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Dr. Jeff Marlett is teaching a course sponsored by the archdiocese's Office of Human Life & Dignity and School of Pastoral Leadership on Catholic social teaching and immigration.
Oct. 1, 2020
Nicholas Wolfram SmithAn archdiocesan sponsored seminar on immigration and Catholic social teaching is sparking conversations about what the church teaches about migrants and refugees and how to translate the church’s principles into practical life.
The six-week online seminar, a collaboration between the archdiocese’s Human Life & Dignity and Pastoral Ministry offices, is taught by Jeff Marlett, professor of religious studies at College of St. Rose in Albany, NY.
Marlett’s hope for the course is that people “come away with a greater sense of the sources of the Catholic intellectual tradition, of Catholic social justice, and the ability to see how it applies to immigration and social issues like abortion or euthanasia.”
The church’s teaching on immigration is not a “special case” but has the same roots as its teaching on abortion and euthanasia, he said. “The person has dignity and worth beyond what they can do.” Persons should not be considered in terms of how useful they are, but what they deserve because of their dignity.
The course discusses immigration as part of the church’s teaching on Catholic social justice, drawing on basic Catholic principles, Scripture, the American Catholic Church and how its history as an immigrant church affects it, the joint U.S.-Mexico bishops’ statement “Strangers No Longer,” and papal documents.
Marlett said he began the first class by showing a video Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone about Catholic teaching on immigration, as a way to show episcopal leadership on the issue and the intellectual tradition behind it.
About 90 students from around the country have registered for the course, with about 45 people on average attending live sessions over Zoom. Recordings of the classes and notes are also made available after class for people to use.
“The first night of class I was on Zoom, seeing the number of people log in, the different faces, it was humbling but also very encouraging. Everyone has great questions and they’re very supportive,” he said.
Marlett said it has been a “wonderful experience” to see people earnestly grappling with the church’s teachings and discuss among themselves what kind of policies should result from Catholic social teaching. People have discussed DACA, amnesty, and how border immigration should be handled, he said.
“That kind of willingness to engage spiritual questions about how people view immigrants and the real hard-nosed policy issues of what we can get engaged in at the state or local policy level, that’s heartening,” he said, praising it as an example of Catholicism’s emphasis on faith and practical action.
The course is non-partisan and focused on applying the church’s principles, including that of subsidiarity. A bedrock principle of Catholic social teaching, subsidiarity means that decisions should be made at the lowest possible level or by those who are closest to the relevant issues.
“It’s one thing to read some nice things about immigration or hear me talk about it, but the material itself calls upon people to act where they are. People rightly ask what should I do, and the answer starts with where are you? The Catholic answer and approach to immigration is going to differ depending on whether people are around Dallas or somewhere in San Francisco. The politics and issues are different,” Marlett said.
“There’s an element of practical solution that has to be found on the ground, that can’t be scripted from the outside,” he said.
Catholics continue to be divided about immigration and its effect on the U.S. A Public Religion Research Institute survey in 2019 found about half of white Catholics and a fifth of Hispanic Catholics agreed with statements that “Immigrants threaten traditional American customs and values,” and “Immigrants are invading our country and replacing our cultural and ethnic background,” while about 40% of all Americans agreed with those statements.
The same survey found overall that 68% of white Catholics favored restrictive immigration policies, compared to 39% of Hispanic Catholics and 56% of all Americans.
Marlett expressed hope that Catholics could muster a united response on the issue of immigration, arguing that the search for common ground is part of the Catholic intellectual tradition. “The groundwork is there intellectually and also institutionally, with clerical and lay leadership, but this is a hyper-partisan political environment like no other I’ve known, and there’s an undeniable element of hardening of the ideological spectrum,” he said.
The course on Catholic social teaching and immigration is the fourth online seminar offered by the Office of Pastoral Ministry.
Deacon Fred Totah, who directs that office in addition to the Office of Deacon Formation, said the course was chosen in collaboration with the Office of Human Life & Dignity because “immigration is a very important topic and we wanted to educate people on what the Catholic Church teaches on immigration from a social justice standpoint. We can tell you what the church teaches, but you’re free to make up your mind,” he said.
Deacon Totah said seminars hosted by his office grew out of their work to bring back the archdiocese’s School of Pastoral Leadership. After they suspended their work because of the pandemic, they decided to offer non-credit courses to the public as a way to maintain interest. So far, classes have been on Catholic mystical women, God in the movies and St. Junipero Serra, with more planned to come. The courses cost $20, but Deacon Totah emphasized “we don’t say no to anyone who can’t afford it. We don’t want to turn people away.”