Revisiting the Pastoral Letter at Seventeen
Welcoming the Stranger among Us: Unity in Diversity
(A Statement of the U.S. Catholic Bishops, USCCB, 2000/2001)
I. CONTEXT Ecclesia in America (1999) and “Message for World Migration Day 2000” by Pope John Paul II motivated and laid a foundation for the birth of Welcoming the Stranger Among Us: Unity in Diversity (2000) (hereafter: WSAU) of the U.S. Conference of the Catholic Bishop. In the two papal documents, Pope John Paul II expresses the message of unity in diversity and his call to communion as the Church’s care for all God’s children on the move (i.e. migrants and refugees) over the world. At the beginning of new millennium, there were thousands of migrants, refugees, nomads and tourists crossed borders every day. In …show more content…
is considered as a “melting pot” due to its nature, a “nation of immigrants.” It is a small world that holds human diversity and complexity. In this context, the U.S. Catholic Church also deals with pastoral challenges in practicing hospitality, pursuing unity, maintaining tradition, and motivating development. Responding to the situation, the U.S. Catholic Church follows the proposal of Pope John Paul II, namely, the call to “conversion, communion, and solidarity” (EA 7). The local church realizes its mission with a heavy load of immigration and a hope of moving forward in solidarity with human suffering worldwide on unknown faces of the newcomers. The document indicates that there were about 600,000 to 900,000 immigrants admitted annually to the U.S. In 2012, there are about 11.4 million unauthorized immigrants living in the U.S. (59% from Mexico) according to the Department of Homeland Security. Among the Hispanic immigrants, 80 percent of them were raised in the Catholic faith. New Catholic immigrants also come from Puerto Rico, Philippines, Vietnam, China, Korea, Japan, Laos, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Tonga, Samoa, Asian India, African countries, and all over the
Welcoming the Stranger among Us: Unity in Diversity
(A Statement of the U.S. Catholic Bishops, USCCB, 2000/2001)
I. CONTEXT Ecclesia in America (1999) and “Message for World Migration Day 2000” by Pope John Paul II motivated and laid a foundation for the birth of Welcoming the Stranger Among Us: Unity in Diversity (2000) (hereafter: WSAU) of the U.S. Conference of the Catholic Bishop. In the two papal documents, Pope John Paul II expresses the message of unity in diversity and his call to communion as the Church’s care for all God’s children on the move (i.e. migrants and refugees) over the world. At the beginning of new millennium, there were thousands of migrants, refugees, nomads and tourists crossed borders every day. In …show more content…
is considered as a “melting pot” due to its nature, a “nation of immigrants.” It is a small world that holds human diversity and complexity. In this context, the U.S. Catholic Church also deals with pastoral challenges in practicing hospitality, pursuing unity, maintaining tradition, and motivating development. Responding to the situation, the U.S. Catholic Church follows the proposal of Pope John Paul II, namely, the call to “conversion, communion, and solidarity” (EA 7). The local church realizes its mission with a heavy load of immigration and a hope of moving forward in solidarity with human suffering worldwide on unknown faces of the newcomers. The document indicates that there were about 600,000 to 900,000 immigrants admitted annually to the U.S. In 2012, there are about 11.4 million unauthorized immigrants living in the U.S. (59% from Mexico) according to the Department of Homeland Security. Among the Hispanic immigrants, 80 percent of them were raised in the Catholic faith. New Catholic immigrants also come from Puerto Rico, Philippines, Vietnam, China, Korea, Japan, Laos, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Tonga, Samoa, Asian India, African countries, and all over the