The vitally important Catholic presence at the border

By Effie Caldarola

“Any man’s death diminishes me,” wrote the 17th-century poet John Donne, “because I am involved in mankind.”

When I look at little Jaclyn’s picture, this quote makes sense. Her death diminished us.

She came to me only as a picture on a holy card, given at a prayer service for children who die at our border with Mexico. It was during one of those times when large numbers of juveniles were being cruelly separated by our government from their parents at the border.

But this little girl had died in the crossing itself, a drowning victim. I kept the card, feeling I owed it to the dignity of this sad-eyed little girl to remember her.

The Jesuit Border Podcast, coming to you from the Diocese of Brownsville, Texas, was conceived by two young Jesuit priests who were assigned to mission at the border in 2021. They quickly realized there were so many stories to tell, and their podcasts highlight the work that the Catholic Church and others are doing for migrants along the border between the U.S. and Mexico.

It’s a conversational, personal, chatty podcast. You’ll like these guys, their own bumbling first attempts at helping, what they’ve learned, and the good people they’ve met and the interesting people they’ve interviewed.

One of my favorite interview subjects: the Bishop of Brownsville, Daniel Flores. I didn’t know much about Bishop Flores, except that Pope Francis chose him as one of seven members -- and the only American -- of the preparatory commission for the general assembly of the Synod of Bishops, which is meeting this month. That’s a high endorsement.

Bishop Flores points out that Catholic social teaching emphasizes that every human being is created in the image of God, and that at the heart of our social teaching is the need to be adaptable to the situation.

We are not able to control the circumstances in Guatemala or other countries beset by climate change and internal chaos. Try as we might, we can’t even move our own Congress to take action on immigration reform.

But we can, Bishop Flores said, “attend to the people in front of us. What happens to you matters to me,” echoing the thoughts of the poet Dunne. “Connectivity is part of the Catholic ethos.”

The Incarnation proves our connection to the poor and to each other. Christ was born and lived among the poor, was rejected by the powerful of his time, and was ultimately executed by the state.

In the U.S. today, Bishop Flores said, “There has been a breakdown in a communal sense of belonging to each other.”

Bishop Flores emphasizes a basic truth of being Catholic: our commitment to the common good. After the school massacre in Uvalde, Texas, where 21 people were killed, mostly little children, Bishop Flores wrote a powerful Twitter post.

“Guns are easier to obtain than aspirin,” he said, adding, “We sacralize death’s instruments and then are surprised that death uses them.”

Those are strong words and it’s great to see a U.S. bishop willing to speak them.

Bishop Mark Seitz of El Paso, also on the border, is also courageous in taking stands for the vulnerable. He speaks for the unborn, but he told The Jesuit Podcast that as Catholics, the vulnerable must also include the immigrant and persons who are victims of racial prejudice.

Bishop Seitz has offered Mass on the border with the altar straddling both sides, a powerful endorsement of the unity that the Eucharist brings.

Bishops like these, and the young Jesuits laboring on our border, remind me of why I am Catholic, and proud to be.