In 2023, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England & Wales (CBCEW) published a document titled ‘Love The Stranger’, which presents a Catholic response to refugees and migrants. The document is based on Catholic Social Teaching and was endorsed by the Holy See, COMECE, CAFOD, CSAN and Caritas Social Action Network members. One of the principles in the document calls for the creation of safe routes:
We encourage the extension of safe routes such as resettlement programmes, visa schemes and humanitarian corridors, so that people can exercise their right to migrate in a dignified and humane manner.
Love The Stranger, Principle 9
Catholic Social Teaching (CST) provides a strong foundation for supporting safe routes for refugees. Amongst others, it emphasizes the inherent dignity of every human person and the pursuit of the common good, aligning with the need for ensuring the protection of refugees.
1. Human Dignity
Every person is made in the image of God and deserves respect. Forcing people into dangerous journeys undermines this dignity. By introducing safe routes, we can ensure that this dignity is upheld during what is the most perilous and vulnerable time for people fleeing conflict and persecution.
2. Solidarity
Solidarity calls for empathy and support, recognising that all people are interconnected. We are one human family. CST calls us to stand with migrants and refugees as brothers and sisters and to advocate on their behalf for their rights to be upheld, including the introduction of safe routes.
3. Preferential Option for the Poor
CST urges us to give special concern to the most vulnerable members of society. Refugees fleeing conflict and persecution are among the most vulnerable, having to leave behind their community and support system and embark on perilous journeys, navigating hostile borders. They are among the most vulnerable in our society and thus warrant preferential consideration, which requires policy to recognise the need for safe routes and to ensure they are implemented.
4. The Common Good
Societies must promote conditions that allow all to flourish. Providing safe pathways protects refugees and communities and supports integration. The hostile environment and criminalisation of asylum is the opposite of this, instead placing refugees at increased risk of harm and exploitation.
5. Universal Destination of Goods
God created the earth for all people, so everyone should have a fair share of its goods, guided by justice and charity. Recognising the inherent dignity and right of refugees to access the necessary resources for a full life, Fratelli Tutti states that ‘each country also belongs to the foreigner, inasmuch as a territory’s goods must not be denied to a needy person coming from elsewhere’[1].
This principle applies to all societies and calls on us to ensure everyone has what they need for integral development. It calls on us to welcome and support refugees, whilst recognising the responsibilities of all to contribute to a more humane world. In advocating for safe routes, we can ensure refugees have access to the necessary goods ‘to live with dignity and to develop integrally’[2].
CST not only supports the creation of safe routes for refugees, but it also demands it as a matter of justice, compassion and global solidarity.
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Indeed, there never has been a period during which the Church has not been active [o]n behalf of migrants, exiles and refugees.
Exsul Familia [18], Pope Pius XII
[1] Fratelli Tutti, 124, https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/encyclicals/documents/papa-francesco_20201003_enciclica-fratelli-tutti.html
[2] Fratelli Tutti, 107, https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/encyclicals/documents/papa-francesco_20201003_enciclica-fratelli-tutti.html