Berkley Center

Global displacement has reached record-high numbers, with more than 68 million people forced to leave their homes as a result of persecution, conflict, generalized violence, or human rights violations. This translates into one person being displaced every two seconds of every day.

These staggering figures have placed the plight of refugees front and center in the news media, in our halls of Congress, and in our communities. While some have welcomed refugees with open arms, others have shunned them. What are we as Catholics called to do? How are we to regard refugees?

Catholic social teaching provides us with a guide for how we should treat refugees and migrants. Not only are we encouraged to love and support those who are like us and those that we love, but we are called to demonstrate extraordinary acts of love by reaching out to those who are not like us. We are called to welcome strangers.

Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) was founded by Fr. Pedro Arrupe, S.J., then superior general of the Jesuits. In 1980, deeply shocked by the plight of thousands of Vietnamese boat people fleeing their war-torn country, Fr. Arrupe felt compelled to act. He called on the Jesuits to “bring at least some relief to such a tragic situation.”

Today, JRS works in more than 50 countries by meeting the educational, psychosocial, health, and emergency needs of over 637,000 refugees and other forcibly displaced persons. JRS works side-by-side with the displaced, providing assistance to refugees in camps and urban areas, individuals displaced within their own countries, asylum seekers in cities, and those held in detention centers. 

The mission of JRS is to accompany, serve, and advocate for the rights of refugees and other forcibly displaced persons. JRS is inspired by the compassion of Jesus, who made it his mission to reach the most marginalized people of his time. The JRS mission is built on a faith in God who is present in human history, even in its most tragic moments. We are inspired by this faith and by core values that inform all the work we do.

In many countries and contexts, refugees are often the most marginalized, the most disenfranchised, and the most vulnerable. Although refugees have inherent human rights, those rights are often overlooked as they are denied the ability to work, to go to school, or to find permanent safety and security.

The Catholic Church, and the Gospel stories at its foundation, provide us with a clear-eyed view of how we as Catholics must regard refugees. In Church teachings and through messages delivered by Pope Francis, it is clear that displaced persons—including refugees—are special in the eyes of God.

JRS’s identity as a faith-based organization plays a critical role in how we carry out our work. We are also inspired by the common ground found in values shared by different faith traditions, by the rich diversity of our teams, and by the fact that most of our beneficiaries today are Muslim, reflecting the demography of today’s global refugee population. According to the UN Refugee Agency, Muslim-majority countries including Syria, Afghanistan, and Somalia rank among the top origin countries for the world’s refugees.

Here in the United States, JRS works with fellow Jesuit institutions—including high schools, universities, and parishes—to share the realities of the lives of refugees and to mobilize these communities to take action. Our faith calls us to stand up and speak out when the least among us faces persecution. JRS provides opportunities for communities to do just that by organizing Refugee Actions Teams, hosting refugee simulations, or contacting their policymakers. By doing our part—both in supporting host communities that have welcomed refugees and advocating for our own governments to protect the rights of refugees—we are truly living out our faith.