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Bishops in Scotland spoke out against the UK bill targeting irregular migration, saying it would cause forceable removal of vulnerable asylum seekers without addressing the need for safe and legal migration pathways. The Bishops called for asylum reform and respect for human dignity.

Humanitarian corridors offer safe, legal, and dignified pathways out of dangerous situations, Pope Francis told refugees and supporting organizations on 18 March. He said this approach to migration, supported by the Italian Episcopal Conference and other groups, “points a way forward for Europe.”

Migrants and refugees are “brothers and sisters,” not a “political problem to be solved,” lead migration Bishop Paul McAleenan stresses in “Love the Stranger,” a new Episcopal publication. The Church has a responsibility towards people on the move, who contribute to their new communities, he says.

Pope Francis’s focus on care for migrants has redefined this ministry as a vocation for Bishop Joseph Mary Kizito. In an ACI Africa interview, the lead migration Bishop in Southern Africa speaks about new understandings of people on the move and the call to welcome, protect, promote, and integrate.

Mexican Bishops have denounced police chasing migrants onto the grounds of Ciudad Juárez cathedral and arresting them in a place of humanitarian assistance. A statement from the Episcopal migrant ministry condemned the police for “using violence to physically and psychologically harm the people.”

During the Angelus on Sunday, Pope Francis remembered the migrants who died in a shipwreck off Italy on 26 September and appealed for an end to the human trafficking that is taking the lives of many innocent people. “May the journeys of hope never again turn into journeys of death,” he prayed.

European States must take collective responsibility and respond to migration with humanity, the head of the Italian Bishops’ Conference (CEI) said after dozens of migrants died in a shipwreck off the Italian coast. Cardinal Matteo Zuppi called for “a structural, shared, and supportive approach.”

U.S. lead migration Bishop Mark J. Seitz opposed proposed Administration restrictions on asylum-seekers entering the country irregularly, saying the rules would weaken access to international protection and prioritize “heavy-handed enforcement” as a “viable solution to increased migration.”