Tucson bishop says supporting human dignity for migrants not political — it's moral and spiritual

The new Catholic pope has made a lot of headlines since his ascension for statements seen as political — from Pope Leo’s back-and-forth with President Donald Trump over the Iran War to his outspoken position on immigration and rebukes of the Trump administration’s “inhumane treatment” of undocumented immigrants.

This weekend, as the United States celebrates its 250th anniversary, the pope will not be in the U.S. but instead on an Italian island, a main gateway for migrants to Europe.

Late last year, as ICE raids were on the rise around the country, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a rare rebuke of what they called the Trump administration’s “indiscriminate mass deportation of people.”

They echoed that message again in February with a unified statement calling for immigration reform and respect for the dignity of migrants.

Bishop James Misko signed onto that letter and helped lead a mass on the Arizona-Mexico reporter in Nogales late last week called Border Mass 250.

Misko is the new bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson. The Show spoke with him more about it.

Full conversation

LAUREN GILGER: Tell us first just about the experience of leading this cross-border mass right now. I mean, it it I’m sure was hot out there. Did it feel solemn? Did it feel joyous? Did it feel contentious?

JAMES MISKO: Yeah, no, it was a fantastic afternoon and evening. You know, the whole impetus behind this was really as pastors, the bishops who are bishops in border regions, we’re shepherds. We’re ordained to be pastors to people. And so, that’s really how we approached this whole event is to go down to Nogales to be pastors for the people of God. Of course, we know that there are migrants who are there on the border. They’re on the Mexican side of the border, and they have come up from various countries in Central America, and of course, in Mexico, and wanting to improve their lives, wanting to help their families by migrating into a place where they might have better opportunities.

But in addition to that, it’s a much more comprehensive and and complex scenario because not only do you have migrants that are there at the border, but you have people who live at the border, the residents of the United States side of the border, particularly in this case in Nogales, and then the residents who are in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico.

And so, they have a different experience of this this current experience of migration. And then, of course, you have people that are at the border who are employed to manage the border, to functionally operate the border, and that would be Border Patrol and different law enforcement agencies, and they’re people, too, and they need to have ministry. They need to have pastoral accompaniment as well. And then, of course, as we go down there, we think about our elected officials and their responsibility of governing the border. So, to be shepherds, to bring Christ to all of them.

LAUREN GILGER: Yeah. So, so you held this event in the context of the United States’ 250th anniversary, and at this moment in which immigration is such a divisive and heated political issue in the country. And and as you’re outlining there, there was talk of, you know, the rights of nation states to have borders, but also the rights and the dignity of migrants. I wonder, do you think that that kind of underlying humanity of everyone involved in this issue from all those sides that you outlined there is getting lost in the conversation today?

JAMES MISKO: Well, I think that it’s my job as a shepherd and it’s our job as bishops to make sure it doesn’t get lost, and that’s why we were there. Because really, the the most important teaching of Christianity and Christ himself embodied it in his three-year ministry was and is the dignity of the human person. Now, the 250th anniversary of our Declaration of Independence was just an opportunity for us to go down there and as one of the reasons for being there, to actually amplify and to highlight the great contribution that migrants have made to the United States for the last two and a half centuries. I mean, think about how migrants have actually participated and contributed to the culture of the United States. I mean, it’s incredible.

You know, it’s interesting, Lauren, the church teaches what the church holds to be true, that migration is just simply part of the human experience. How long have people been migrating? Well, forever. And then, the church holds to be true that nations do have a right and a responsibility to manage their borders. I mean, that’s part of being a nation. And the church has always been clear that we don’t, we’re not for open borders. We’re for well-managed and borders that are managed with the underlying foundation of protecting human dignity.

LAUREN GILGER: So, I want to talk more about the role of the church and religious leaders more broadly, like yourself, in in talking about and going kind of head-on for these very controversial issues like immigration. Like, many will view that as a political issue and only really view it through a political lens. It sounds like you think it is a moral one more than a political one.

JAMES MISKO: Well, I certainly think it’s a spiritual one. You know, as a as a priest, and now as a bishop, my role is to help people encounter the presence of God. It’s really, so to your question, it’s really spiritual and theological. So, when we encounter people in all sorts of different situations in life, as pastors, as shepherds, we’re here to form the people of God to see the other as the mystical body of Christ, as as this spiritual place where Christ makes himself present. And that’s where we get the theology of the dignity of the human person. And it actually comes from the Bible as well, where it says that we’re created in the image and likeness of God.

I mean, Pope Leo has been just so spot on, he has said very clearly, "I don’t come to this place or that place," wherever he’s traveling, "I don’t come as a politician. I come as a pastor." And so, that’s really, that’s really what we did down there so. My preference is to not, I don’t, I don’t enter into political conversations. My role is to be a pastor, and that’s why we were there, to be pastors.

LAUREN GILGER: So, what do you make of, you know, the chatter around things like this or around the pope being outspoken about defending migrants and their dignity, right? Like, some saying, you know, religious leaders should stay in their lane, should stay out of politics. You’re saying we are in our lane?

JAMES MISKO: Absolutely. I mean, I can’t imagine anything other than he is in his lane when he says that because he actually was ordained as a priest and ordained as a bishop, and he was chosen as the pope to actually help people to see the world through the lens of the gospel. And when we see the world through the lens of the gospel, I mean, just go back to Jesus’s ministry for three years. How did he do his ministry? He walked around and talked to people. And he found people, as Pope Francis of happy memory would say, "on the margins," people struggling with life, people with no support.

So, I think that that actually is the Holy Father’s lane, and it certainly is our lane as bishops, and it’s really every Christian person’s lane to go out there and to meet people where they are and to help them find and appreciate their human dignity.

LAUREN GILGER: The U.S. bishops recently released a statement expressing concern about the Department of Homeland Security’s enforcement activities when it comes to immigration of late. You signed on to that statement. What are some of the issues that you’re concerned about here? I know asylum was part of the conversation, the treatment of migrants, detention facilities, things like that.

JAMES MISKO: Well, I certainly think that the bishops have been very clear over the last several years that we’re asking for comprehensive immigration reform, so that people can migrate in a functional way that not only honors their human dignity but also respects the state, respects a nation.

To your question, you know, if people are living in fear because of things that are happening in the country when it comes to migration, well, this is a difficult way for them to live. And if we could get some immigration reform, maybe that fear would be lessened. We certainly think that due process is very important for people whenever they’re working throughout here in the United States.

If something were to arise where they were to be detained, it’s very important to have due process. We certainly think that we need to help people when it comes to asylum. You know, one of the things about the recent statement that came out from the U.S. bishops about the asylum judgment was the fact that there are people who are seeking asylum and they’re actually fleeing from dangerous situations. And so, for them to have to go back into a dangerous situation is something that certainly is not honoring or cultivating human dignity.

LAUREN GILGER: OK, we’ll leave it there. Bishop James Misko, bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson, joining us to talk about Border Mass 250. Bishop, thank you very much for coming on the show. Thank you for taking the time to talk to me about this, I very much appreciate it.

JAMES MISKO: You bet. Enjoyed it, Lauren, thank you.