In these early days of Advent, I think a lot more about the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. But I also ponder more deeply those early days of His life. One event that always stands out, for me, is the slaughter of the Holy Innocents when King Herod jealously sought to kill the Infant King through an untargeted, indiscriminate campaign of violence against all male infants and toddlers two years of age and under. Anticipating this horrific act, Saint Joseph was instructed by an angel, in a dream, to protect the Holy Family by fleeing Israel for Egypt, which he obediently and courageously did.
This fact of salvation history deeply influenced and poetically frames the opening of Pope Pius XII’s 1952 apostolic constitution, Exsul Familia Nazarethana (The Exiled Nazarene Family).
“The émigré Holy Family of Nazareth, fleeing into Egypt,” says Pope Pius XII, “is the archetype of every refugee family.” He continues: “Jesus, Mary and Joseph, living in exile in Egypt to escape the fury of an evil king, are, for all times and for all places, the models and protectors of every migrant, alien and refugee of whatever kind who, whether compelled by fear of persecution or by want, is forced to leave his native land, his beloved parents and relatives, his close friends, and to seek a foreign soil.”
The remainder of the document focuses on the Church’s fundamental commitment of pastoral care, especially through the Sacraments and Word of God, to migrants throughout the world.
Pope Francis called this apostolic constitution “the ‘Magna Carta’ of the Church’s thinking on migration.”
In a letter written to the U.S. Bishops shortly before his death, Pope Francis noted that Christ lived the “drama of immigration.” And that He “did not live apart from the difficult experience of being expelled from his own land because of an imminent risk to his life, and from the experience of having to take refuge in a society and culture foreign to his own.”
Both Pope Pius XII and Pope Francis, in their reflections on Christ and migration, note two fundamental principles for the Church’s social teaching. First, they recognize the natural law right of the human person to migrate. Likewise, they recognize, as Pope Francis states, “the right of a nation to defend itself and keep communities safe from those who have committed violent or serious crimes while in the country or prior to arrival.”
As many in this country experience, in the words of one journalist, “working out the balance between these two needs isn’t simple.”
This biblical reality of the Holy Family’s flight into Egypt, the theological reflections of the Church, and the “signs of the times” in our own cultural and political moment form the context for the recent “Special Message” on immigration issued by the U.S. Bishops.
The Bishops’ “Special Message” highlights their concern for the migrants they serve and the fear and anxiety they are living, the sad state of public discourse on immigration, the poor treatment of migrants through indiscriminate and untargeted raids and deportations, the conditions of detention centers, the separation of families, and the threats against places of worship and other “sensitive” places like hospitals and schools.
The Bishops underscore both the need to recognize the fundamental dignity and transcendent nature of the human person, including immigrants, through “meaningful” immigration reform and the protection and regulation of borders to “establish a just and orderly immigration system for the sake of the common good.”
In many ways the “Special Message” is nothing new. It is a restatement of the Church’s commitment to pastoral care and an expression of Her social teaching rooted in the life of Christ and the Sacred Tradition of the Church. But in other ways, the “Special Message” (the first one issued since 2013) marks a critical moment for the Church in the United States. It reveals the priority of immigration for the whole body of U.S. Bishops and the need for an increased public witness to care for migrants, including dialogue and advocacy with public and elected officials.
As lay Catholics, we are called to take these fundamental principles into the public square to help guide our nation’s cultural and public policy discussions surrounding immigration, and to dive into the weeds of just and meaningful immigration reform. And while “the balance” between the rights of migration and the rights of states to secure their border are “not simple to balance,” we are called by Jesus to help our nation balance these fundamental rights.
May the example of the émigré Holy Family of Nazareth guide your witness in the public square!
