would we base our thinking on than Jesus?"

The reality, he said, is that in the United States and in southwest Kansas, immigrants are outcasts.

"They are poor," Father Fahey said. "Thousands are apprehended on the border, and thousands have died. My own family came from Ireland during the famine to escape hunger and poverty. They were suspect the moment they got off the boat because they were Catholic.

"Another part of my family was from Mexico," he added. "They walked here, and they lived in train cars in Kansas City. I remember those folks. From them, immigrant people, I received my Catholic faith."

Remember where you come from, Father Fahey instructed his audience of about 100 people, many of them of German and Russian descent, who met in the parish hall of St. John the Baptist Church.

"Remember the story of the Good Samaritan. Who is my neighbor? What the gospel says about the Good Samaritan is that he had compassion. His heart was moved with pity.

"The Body of Christ right now is being persecuted," Father Fahey said. "That Body is walking right now across the border, walking in the desert right now, walking hungry, walking thirsty. We are a part of that Body, and they are a part of us. This is the nature of the Body of Christ."

The movement of peoples is not only from Mexico and Central America to the United States, but from Africa to Europe and in other places, Father Fahey said.

"Our sisters and brothers from the south are Christians, so there is not nearly the struggle here that there is in Europe where Muslims are moving," he pointed out.

"The bishops say that immigrants need to have their rights respected, even though they are undocumented. It’s one more blessing on us that we can be leaders on this issue. I think the Lord has chosen us to lead."