Religion, Migration and Foreign Policy: Tensions in Immigration Policy and Immigrant Integration

Friday, March 14, 2008
11:00am-12:30pm
Copley Formal Lounge
Open to the public
RSVP: berkleycenter@georgetown.edu

How important is the role of religion in the integration of immigrants in the United States? How are immigrants changing the religious diversity of the United States? Does the presence of immigrants from other religious backgrounds present challenges to mainstream denominations, in terms of views on immigration, relationships with leaders of other religions, or in other respects? Are there significant differences between the views on immigration and immigrant integration of religious leaders and those of the rank and file members of the denominations? What is the relationship between religion and immigrants’ identity?

Panelists will explore how immigrants are transforming religious life in their destination countries and how mainstream religious groups are addressing the tensions in immigration policy and immigrant integration.

Panelists

Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio was named to lead the Brooklyn Diocese on Aug. 1, 2003, after four years as the Bishop of the Diocese of Camden. From l998-2001, he chaired the Migration Committee of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Since then he has served as chairman of the Catholic Legal Immigration Network. Inc., and in 2000 he was appointed a member of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People. Since November 2004, Bishop DiMarzio has chaired the Domestic Policy Committee of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Dr. Richard Land has served as president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission since 1988. During his tenure as representative for the largest Protestant denomination in the country, Dr. Land has represented Southern Baptist and other Evangelicals’ concerns in the halls of Congress, before U.S. Presidents, and in the media. He is the host of three nationally syndicated radio programs: For Faith & Family, For Faith & Family’s Insight, and Richard Land Live!

Dr. Peggy Levitt is Chair and Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at Wellesley College. She is also a Research Fellow at the Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations and the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard University, where co-directs the Transnational Studies Initiative. Her latest book, God Needs No Passport, is about how immigrants are changing the American religious landscape. 

Dr. Michael Werz