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Two saints who accompanied migrants at the beginning of the last century can teach us today how to accompany new migrants on their journey to a new life. Both St. Francis Xavier Cabrini and St. Giovanni Battista Scalabrini were named the Mother or Father of the Migrants — at the canonization of St. Cabrini and at the beatification of St. Scalabrini. Titles can be deceiving, however; when you call someone mother or father, it goes beyond a simple title. Rather, it is a term of endearment and respect.
Both saints read the signs of their times and mobilized to help their fellow Italians in the great Italian migration from about 1890 to 1920. Both created religious orders to combat this pastoral phenomenon, which required them to meet their social and educational needs. these immigrants. St. Cabrini and St. Scalabrini cooperated and encouraged each other in their efforts to meet the needs of Italian migrants arriving in a country that needed their labor but did not necessarily welcome them. As churchmen, they also faced misunderstandings from church leaders who sometimes succumbed to pressure to not welcome newcomers.
But what can we learn from their enthusiasm and methods? The phenomenon of migration does not seem to have changed much over the centuries. Migrants are driven by poverty and political turmoil. Migrants are leaving their homeland and looking for a better life for themselves and their children. Arriving by land or boat presents the same challenges and dangers. Migrants need to be welcomed and received and their needs addressed and met.
These two great saints were motivated by pastoral care of the spirits, but they did not neglect the physical and social needs of the migrants. Although St. Scalabrini visited the United States and South America and saw the situation firsthand, it was the Saint of the Sepulchre, who traveled even further, to come to the United States and directly help migrants. St. Scalabrini was ahead of his time; he recognized this sociological phenomenon even before sociology became a science. In the constitutions of his order, he mandated the creation of migration research centers to analyze the migration phenomenon, thereby providing proper husbandry and social care to migrants. An example of this is the Migration Research Center in New York.
Saint Cabrini, however, was more of an activist. He tried to meet various pastoral and social needs, whether through direct aid, schools, hospitals or orphanages. He created many institutions in the United States and Latin America that testify to his organizational genius. He attracted women to the order he created on his own initiative.
These two pioneers of migration support didn’t wait for someone to tell them what to do. They saw the situation in front of them, and then, inspired by their faith, they set to work.
What happened more than a century ago is similar to what we experienced when we compared the negative public opinion about immigration and the lack of resources to accompany migrants. It is encouraging to see how the institutional church has responded to the phenomenon of migration.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has two offices dedicated to migrant assistance and integration—the Department of Migration and Refugee Services (MRS) and the Committee on Cultural Diversity in the Church. Catholic Immigration Legal Network, Inc., which assists the legal needs of migrants. Other Catholic agencies such as (CLINIC) and diocesan Catholic Charities, which fund immigration and refugee resettlement programs, are also part of the Church’s support for migrants. .
Today there are not only bishops, priests and deacons, but also many lay people who understand the teachings of our Lord that we should help the newcomer. They may never be canonized, but their work is recognized by the Church and, I believe, by the Lord Himself. Mother Cabrini and Father Scalabrini are examples of virtue for all Catholics and others, who we are called to “welcome the stranger.” (Matthew 25:35)
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