When the Catholic bishops immigration video dropped this week, I sat down and listened to every word. I wanted to approach it the same way I approach everything. With an open Bible, a clear mind, and a heart that wants to honor God. And the more I listened, the more I realized this was not a biblical message. It was a political one dressed in religious language.
The Catholic bishops immigration statement used Scripture and compassionate language to promote a political position instead of offering a biblical analysis of immigration, borders, and national authority.
As a believer who has spent years studying God’s Word, and as someone who cares deeply about truth, I knew I needed to write about it. Not to argue with the bishops, but to anchor this moment back to Scripture. Because Scripture is always the plumb line.
Below is my honest, prayerful response after reviewing their entire message word for word.
What the Catholic Bishops Immigration Message Actually Said
To understand how political the message was, we have to take it exactly as it was spoken.
The bishops began with emotional framing. They described fear, profiling, anxiety, detention centers, and family separation. They spoke of parents afraid to take their children to school. They talked about houses of worship being threatened. They lamented that many immigrants “arbitrarily lost legal status,” even though our immigration laws are clear and well established. They framed enforcement as harmful and compassion as incompatible with stronger border protection.
If anyone would like to read the bishops’ message directly, it is posted on the USCCB website:
U.S. Bishops Issue a “Special Message” on Immigration from Plenary Assembly in Baltimore
https://www.usccb.org/news/2025/us-bishops-issue-special-message-immigration-plenary-assembly-baltimore
None of this is rooted in biblical exegesis. It is rooted in emotional appeal.
They then shifted to the classic list of vulnerable groups that appear throughout Scripture. The widow, the orphan, the poor, and the stranger. These are groups that God clearly calls us to love individually and personally. But the bishops applied those verses to national immigration policy. They treated immigration enforcement as if it belonged in the same category as oppressing widows. The message blurred lines that the Bible never blurs.
They did acknowledge, for one brief moment, that nations have the right and responsibility to regulate borders. But that line was quickly overshadowed by the strong condemnation of immigration enforcement, described as indiscriminate mass deportations. That phrase itself is not accurate to lawful immigration actions. It was an emotional political framing, not a biblical one.
The bishops closed their message with language about hope, dialogue with leaders, and a call to compassion. They wrapped the entire message in pious, pastoral language in a way that made it feel spiritual, but the content was still fundamentally political.
After listening closely, here is what I saw clearly.
This message was not about biblical truth. It was a political response to immigration enforcement. Anyone listening to the Catholic bishops immigration message could feel the compassion they were trying to communicate, but compassion alone cannot replace biblical clarity.
What Scripture Actually Says About Borders and Governing Authority
When Christians talk about immigration, we should begin with the Bible, not with news clips or emotional imagery. And Scripture is far clearer on this issue than many people realize.
Romans 13 teaches that governing authorities are established by God. Their role is to maintain order, restrain evil, punish lawbreaking, and keep society from falling into chaos. A nation cannot fulfill this God-given responsibility without clear borders. A border that is ignored by millions of illegal entries is not a border at all. And that is lawlessness. Scripture warns repeatedly about lawlessness and the destructive nature of ignoring just laws.
Here is Romans 13:1–4 directly, for anyone who wants to read it for themselves:
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+13%3A1-4&version=ESV
God Himself establishes the boundaries of nations. Acts 17:26 says that He determined the times and exact places where people should live. National sovereignty is not an accident. It is part of God’s design for human society. Israel had borders. Those borders were defended. Foreigners were welcomed, but they were required to obey the laws of the nation and respect its spiritual foundations. There was no such thing in Scripture as open, unrestricted entry.
When the bishops imply that enforcing border laws is inherently unchristian, they are contradicting the very Scriptures they claim to represent.
The Difference Between Personal Compassion and National Policy
Jesus absolutely calls His followers to compassion. That is not up for debate. He calls us to love the stranger, care for the hurting, and reach out to those in need. But Jesus did not tell governments to suspend law and order. He did not tell Rome to erase its borders. He did not teach that national security, border protection, or lawful consequences are incompatible with compassion.
Compassion is the responsibility of the individual believer. Justice is the responsibility of the state.
The bishops blended those two roles into a single message, which creates confusion instead of clarity.
When I love my neighbor, that is compassion.
When a nation enforces its laws, that is justice.
Both are biblical.
Why the Message Felt Selective
There is another important layer to this. The bishops delivered this message with passion, urgency, and strong emotional weight. But where was this passion when our culture embraced the killing of unborn children through abortion? Where was this emotional urgency when children were being medically transitioned with puberty blockers and surgeries? Where was this moral outcry when families were being destroyed by sexual confusion promoted in schools?
In those cases, Scripture speaks clearly. Yet the bishops’ message on those issues has often been more muted, cautious, and vague.
But on immigration enforcement, which Scripture does not forbid, they delivered a video message that sounded like a political press conference.
This selective emphasis reveals the politicized nature of the message.
A Biblical Perspective on the Catholic Bishops Immigration Message
Here is what the Bible actually affirms.
— A nation has the right to control its borders.
— A nation has the responsibility to punish lawbreaking.
— A nation has the duty to protect its people from chaos.
— A nation may welcome immigrants through legal channels.
— A nation must maintain justice and order for the sake of the common good.
None of that contradicts Christ.
None of that contradicts compassion.
None of that contradicts Scripture.
But ignoring border laws, encouraging unlawful entry, and undermining legitimate enforcement do contradict Scripture. Because it contradicts the God-ordained role of civil government.
If anyone wants to see how chaotic border failures can become at ground level, here is a previous piece I wrote on the Boulder attack:
https://archkennedy.com/boulder-attack/
Where the Catholic Bishops Immigration Message Missed the Mark
After hearing everything they said, I believe the message missed the mark in three key ways.
First, it replaced biblical categories with political ones.
Instead of grounding their message in the responsibilities of government and the biblical purpose of civil authority, they grounded it in emotional appeals.
Second, it selectively applied Scripture.
They applied verses about personal compassion to national policy. They applied verses about vulnerable individuals to complex immigration systems. They applied verses intended for believers to secular governments.
Third, it framed immigration enforcement as inherently unjust.
This is not grounded in Scripture. It is grounded in political opinion.
Those three patterns taken together reveal the political nature of the message.
The Truth Believers Need Right Now
Immigration is a deeply emotional issue. People are hurting. Families are affected. Lives are in motion. But the role of the Church is not to replace biblical clarity with political messaging. The role of the Church is to ground God’s people in truth.
Borders are biblical.
Law is biblical.
Justice is biblical.
Compassion is biblical.
And those categories are not at war with each other.
We can love the immigrant and still support lawful border enforcement. We can show compassion and still support national security. We can care deeply for people without encouraging lawlessness.
And most importantly, we can call our leaders to compassion without turning Scripture into a political tool.
That is the heart of this entire conversation.
If anyone wants to dig deeper into why biblical law matters in public life, here is another post that ties directly into this topic:
https://archkennedy.com/politics-and-christianity/
Closing Thoughts
As a Christian who loves my country and wants to see truth honored in every part of life, I believe the bishops missed a moment to speak biblically. They spoke politically instead. And my hope is that believers across the country return to what Scripture actually says and not what political messaging tries to make it say.
The Church is strongest when it stands on truth, not when it bows to cultural pressure.
The gospel shines brightest when it is separated from politics, not fused with political narratives.
My prayer is that we learn to discern the difference. This is why the Catholic bishops immigration message matters, because believers need biblical truth more than political framing.
Arch Kennedy
Bold, Unfiltered, and Unafraid
Watch my full commentary below:
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