Hospitality and Immigration in Catholic Social Teaching

Fr. Matthew Mary | August 11, 2025

Hospitality in the Book of Genesis

The first reading for the 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time this year was taken from the Book of Genesis. Abraham is sitting at the entrance of his tent during the heat of the day, trying to stay cool when he suddenly sees three strange travelers passing his way. He stops them and asks if they would allow him to bring water for their feet and to prepare a meal for them.

From the perspective of Abraham, showing hospitality is truly an honor to him, as if these visitors are doing Abraham a favor by allowing him to be hospitable. Abraham immediately goes to his wife Sarah and tells her to make some rolls while his servant helps him prepare a steer for the men to eat. In showing hospitality to these men, little does Abraham know that he is really serving the Lord God himself. The Lord does not allow this good deed to go unrewarded, as He promises Abraham that he will have a son by the same time next year.

Hospitality to Strangers in Scripture

Regarding hospitality to strangers, the Letter to the Hebrews teaches:

“Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.”

As Christians, we are called to regard all people we encounter with the same hospitable spirit as Abraham, as if we are receiving Christ himself.

The Book of Leviticus legislates the fair treatment of strangers and foreigners as it requires the inhabitants of the land to regard foreigners with equal dignity. Leviticus 19 says:

“When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. The stranger who sojourns with you shall be to you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.”

In the ancient Near Eastern culture in which the nation of Israel was situated, hospitality was seen not merely as a nice thing to do for other people, but as a sacred duty. People in this culture did not wish to take their meals alone but would often invite their neighbors to partake in meals with them regularly. Even enemies were viewed as neighbors so long as they shared the meal in peace with their hosts. These ancient people were honored to receive guests into their home because they viewed such neighbors and travelers as gifts from the Lord God himself.

Modern Cultural Attitudes vs. Ancient Hospitality

This benign ancient attitude towards foreigners is unfortunately a far cry from the way that some modern Western cultures tend to perceive foreigners and strangers. Our individualistic, consumeristic culture tends to view foreigners either as invaders or as workers whose labor can be exploited for our own materialistic benefit.

Since many Christians are steeped in this materialistic, individualistic culture, we must be reminded periodically that we are called to be in the world but not of the world. Once again, a review of the teaching of the Catholic Church is needed, especially the teaching of the Magisterium (the pope and the bishops united to him), concerning the duty of hospitality to strangers, especially as we encounter them in migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers.

This teaching covers the basic right to migrate that all people possess, the right of nations and states to regulate migration humanely, and the duty of nations to fashion immigration laws and regulations that fully accord with the ideals of both justice and mercy.

Source Document and Authority of Catholic Social Doctrine

For the purposes of this article, I will draw primarily from a helpful document issued by the US Conference of Catholic Bishops entitled, “Catholic Social Teaching on Immigration and the Movement of Peoples.” The document can be accessed here: https://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/human-life-and-dignity/immigration/catholic-teaching-on-immigration-and-the-movement-of-peoples.

This pastoral document is based on solid principles established by the Magisterium of the Church, drawn from Catholic social doctrine. It is important to mention from the outset that Catholic social doctrine is not optional teaching for the faithful. It cannot be easily dismissed to the extent that this doctrine touches upon the moral teaching issued from the Magisterium.

This fact is explicitly mentioned in the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, a magisterial document. Paragraph 80 states:

“Insofar as it is part of the Church’s moral teaching, the Church’s social doctrine has the same dignity and authority as her moral teaching. It is authentic Magisterium, which obligates the faithful to adhere to it.”

Therefore, since the Church’s teaching on immigration is drawn from the social doctrine of the Church and touches upon her moral teaching, the faithful are obliged to adhere to it, regardless of their personal political views or political party affiliation.

Three Basic Principles of Catholic Teaching on Immigration

The USCCB document on immigration highlights three basic principles that outline a Catholic approach to the issue of immigration. Before launching into these principles, the document begins by reiterating the Biblical teaching on the love we are supposed to have for our neighbor, especially for strangers, foreigners, and immigrants. For example, the document quotes Leviticus 19:

“You shall treat the alien who resides with you no differently than the natives born among you; have the same love for him as for yourself; for you too were once aliens in the land of Egypt.”

Likewise, Jesus himself teaches in Matthew 25 that the stranger we encounter is counted among the least of his brothers and sisters:

“For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me.”

First Principle: The Right to Migrate

The first principle concerning migration derived from Catholic social teaching is the basic right for all people to migrate. The USCCB document states:

“People have the right to migrate to sustain their lives and the lives of their families.”

It also says:

“Because of the belief that newcomers compete for scarce resources, immigrants and refugees are at times driven away, resented, or despised. Nevertheless, the first principle of Catholic social teaching regarding immigrants is that people have the right to migrate to sustain their lives and the lives of their families.”

Thus, the US Bishops clearly teach that the right to migrate is of primary importance before any other considerations. The basis for this teaching is the fundamental right every person enjoys to life and to access the necessary means to sustain their life. In other words, this right is rooted in the dignity of human life and the human person — the same principle that guides the Church’s teaching against the unjust termination of human life in procured abortion.

Hence, we cannot oppose the abortion of unborn children while at the same time deny the right of immigrants to move from one country to another to sustain their own lives and the lives of their family members and loved ones. Otherwise, we would adopt a moral position that contradicts our own pro-life principles and values.

The right to migrate has been upheld by the Magisterium for many years. In his Apostolic Constitution Exsul Familia Nazarethana issued in 1952, Pope Pius XII writes:

“You know indeed how preoccupied we have been and with what anxiety we have followed those who have been forced by revolutions in their own countries, or by unemployment or hunger to leave their homes and live in foreign lands. The natural law itself, no less than devotion to humanity, urges that ways of migration be opened to these people. For the Creator of the universe made all good things primarily for the good of all.”

Thus, Pius XII affirms that the right to migrate is rooted in natural law itself and must be respected by individual residents in a nation and recognized by the government.

Furthermore, the USCCB document affirms:

“Every person has equal right to receive from the earth what is necessary for life — food, clothing, shelter. Moreover, every person has the right to education, medical care, religion, and the expression of one’s culture.”

In this same vein, the document teaches:

“The native does not have superior rights over the immigrant. Before God all are equal; the earth was given by God to all. When a person cannot achieve a meaningful life in his or her own land, that person has the right to move.”

Second Principle: The Right to Regulate Borders and Control Immigration

With the first principle firmly established, we move on to the second principle — the right for a country to regulate its borders and control immigration.

Notice that this principle is listed as the second principle, not the first. The right to migrate is prior to the right of countries to regulate their borders. This means border control must always be subordinated to, and at the service of, the right to migrate. It must not only help protect those residents already living in the country but also facilitate an orderly inflow of immigrants from other countries.

The USCCB document fully recognizes the right of countries to regulate immigration. It states:

“While individuals have the right to move in search of a safe and humane life, no country is bound to accept all those who wish to resettle there.”

The document also says:

“While people have the right to move, no country has the duty to receive so many immigrants that its social and economic life are jeopardized.”

Sometimes, it may happen that a large influx of immigrants attempts to enter a country insufficiently prepared to welcome them all. It might be true that the host country may need to turn some of them away or redirect them to another country. However, the overriding concern of Catholic social teaching is the preservation of the common good for all.

While countries are often primarily concerned with the welfare of their own citizens, they should never be indifferent or hostile toward the plight of those escaping difficult or dangerous situations in their own countries. To the extent countries can receive migrants, they should not only facilitate immigration, but also

“cherish and celebrate the contributions of immigrants and their cultures.”

To the extent more prosperous nations can help other underdeveloped countries in such a way as to make migration unnecessary, then they ought to do so.

Third Principle: The Obligation of Countries to Regulate Borders with Justice and Mercy

This brings us to the third principle of Catholic social teaching concerning migration. While it is true that countries have the right to regulate their borders and control immigration, they must do so with the intention of maintaining justice and mercy for all.

The right of the state to regulate immigration does not automatically give the state the right to enact harsh or brutal means of law enforcement or border control.

A form of dangerous rhetoric all too common nowadays portrays immigrants and refugees as criminals or militant invaders. This rhetoric only serves to instill irrational fear and justify immigration enforcement means that violate human dignity and damage the common good.

As the USCCB document states:

“A country’s regulation of borders and control of immigration must be governed by concern for all people and by mercy and justice. A nation may not simply decide that it wants to provide for its own people and not others. A sincere commitment to the needs of all must prevail.”

Many people in modern Western cultures have adopted ideological beliefs reflecting unhealthy nationalism or nationalistic “purity,” as if people from foreign countries only serve to “poison the blood” of their host nation.

These ideologies are incompatible with Catholic teaching, Catholic social doctrine, and the Gospel itself.

Pope Pius XII condemned these extreme nationalistic ideas in Exsul Familia Nazarethana, writing:

“We have condemned severely the ideas of the totalitarian and imperialistic state, as well has that of exaggerated nationalism. On one hand, in fact they arbitrarily restrict the natural rights of people to migrate or to colonize while on the other hand, they compel entire populations to migrate into other lands, deporting inhabitants against their wills, disgracefully tearing individuals from their families, their homes and their countries.”

The enforcement of immigration laws and border control must always be conducted with right intention.

The USCCB states:

“Even in the case of less urgent migrations, a developed nation’s right to limit immigration must be based on justice, mercy, and the common good, not on self-interest. Moreover, immigration policy ought to take into account other important values such as the right of families to live together. A merciful immigration policy will not force married couples or children to live separated from their families for long periods.”

Catholic social teaching also condemns immigration enforcement tactics contrary to human dignity, such as arresting people and deporting them without due process or regard for family integrity.

In the encyclical Veritatis Splendor, Pope St. John Paul II lists several acts considered intrinsically evil:

“The Second Vatican Council itself, in discussing the respect due to the human person, gives a number of examples of such acts: ‘Whatever is hostile to life itself, such as any kind of homicide, genocide, abortion, euthanasia and voluntary suicide; whatever violates the integrity of the human person, such as mutilation, physical and mental torture and attempts to coerce the spirit; whatever is offensive to human dignity, such as subhuman living conditions, arbitrary imprisonment, deportation, slavery, prostitution and trafficking in women and children; degrading conditions of work which treat laborers as mere instruments of profit, and not as free responsible persons: all these and the like are a disgrace, and so long as they infect human civilization they contaminate those who inflict them more than those who suffer injustice, and they are a negation of the honor due to the Creator.’”

Some defenders of deportations might argue that only criminals are deported. However, this often overlooks the fact that most deported people have not committed serious crimes or any crimes at all. Sometimes, the only problem is that they are undocumented and considered criminals for that reason alone — a notion that contradicts Catholic social teaching.

People without documentation have not committed a crime, but a civil violation. Many undocumented immigrants are in the process of obtaining proper documentation.

The USCCB teaches:

“Undocumented immigrants present a special concern. Often their presence is considered criminal since they arrive without legal permission. Under the harshest view, undocumented people may be regarded as undeserving of rights or services. This is not the view of Catholic social teaching. The Catholic Church teaches that every person has basic human rights and is entitled to have basic human needs met — food, shelter, clothing, education, and health care. Undocumented persons are particularly vulnerable to exploitation by employers, and they are not able to complain because of the fear of discovery and deportation. Current immigration policy that criminalizes the mere attempt to immigrate and imprisons immigrants who have committed no crime or who have already served a just sentence for a crime is immoral. In the Bible, God promises that our judgment will be based on our treatment of the most vulnerable. Before God we cannot excuse inhumane treatment of certain persons by claiming that their lack of legal status deprives them of rights given by the Creator.”

Conclusion: Welcoming the Stranger as a Gift from God

The topic of immigration, welcoming the stranger, and showing hospitality is broad and complex. Immigration regulation and enforcement cannot be resolved overnight. It requires perseverance in goodwill, ingenuity, respect for Catholic social teaching, and respect for human dignity to work for the common good and fashion immigration legislation that meets these criteria.

The USCCB has issued a document listing six elements of immigration reform worth considering, available here: https://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/human-life-and-dignity/immigration/churchteachingonimmigrationreform.

As Catholics, we are called to put on the mind of Christ and recognize his presence in everyone, especially the least of his brothers and sisters. May we look to the example of Abraham, our father in faith, to learn the virtue of hospitality, to shun any temptation to give in to irrational fear of foreigners, and to welcome the stranger among us as if they are a gift from God Himself.