Thursday, September 11, 2025
6:00 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. EDT
Location: Healy Hall Gaston Hall
This summer, the United States has witnessed families torn apart, communities full of fear, and people afraid to go to church and work because of the threats and realities of deportations on a wide scale. Catholic leaders have been on the frontlines speaking out and standing in solidarity with immigrants, united in a belief in the God-given dignity of all people, and faced with one of the most dramatic disruptions of the U.S. Church’s life in recent decades.
Pope Francis reminded the U.S. Catholic bishops in February 2025 that the “common good is promoted when society and government, with creativity and strict respect for the rights of all… welcomes, protects, promotes and integrates the most fragile, unprotected and vulnerable.” And in recent weeks, Pope Leo XIV has encouraged us to see migrants as “messengers of hope” in a world darkened by ongoing violence and war—a stark contrast to the rhetoric and fear stoked by many politicians.
As bishops and other Catholic leaders uphold these teachings through their public witness, policymakers and the rest of us must seek the common good, find paths to unity and solidarity, and remember that a just society defends the rights and interests of its most vulnerable members. This urgent dialogue will bring together Catholic bishops, academic and policy experts, and community leaders to explore how the principles of Catholic social teaching can help us seek a better way forward.
Kim Daniels, director of the Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life, will moderate the dialogue.
Participants
Ashley Feasley
Ashley Feasley is the Legal Expert in Residence at the Immigration Law and Policy Initiative at Catholic University of America’s Columbus School of Law and a Hyphen Partnerships Immigration Policy Fellow. She previously worked as the Director for Migration Policy and Public Affairs at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and served on the National Security Council and in the Departments of Health and Human Services and Homeland Security during the Biden Administration.
Nichole Flores
Nichole Flores is an associate professor of religious studies at the University of Virginia. Her work focuses on the relationship between Catholicism and democracy, emphasizing Latiné theology, ethics, and politics. She is the author of The Aesthetics of Solidarity: Our Lady of Guadalupe and American Democracy (2021).
Archbishop José Gomez
Archbishop José Gomez is the archbishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, California, the nation’s largest Catholic community. He is the first person of Latino descent to serve as both vice president and president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Bishop Evelio Menjivar-Ayala
Bishop Evelio Menjivar-Ayala is an auxiliary bishop in the Archdiocese of Washington and the former pastor of St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Landover Hills. In 2023 he became the first Salvadoran bishop in the United States. During his ministry, he has actively supported and promoted social justice for immigrants.
Sr. Norma Pimentel, M.J.
Sr. Norma Pimentel, M.J., is the executive director of Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley and the leader of the Humanitarian Respite Center for families fleeing violence in Central America. Pope Francis praised her for her work with refugees and immigrants to the United States.
Fr. Guillermo Treviño, Jr.
Fr. Guillermo Treviño, Jr. is the pastor of twin Hispanic parishes, St. Joseph West Liberty and St. Joseph Columbus Junction in the Diocese of Davenport, Iowa, and has worked advocating on behalf of his recently deported parishioner Pasqual Pedro. He is also the chaplain and co-chair of Escucha Mi Voz (Listen to My Voice), a community organizing group in Iowa.
Bishop Mark Seitz
Bishop Mark Seitz is the bishop of the Diocese of El Paso, Texas, where he serves a borderland community whose sister city is Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. He is also the chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Migration.
Archbishop Thomas Wenski
Archbishop Thomas Wenski is the archbishop of the Archdiocese of Miami, Florida. He has joined the Knights on Bikes ministry to the gates of the immigration detention center known as “Alligator Alcatraz,” an effort by the Knights of Columbus to pray for and draw attention to the spiritual and other needs of people held at the facility.
Accessibility
All accommodation requests should be sent to cathsocialthought@georgetown.edu by September 9. A good-faith effort will be made to fulfill requests.