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MAJOR DOCUMENTS (1 of 3)

Leo XIII, “Rerum Novarum” 20, 37, 47 (1891)

“The following duties bind the wealthy owner and the employer: not to
look upon their work people are their bondsmen, but to respect in every
man his dignity as a person ennobled by Christian character. They are
reminded that, according to natural reason and Christian philosophy,
working for gain is creditable, not shameful, to a man, since it enables
him to earn an honorable livelihood; not to misuse men as though they
were things in the pursuit of gain, or to value them solely for their
physical powers – that is truly shameful and inhuman.”

“Rights must be religiously respected wherever they exist, and it is the
duty of the public authority to prevent and to punish injury, and to protect
every one in the possession of his own. Still, when there is question of
defending the rights of individuals, the poor and badly off have a claim to
especial consideration.”

“…[N]oone would exchange his country for a foreign land if his own
afforded him the means of living a decent and happy life.”

Pius XX, Apostolic Constitution "Exsul Familia," Introduction
(1952).

"The migrant Holy Family of Nazareth, fleeing into Egypt, is the archetype
of every refugee family. Jesus, Mary and Joseph, living in exile in Egypt
to escape the fury of an evil king, are, for all times and all places, the
models and protectors of every migrant, alien and refugee of whatever
kind who, whether compelled by fear of persecution or by want, is
forced to leave his native land, his beloved parents and relatives, his
close friends, and to seek a foreign soil."

John XXIII, “Mater et Magistra,” 83, 155 (1961)

“[If] the whole structure and organization of an economic system is such
as to compromise human dignity, to lessen a man's sense of
responsibility or rob him of opportunity for exercising personal initiative,
then such a system, We maintain, is altogether unjust—no matter how
much wealth it produces, or how justly and equitably such wealth is
distributed.”

“The solidarity of the human race and Christian brotherhood demand the
elimination as far as possible of these discrepancies. With this object in
view, people all over the world must co-operate actively with one
another in all sorts of ways, so as to facilitate the movement of goods,
capital and men from one country to another”

John XXIII, "Pacem in Terris," 25, 98, 106, 139 (1963).

"Every human being has the right to freedom of movement and of
residence within the
confines of his own state. When there are just reasons for it, he must be
permitted to
emigrate to other countries and to take up residence there. The fact that
he is a citizen of a
particular state does not deprive him of membership to the human family,
nor of citizenship in
that universal society, the common, world-wide fellowship of men."

"... [O]f its very nature, civil authority exists, not to confine its people
within the boundaries of their nation, but rather to protect, above all else,
the common good of the entire human family."

"Now among the rights of a human person there must be included that by
which a man may enter a political community where he hopes he can
more fittingly provide a future for himself and his dependents. Wherefore,
as far as the common good rightly understood permits, it is the duty of
that state to accept such immigrants and to help to integrate them into
itself as new members."

"[T]he public and universal authority, too, must have as its fundamental
objective the recognition, respect, safeguarding, and promotion of the
rights of the human person."

Vatican Council II, Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the
Modern World "Gaudium Et Spes" 27, 66 (Dec. 7, 1965).

“In our times a special obligation binds us to make ourselves the neighbor
of every person without exception, and of actively helping him when he
comes across our path, whether he be an old person abandoned by all,
a foreign laborer unjustly looked down upon, a refugee,…or a hungry
person who disturbs our conscience by recalling the voice of the Lord,
“As long as you did it for one of these the least of my brethren, you did it
for me” (Matt. 25:40).

"... [W]hen workers come from another country or district and contribute
by their labor to the economic advancement of a nation or region, all
discrimination with respect to wages and working conditions must be
carefully avoided. The local people, moreover, above all the public
authorities, should all treat them not as mere tools of production but as
persons, and must help them to arrange for their families to live with them
and to provide themselves with decent living quarters. The native should
also see that these workers are introduced into the social life of the
country or region which receives them."

Paul VI, “Populorum Progressio,” 67, 69 (March 26, 1967)
“We cannot insist too much on the duty of giving foreigners a hospitable
reception. It is a duty imposed by human solidarity and by Christian
charity, and it is incumbent upon families and education institutions in the
host nations…[T]hey should be welcomed in the spirit of brotherly love”

“Emigrant workers should also be given a warm welcome. Their living
conditions are often inhuman, and they must scrimp on their earnings in
order to send help to their familias who have remained behind in their
native land in poverty.”

Sacred Congregation for Bishops, "Instruction on the Pastoral
Care of People Who Migrate" 2, 7 (August 22, 1969)

"Migrations ... give witness to and promote the unity of the human family,
and confirm that communion of brotherhood among peoples 'in which
each party is at the same time a giver and a receiver.'"

"... [W]here a State which suffers from poverty combined with great
population cannot supply such use of goods to its inhabitants, or where
the State places conditions which offend human dignity, people possess
a right to emigrate, to select a new home in foreign lands, and to seek
conditions of life worthy of man. This right pertains not only to individual
persons, but to whole families as well .... Public authorities unjustly deny
the rights of human persons if they block or impede emigration or
immigration, except where grave requirements of the common good,
considered objectively, demand it."

Paul IV, “Octogesima Adveniens” 17 (1971)

“Right to emigrate: We are thinking of the precarious situation of a great
number of emigrant workers whose condition as foreigners makes it all
the more difficult for them to make any sort of social vindication, in spite
of their real participation in the economic effort of the country that
receives them. It is urgently necessary for people to go beyond a
narrowly nationalist attitude in their regard and to give them a charter
which will assure them a right to emigrate, favor their integration,
facilitate their professional advancement and give them access to decent
housing where, if such is the case, their families can join them.

Linked to this category are the people who, to find work, or to escape a
disaster or a hostile climate, leave their regions and find themselves
without roots among other people.
It is everyone's duty, but especially that of Christians, to work with
energy for the establishment of universal brotherhood, the indispensable
basis for authentic justice and the condition for enduring peace: "We
cannot in truthfulness call upon that God who is the Father of all if we
refuse to act in a brotherly way toward certain men, created to God's
image. A man's relationship with God the Father and his relationship with
his brother men are so linked together that Scripture says: 'He who does
not love does not know God' (I Jn. 4, 8)".

Synod of Bishops, “Justicia in Mundo” 21-22 (1971)

“Take, for example, the case of migrants. They are often forced to leave
their own country to find work, but frequently find the doors closed in
their faces because of discriminatory attitudes, or, if they can enter, they
are often obliged to lead an insecure life or are treated in an inhuman
manner. The same is true of groups that are less well off on the social
ladder such as workers and especially farm workers who play a very
great part in the process of development. To be especially lamented is
the condition of so many millions of refugees, and of every group or
people suffering persecution--sometimes in institutionalized form--for
racial or ethnic origin or on tribal grounds. This persecution on tribal
grounds can at times take on the characteristics of genocide.”

Pontifical Commission for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and
Itinerant Peoples, "The Church and Peoples on the Move"
(1978)

"Emigrants, on account of the peculiarly universal nature of the Church,
are not outsiders."

"The Church, 'sign and instrument of communion with God and unity
among men,' (Gaudium et Spes) feels herself to be closely involved in the
evolution of civilization of which mobility is a striking feature, and
questions herself about the demands made on her presence in this new
world, a world which in a certain sense, reflects her own personality as
a pilgrim on the face of the earth."

John Paul II, “Laborem Exercens” 23 (1981)

“Man has the right to leave his native land for various motives--and also
the right to return--in order to seek better conditions of life in another
country. This fact is certainly not without difficulties of various kinds.
Above all it generally constitutes a loss for the country which is left
behind. It is the departure of a person who is also a member of a great
community united by history, tradition and culture; and that person must
begin life in the midst of another society united by a different culture and
very often by a different language. In this case, it is the loss of a subject
of work, whose efforts of mind and body could contribute to the common
good of his own country, but these efforts, this contribution, are instead
offered to another society which in a sense has less right to them than
the person's country of origin …Every possible effort should be made to
ensure that it may bring benefit to the emigrant's personal, family and
social life, both for the country to which he goes and the country which
he leaves. In this area much depends on just legislation, in particular with
regard to the rights of workers. It is obvious that the question of just
legislation enters into the context of the present considerations,
especially from the point of view of these rights…

The most important thing is that the person working away from his native
land, whether as a permanent emigrant or as a seasonal worker, should
not be placed at a disadvantage in comparison with the other workers in
that society in the matter of working rights. Emigration in search for work
must in no way become an opportunity for financial or social exploitation.”

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