For the First Time in History, Evangelicals and Catholics Speak With One Voice on Immigration
Doctrinal differences between evangelicals and Catholics run deep — on the sacraments, on church authority, on centuries of history that kept the two traditions at arm's length. So when the presidents of the National Association of Evangelicals and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops put their names on the same page, it is worth stopping to notice.
On October 13, Bishop Brendan Cahill and the Rev. Walter Kim released a joint statement titled "A Call for Christian Compassion and Wisdom in the Immigration Debate" — the first statement on immigration in U.S. history to be jointly issued by senior leaders of the Catholic and evangelical traditions. It is the fruit of the Evangelical-Catholic Dialogue on Immigration (ECDI), an initiative the two bodies launched together in March, bringing five evangelical and five Catholic leaders to the same table.
As the co-chairs put it themselves: "what is unique about this statement is not the content, which is grounded in centuries of Christian teaching and tradition that we have already affirmed separately, but the clear unity that exists between us in this moment."
A shared scriptural foundation
The statement doesn't invent new theology to make its case. It returns to three texts both traditions have always held in common: human beings are "created with dignity, bearing God's image" (Genesis 1:27), the family is a God-ordained institution (Genesis 2:24), and government has a God-given but limited role to play in ordering society (Romans 13:1–7).
From that foundation, Cahill and Kim write plainly that human dignity "comes from God, not government, and no earthly power may erase it." And on enforcement that sweeps up peaceful families rather than those who pose an actual threat, they go further still, writing that such action "is not an expression of Romans 13 but a departure from it."
That is a serious theological claim for two of the most prominent Christian bodies in the country to make together, and it is matched by a serious acknowledgment of the moment driving it. The statement lands amid a sharp rise in detentions and deportations nationwide, after several groups of immigrants had long-standing legal protections revoked. Cahill and Kim write that "there is much that can be done to avoid the rupturing of our families and communities brought about by indiscriminate and aggressive enforcement actions."
Why this touches the pews, not just the headlines
For a lot of Christians, this isn't an abstract policy debate — it's who sits next to them on Sunday. A joint report from USCCB's migration office, the NAE, World Relief, and the Center for the Study of Global Christianity found that more than 10 million Christian immigrants in the U.S. are vulnerable to deportation, and that roughly 80% of everyone at risk of deportation nationwide is Christian — 61% Catholic, 13% evangelical. Nearly 7 million U.S.-citizen Christians live in the same household as someone facing that risk. Add it up, and one in twelve American Christians either faces losing legal status or shares a home with someone who does.
That's not a fringe concern within evangelical churches, either. A Lifeway Research survey of 667 Protestant pastors cited alongside the report found that 98% believe legal immigration benefits the country, and 74% of evangelicals broadly support a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants already here. Among Latino pastors specifically, 70% say immigrants make up "many" or "nearly all" of their congregants.
What the statement actually asks for
The statement isn't a call for open borders, and it's careful to say so. It affirms the government's legitimate role in securing the border and names border security and due process as necessities, not obstacles. But it pairs that with concrete asks of Congress: expand legal pathways for immigrants who have built lives here over years, keep families from being separated, ensure anyone in detention has access to legal counsel and to pastoral and spiritual care, and rebuild reliable channels for refugees and workers to come legally.
What you can do with it
NAE is suggesting three concrete responses for congregations: pray — for immigrant neighbors, for policymakers, and for the law enforcement officers carrying out these policies; proclaim the statement's three biblical principles in a sermon series or small-group study; and present it to your member of Congress, ideally alongside a Catholic brother or sister in your community, as a tangible sign of the unity the statement describes.
Two traditions that have spent centuries defining themselves partly by their differences have just told the country, together, where they agree. That's the real headline here — not a policy paper, but a witness.
