{"id":55173,"date":"2025-11-13T14:10:14","date_gmt":"2025-11-13T12:10:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.omnesmag.com\/?p=55173"},"modified":"2025-11-28T14:56:50","modified_gmt":"2025-11-28T12:56:50","slug":"immigration-a-priority-of-the-u-s-bishops","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.omnesmag.com\/en\/actualidad\/mundo\/inmigracion-prioridad-de-los-obispos-de-eeuu\/","title":{"rendered":"Immigration and free religious practice, top priorities for US bishops"},"content":{"rendered":"
From the opening to the close of the Nov. 11 session, the topic of immigration figured prominently for much of the first day of the U.S. bishops' fall plenary assembly in Baltimore, and it has continued to mark the meeting. The day's agenda included elections for the new leadership of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), and a report on the immigration situation in the United States under the Trump Administration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Also taking place are preliminary presentations on possible revisions to the bishops\u00ab \u00bbEthical and Religious Directives for Catholic Medical and Health Care Organizations.\" And the presentation of a new English version of the Bible for the United States to be published in 2027. It was reported that a Spanish translation of the New Testament will be available by Ash Wednesday 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The bishops also approved a local diocesan initiative to present the cause of canonization of Jesuit Father Richard Thomas (1928-2006), who for more than 40 years directed various ministries to the poor in El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
New president and vice-president with Leo XIV as pope<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The bishops elected Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City as president of the USCCB and Bishop Daniel E. Flores of Brownsville, Texas, as vice president of the U.S. bishops' conference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 2025 elections have marked the first leadership change in the conference since Pope Leo XIV, the first U.S.-born pontiff, began his Petrine ministry in May.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They will continue to support migrants<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The day began with a message from the bishops to Pope Leo XIV at the start of their Nov. 10-13 meeting. The U.S. bishops told the Pope that they \u201cwill continue to support migrants and defend the right of all to freely practice religion without intimidation.\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAs pastors in the United States, we face an increasingly pervasive worldview that often conflicts with the Gospel mandate to love our neighbor,\u201d they wrote. \u201cIn cities across the United States, our migrant brothers and sisters, many of whom are Catholic, face a culture of fear, hesitant to leave their homes or even attend church for fear of being harassed or detained.\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHoly Father, know that the bishops of the United States, united in our concern, we will continue to stand with migrants and defend the right of all to worship without intimidation,\u201d the bishops wrote. \u201cWe support secure and orderly borders and law enforcement actions in response to dangerous criminal activity, but we cannot remain silent in these difficult times while the right to practice religion and the right to due process are undermined.\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are several flashpoints across the country over tensions generated by the Trump Administration's hard-line immigration policy, with regular protests in front of several local Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) offices.<\/p>\n\n\n\nU.S. bishops attend a session of the fall general assembly of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, held Nov. 11, 2025, in Baltimore (OSV News\/Bob Roller photo).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Detainees are denied sacraments<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Among the concerns of Catholics about how this policy is being implemented in U.S. cities is the denial of sacraments to detainees, an issue that has been highlighted most notably at an immigration processing center west of Chicago. On November 1, All Saints' Day, a Catholic delegation - which this time included clergy, religious and lay people, as well as an auxiliary bishop of Chicago - was prevented, for the second time in three weeks, from bringing the Eucharist to Catholics detained there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The issue of the possibility of immigrants detained by ICE receiving the sacraments \u00abis one of our primary concerns,\u00bb Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Indiana, said Nov. 11 during a noontime press conference at the bishops' plenary. The bishop is chairman of the USCCB's Committee for Religious Liberty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to him, the bishops have focused on \u201cthe right of the Church to provide charitable services to immigrants.\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u00abWe didn't really foresee what we're facing now with detention centers, but as soon as we became aware of it, it became our top priority,\u00bb he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u00abIt's heartbreaking,\u00bb Bishop Rhoades added, \u201cwhen you think of the suffering and especially those who have been detained, separated from their families...they need spiritual support in this, and they need the sacraments.\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou are not alone\u201d (You are not alone, you are not alone).<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
In an afternoon presentation, Bishop Mark J. Seitz of El Paso, Texas, outgoing chairman of the bishops\u201c migration committee, said the Trump administration's \u201dunwavering commitment\u201c to mass deportation, as well as \u201drestricting legal immigration\u201c and deportations to \u201dthird countries that are completely unknown to them,\u201c make it clear that \u201dthis is just the beginning.\".<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bishop Seitz said the migration committee, its staff and mission partners are working on an initiative entitled \u201cYou are not alone.\u201d It will focus \u201con four thematic areas of ministry, family and emergency support, accompaniment and pastoral care, communication and Church teaching and, fourthly, solidarity through prayer and public witness.\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A glimmer of hope with religious worker visas<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
However, he offered a glimmer of hope regarding visas for religious workers, a process stalled since the spring of 2023. He stated that he felt \u201cvery optimistic\u201d that efforts to resolve visa backlogs for religious workers, which were moving forward thanks to possible new legislation and dialogue with the current presidential administration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Close elections<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
In a close race among ten potential candidates, Archbishop Coakley was elected president on the third round of balloting in a runoff with Bishop Flores. The U.S. bishops then elected Bishop Flores in the first round of the vice-presidential election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Their three-year terms begin at the conclusion of this plenary assembly in Baltimore. They succeed, respectively, Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio of the Archdiocese for the Military Services of the United States and Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore, who will complete their three-year terms at the conclusion of the fall assembly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Prior to the election, Archbishop Broglio, as outgoing USCCB president, delivered his final presidential address. He emphasized the need to \u201cconvince people to listen to each other\u201d in the midst of polarization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u00abWe must draw on our unity to illustrate that civil dialogue is not only possible, but is the most authentically humane way forward,\u00bb he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nuncio Pierre: teachings of the Vatican C.<\/strong>year II<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Cardinal Christophe Pierre, Apostolic Nuncio to the United States, then addressed the USCCB. His remarks at this year's plenary were his first as a representative of Pope Leo XIV.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u00abWhere have we come from and where are we going?\u00bb he asked, pointing to \u201ca guiding light: the teachings and vision of the Second Vatican Council.\u201d He emphasized that Vatican II \u201cremains the key to understanding what kind of Church we are called to be today, and the reference point for discerning where we are headed.\u00bb<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Day 12: Pastoral message on immigration<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Immigration again took center stage yesterday at the fall plenary assembly of the U.S. bishops in Baltimore. The prelates approved a \u201cspecial pastoral message on immigration,\u201d expressing \u201cour concern for immigrants,\u201d with ideas reflected above.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The statement has come at a time when a growing number of bishops have recognized that some of the Trump administration's immigration policies risk presenting the Church with practical challenges in administering pastoral support and charitable initiatives, as well as challenges to religious freedom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In other business, the bishops elected a new secretary for their conference: Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Indiana.<\/p>\n\n\n\nBishop Kevin C. Rhoades of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Indiana, smiles after being elected secretary of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) at the fall assembly. At left is Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus of Chicago Joseph N. Perry (OSV News\/Bob Roller photo).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Other issues<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The bishops also overwhelmingly approved an updated version of their guiding document on Catholic health care, with substantial revisions that include explicit prohibitions against so-called \u201cgender-affirming\u201d care. They also gave the green light to hold the 11th National Eucharistic Congress in the summer of 2029.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Regarding the special statement on immigration, Archbishop Richard G. Henning of Boston told OSV News in an interview that the feeling that \u201cwe have to say something\u201d and show solidarity with immigrants has been \u201ccoming up naturally among the bishops.\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe are pastors,\u201d he said. \u201cWe care about the people we serve, and what we hear from them is fear and suffering. So it's hard not to want to respond to that.\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In releasing the text of the statement late in the afternoon, a press release from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) indicated that it was \u201cthe first time\u201d in 12 years that the bishops\u201c conference had \u201dresorted to this particularly urgent way of expressing itself as a body of bishops. The last statement, issued in 2013, was in response to the federal government's contraceptive mandate.\".<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014-<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Julie Asher is senior editor of OSV News. Kate Scanlon, Lauretta Brown and Gina Christian of OSV News contributed to this article.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- This information and the Pastoral Statement on Immigration were originally published in OSV News and are available for your reference at here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.omnesmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/20251112T1304-USCCB-FALL25-MESSAGE-TO-LEO-1807784-1024x683.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.omnesmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ObisposUSARhoadesSecretario-1024x728.jpg\")