Procession urges dignity and respect for migrants at border crossing

The Border Mass 250 included a conversation on immigration with U.S. Catholic bishops, celebration of a Mass, and a rosary procession across the international line.

Catholic bishops, clergy, and hundreds of faithful processed across the U.S.–Mexico border to celebrate the contribution of immigrants in America ahead of the 250th anniversary of the nation.

“Weʼre here as shepherds and as pastors to walk with people, to listen to people, and to be well together with the people of God here at the border,” Bishop James Misko of Tucson, Arizona, said at the event.

“We call ourselves Christians. To be called a Christian means to be like Christ — to be living a life as conformed to Christ as possible. And we know that justice is being in right relationship with God and one another,” Misko said.

Organized by the dioceses of Tucson and Phoenix in partnership with the Kino Border Initiative, the Hope Border Institute, and the Center for Migration Studies, the June 26 event included a conversation on immigration with U.S. Catholic bishops, Mass at Sacred Heart Church in Nogales, Arizona, and a rosary procession across the international line.

The pastoral conversation on migration and human dignity “was a great conversation with five bishops about what the Church holds to be true when it comes to migration and human dignity,” Misko said.

Misko and Bishop John Dolan of Phoenix were joined in conversation by Archbishop John Wester of Santa Fe, New Mexico; Bishop Mark Seitz of El Paso, Texas; and Bishop Emeritus Gerald Kicanas of Tucson.

“As we mark the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, we are reminded that we are made by our Creator with certain inalienable rights. Theyʼre given by God,” Seitz said at the event.

“That is a fundamental reality that we in the Church always have in mind and that no policy, no executive order or Supreme Court decision can take away,” Seitz said.

After the bishops celebrated Mass, the procession began at the Arizona parish and concluded at Parroquia De Pa Purísima Concepción — a Catholic church in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico. The group ended the event with a meal with migrants hosted by the Kino Border Initiative.

Mexican bishops José Luis Cerra Luna of Nogales and Enrique Sanchez Martinez of Mexicali also participated in the binational event.

U.S. bishops have ‘almost complete unanimity’ on immigration matter

“What is discouraging for me is that as a country, we have not yet been able to address the issue of immigration,” Kicanas said. “The conference of bishops has been clamoring, crying out, for comprehensive immigration reform, and we have not yet been able to accomplish that.”

“We have to address the immigration policy of our country — as [do] most countries around the world today. Itʼs a serious concern. All of us want this situation to improve,” Kicanas said.

“The bishops have been advocating for comprehensive immigration reform for a long, long time,” and Border Mass 250 “was just one more example of that,” Wester said.

The event followed other calls for reform including pastoral letters on immigration and a special message from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops highlighting their opposition to “the indiscriminate mass deportation of people.”

The bishops approved the message at their 2025 fall plenary assembly on Nov. 12, 2025, where the motion passed with support from more than 95% of the American bishops who voted.

“One of the key principles of Catholic social teaching is solidarity — that weʼre together,” Wester said. “But this is an issue, Iʼd say, that enjoys almost complete unanimity in the bishops’ conference.”

The bishops are addressing the matter as communities across the country “are looking for a clear moral response to the human cost of mass detention and deportation,” Dylan Corbett, executive director at Hope Border Institute, told EWTN News.

“In union with Pope Leo XIV, who will soon go to Lampedusa, the border Mass in Nogales was a way for the Catholic community to name the suffering, affirm the dignity of those affected by these policies, and commit to working for reform,” said Corbett, who is also a member of the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.

“In this moment, moral clarity must be matched by ongoing action that recognizes the contributions of immigrants to our country and the urgent need to work for justice,” he said.