North American bishops meet in Cuernavaca and call for migrants’ dignity to be defended

Catholic bishops from Mexico, the United States and Canada used their first meeting in Cuernavaca to call for a stronger defense of migrants and other vulnerable people.

Mexican Bishop Ramón Castro Castro led the Angelus for missing people, saying that 135,000 people remain missing in Mexico and that many families are suffering deeply. He prayed for an answer to what he described as a harsh reality.

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Migration should not be reduced to statistics, public policies or economic duties. Behind every migrant there is a face, a story, a family, a hope. Many times, unfortunately, many wounds.

Castro said the Church must strengthen its unity as the three countries confront shared challenges. Migration and the management of human mobility became a central focus of the meeting, reflecting the movement of people across North America.

“Migration should not be reduced to statistics, public policies or economic duties. Behind every migrant there is a face, a story, a family, a hope. Many times, unfortunately, many wounds,” Castro said. He argued that migrants should be treated as brothers and sisters whose dignity deserves recognition and protection.

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The Church must look at these people as brothers and sisters whose dignity must be recognized and protected.

Daniel Flores of Brownsville, Texas, Óscar Cantú of California and Pierre Goudreault of Canada joined Castro at the gathering. Cantú said the Church must increasingly speak with one voice in defense of human dignity, especially for poor people and immigrants who often have nowhere to rest their heads.

During the Eucharistic celebration, Castro also listed violence, demagoguery, corruption, loneliness, materialism, wounded families and young people’s lack of hope among the region’s major challenges. He said the bishops would continue examining migration and immigration management among Mexico, the United States and Canada, and expressed hope that the meeting would become more than an exchange of ideas.

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It is increasingly important that the Catholic Church in the Americas speak with one voice defending the honor of our Lord and the dignity of human beings, especially the poor and immigrants who often have nowhere to rest their heads.