Immigration & Refugees
The Torah commands love of the stranger 36 times — more than any other commandment. Jesus was himself a refugee. There is no ambiguity here.
The Answer
The Torah — the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, the foundation of the entire tradition Jesus was raised in — commands the Jewish people to welcome and love the stranger more than any other single commandment. Not once. Not three times. Thirty-six times.
Jesus was himself a refugee. His parents fled with him to Egypt as an infant to escape a violent government that was killing children (Matthew 2:13-15). He spent his ministry welcoming people that his society labeled outsiders, enemies, and untouchables.
His most famous teaching on final judgment (Matthew 25) says the test is not whether you went to church. It's whether you fed the hungry, sheltered the stranger, and visited the prisoner. Not whether you had the right theological opinions. What you did for the most vulnerable people you encountered.
This is not a gray area.
The Jewish Reformer's Lens
The Hebrew Bible's command to love the stranger (ger in Hebrew — a resident alien, someone living among the Israelites who was not born there) appears over 36 times in the Torah alone. This is not coincidence. Jewish tradition recognizes this repetition as emphasis: the ethical obligation to welcome the outsider is central, not peripheral, to Jewish faith.
The reason given is always the same: memory. "You shall not oppress a stranger, for you know the heart of a stranger, having yourselves been strangers in the land of Egypt" (Exodus 23:9). The entire foundation of Jewish identity is the story of being enslaved, marginalized, and dependent on the mercy of others. The memory of oppression creates an obligation to act differently when you have power.
This is why scholars of the New Testament note that Jesus's story of the Holy Family fleeing to Egypt as refugees would have resonated deeply with his Jewish audience. It deliberately echoes the story of Joseph and his family fleeing famine into Egypt (Genesis 42-47) — and then the entire history of the Exodus. The refugee experience is not incidental to Jewish and Christian history. It is the center of it.
In Matthew 25:31-46, Jesus describes the final judgment of nations — not individuals, but nations and their collective choices. The criteria are entirely practical: Did you feed the hungry? Give water to the thirsty? Welcome the stranger? Clothe the naked? Visit the sick and imprisoned? Jesus identifies himself with the vulnerable person at the border: "I was a stranger and you welcomed me... Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me."
The stranger at the border is Jesus. That is what he said.
Catholic Social Teaching
Pope Francis has become one of the most prominent global voices on the rights of refugees and immigrants, drawing directly on the Gospel stories of the Holy Family's flight to Egypt. His framework for immigration policy is built around four verbs:
- Welcome — Nations have a duty to receive those fleeing persecution, violence, and severe hardship
- Protect — Legal and physical protection for the dignity and safety of migrants and refugees, especially children
- Promote — Active support for the integration and flourishing of newcomers, not mere tolerance
- Integrate — Genuine inclusion into social, economic, and cultural life — not assimilation that erases identity, but mutual enrichment
The Universal Destination of Goods — the principle that the earth's resources belong to all of humanity, not just to those who happen to be born in wealthy nations — directly challenges the idea that national borders can justify letting people die of preventable poverty when help is available.
Fratelli Tutti ("All Brothers," 2020) dedicates an entire chapter to migration, calling for international cooperation, the abolition of inhumane detention conditions for migrants and asylum seekers, the protection of families from separation, and pathways to legal status and full participation in society.
Crucially, Catholic Social Teaching also addresses the "right not to have to migrate" — the recognition that most people do not want to leave their homes and communities. Addressing the root causes of forced migration (poverty, climate change, political violence, the global arms trade) is as important as managing the migration itself.
Sources & Citations
- Exodus 23:9 — The Torah (Hebrew Bible) The second book of Moses. This verse states: "Do not oppress a foreigner; you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners, because you were foreigners in Egypt." One of 36+ times the Torah commands care for the stranger — more than any other commandment in the text.
- Leviticus 19:33–34 — The Torah (Hebrew Bible) The third book of Moses. "When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt." Direct application of the "love your neighbor" commandment to non-citizens.
- Matthew 2:13–15 — The Gospel of Matthew (New Testament) An angel warns Joseph to flee with Mary and the infant Jesus to Egypt because King Herod is planning to kill young children. The Holy Family becomes refugees in a foreign country. Matthew explicitly connects this to the Hebrew prophecy: "Out of Egypt I called my son."
- Matthew 25:31–46 — The Gospel of Matthew (New Testament) Jesus's description of the final judgment of nations. Nations are judged entirely on whether they cared for the hungry, thirsty, sick, imprisoned, and stranger. Jesus identifies himself with each of these: "Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me." No theological test is administered. Only a practical one.
- Pope Francis, Fratelli Tutti (2020), §§37–39, 129–132 Encyclical letter subtitled "On Fraternity and Social Friendship." These sections address the obligations of nations toward migrants and refugees, the Universal Destination of Goods as applied to immigration, and the conditions required for just immigration policy. Full text available at the Vatican website.
- Pope Francis, Message for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees (annual) Pope Francis issues a message every year on the World Day of Migrants and Refugees (typically September). These messages develop and apply Catholic teaching on migration to current events and policy questions. Archives available at the Vatican website.