Kansas bishops issue letter on immigration, ‘dignity of every person’

The Catholic bishops of Kansas Aug. 14 called on the faithful to remember the dignity of every person, “especially those fleeing hardship,” and urged public officials “to use existing legal discretion to treat undocumented migrants humanely.”

“Unnecessary raids, mass detentions, and family separations betray the values of our nation and the Gospel,” they wrote in a joint pastoral letter on immigration. “We urge the faithful to encounter immigrants as neighbors and build welcoming parishes where politics never poisons compassion.”

“We speak with one voice to affirm the sacred dignity of every human person, especially those fleeing hardship, who now call our state home,” the bishops said. “Amid political division and fear, we remind our communities that at the center of every immigration debate are real people: families in our pews, children in our schools, workers in our neighborhoods, and volunteers in our parishes. Their bishops see, pray, and stand with them.”

Addressed to “the people of God in Kansas and to all people of good will,” the pastoral was signed by Archbishop W. Shawn McKnight of Kansas City, Bishop Carl A. Kemme of Wichita and Bishop Gerald L. Vincke of Salina. They released the pastoral on their respective diocesan websites.

The prelates said they “support the role of law enforcement in protecting public safety. Violent crime and unsecured borders must be addressed, no matter a person’s legal status.”

“Criminals are taking advantage of our country’s broken immigration system to abuse” people who are the most vulnerable and they create “chaos in our communities,” the bishops said.