Murder is a Sin, to Migrate is Not
Alejandra Martí Pérez
If there is an issue today that affects the dignity of individual persons and society, cries out for justice, requires solidarity, and calls for coordinated action that promotes the common good at national and international level, it is that complex of experiences that we call migration. (Pontifical Council, 2002)
The shocking images of ICE agents patrolling the streets coming from the United States, the images of a burning IPAS centre in Drogheda are horrifying to any practicing Catholic. That is of course unless your name happens to be James David Vance. Catholicism in the 21st century, the universal church more broadly has witnessed the formation of two camps. There is a refusal amongst many parishioners to acknowledge the fact, but the fact nonetheless remains. On the one hand there is the great hopes and aspirations of Catholic social teaching in Latin America, the reforming hands of Jesuit missionaries who saw their long awaited triumph in the election of Pope Francis. On the other hand there is the Catholicism from the belly of the beast: one that quotes Saint Thomas to justify the abuse of migrants, the bloodied hands of crusading warriors with renewed calls for holy war. The calls to violence are entirely antithetical to any basic church teaching, yet nevertheless they persist.
“War has become Vogue”
The division over the question of war within the church is nowhere more clear than when a man asked JD Vance why he supported Israel considering “their religion (sic)” supports the “persecution of ours” and “ethnic cleansing” (Forbes Breaking News, 2025). This man is clearly misguided and has erroneously equated Israel with the view of Judaism. Nevertheless his eyes and ears do not lie to him when he speaks of the sins of the Israeli army. The videos in Gaza, the West Bank and Jerusalem have horrified him. Have they horrified JD Vance? On the contrary JD Vance speaks first of all of “American interests” then mentions briefly his disagreements with Israel over access by Christians to holy sites. He speaks as if the only Christians in the world are located within the United States. On the contrary, those who have held onto their faith longer and through millenia of persecution persist in the Holy Land despite the Israeli onslaught. Israel is not only restricting the movement of Christians, it is killing an entire people. One might recall the words of Pope Leo XIV “Enough of war”, and “Peace is holy, not war” (Pope Leo XIV, 2025). It has become clear today that as the pope says “War is back in vogue” (O’Connell, 2026) even amongst self-professed Christians. These dangerous ideas are contrary to the words of the pope and the bible.
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers. (NSB, 2020: Eph 6:12)
This love for war has impacted even those within the United States. In the middle of the day children disappear from the loving embrace of their mothers. Mothers themselves are shot down in broad daylight. People are sent to prison camps in El Salvador simply for having a different skin colour. No war is holy, let alone a war against migrants. To cloak their attacks they have repeatedly dehumanised migrants as “criminals”. But it is abundantly clear that this is nothing more than a smokescreen. The constant vilification of the desire by many to seek a better life for their children and their family is without basis in doctrine, on the contrary acting upon this desire is a right affirmed after considerable discernment by a council within the church (Pontifical Council, 2002). So what then is the theological justification for this war?
The Distortion of Ordo amoris
JD Vance has defended his positions using the ordo amoris of Saint Thomas. His version is one where:
We should love our family first, then our neighbors, then love our community, then our country, and only then consider the interests of the rest of the world. (Pope, 2025).
He does not at all speak of God. God is the foundation of love, his all embracing love does not discriminate between Jew or gentile, between sinner or saint. There is no ordo amoris without recognising the equal sanctity of life. As Pope Francis (2025) said “The true ordo amoris that must be promoted is that which we discover by meditating constantly on the parable of the “Good Samaritan”… the love that builds a fraternity open to all, without exception.” An ordo amoris that contradicts the sanctity of life and the dignity of humans is not a rightly ordered love, on the contrary it is hate. It has just been two weeks and already four migrants have died in detention by ICE (Hesson, 2026). Last week a mother was killed in front of an entire neighbourhood (Gumbel, 2026).
One Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church
Catholicism and universalism, these two words are synonymous. Any attempts to discriminate, any attempts to use the faith to promote nationalism are distortions of the faith itself. The entire history of the Christian faith has been one of a universal mission for each and every human. The church conquered Greco-Roman philosophy and absorbed its thinking towards the goal of spreading the message of God. It conquered the pagan ritual of Christmas and turned it into a holiday about community and love. The church has a universal mission, it does not recognise the borders of nations, it does not discriminate in its war against the sins of the world. This universal mission still has meaning in the 21st century, a century of unparalleled greed. This is a century of capitalist turmoil and naked imperialism, a century of ever increasing inequality. The goal of Vatican II remains.
The joys and the hopes, the griefs and the anxieties of the men of this age, especially those who are poor or in any way afflicted, these are the joys and hopes, the griefs and anxieties of the followers of Christ. (Vatican Council II, 1965)
Forbes Breaking News. (2025, October 29). JD Vance Responds To Man Who Says Israel’s “Religion… Openly Supports The Prosecution Of Ours.” YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9BnTjIWPXI
Gumbel, A. (2026, January 13). “Unimaginable loss”: Renee Good family urges “empathy” in call for justice. The Guardian; The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/12/renee-good-family-ice-killing-statement
Hesson, T. (2026, January 12). Four migrants die in US immigration custody over first 10 days of 2026. Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/four-migrants-die-us-ice-custody-over-first-10-days-2026-2026-01-12/
New American Standard Bible. (2020). https://www.biblegateway.com
O’Connell, G. (2026, January 9). “War is back in vogue,” Pope Leo warns in major foreign policy speech. America Magazine. https://www.americamagazine.org/vatican-dispatch/2026/01/09/pope-leo-ambassadors-war-peace/
Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People. (2002). Migration and the Social Doctrine of the Church. The Holy See. https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/migrants/pom2002_88_90/rc_pc_migrants_pom88-89_blume.htm
Vatican Council II. (1965, December 7). Pastoral Constitution on the church in the modern world: Gaudium Et Spes. The Holy See. https://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19651207_gaudium-et-spes_en.html
Pope Francis. (2025, February 10). Letter of the Holy Father to the Bishops of the United States of America (10 February 2025) | Francis. Vatican.va. https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/letters/2025/documents/20250210-lettera-vescovi-usa.html
Pope Leo XIV: “Peace is holy, not war.” (2025, October 28). Vatican News. https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2025-10/pope-leo-xiv-peace-meeting-rome-colosseum-sant-egidio.html
Pope, S. J. (2025, February 13). The problem with JD Vance’s theology of “ordo amoris”—and its impact on policy. America Magazine. https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2025/02/13/ordo-amoris-stephen-pope-vance-249926/