Mother Cabrini, patron saint fought for immigrants

By DAWN PROSSER
 Director of Communications

International Women’s Day, March 8, Angel Studios will release Cabrini, a film about Mother Cabrini, the Italian immigrant and missionary who became the first Catholic female American saint. Cabrini is directed by Alejandro Monteverde, the award-winning director of Sound of Freedom.

“Missionary Sister Frances Xavier Cabrini steps foot in America in 1889, greeted by disease, crime and impoverished children living in New York’s slums,” the Cabrini promotional material reads. “Guided by her unwavering faith, Cabrini sets off on a daring mission to bring God’s love and mercy to the marginalized.”

The film illustrates the challenges she faced including “language barriers, poor health and discrimination.” We included a link to the YouTube trailer for Cabrini in a recent LumeNotes email.

“Filthy Dagos. They just keep comin’,” a man called out to the group of black clad Italian religious women in the Cabrini trailer.

St. Mother Cabrini is the patron saint of immigrants due to her tireless work serving the spiritual and physical needs of suffering immigrants in the United States.

The Catholic Church continues her mission today, serving newcomers in this country.

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) Committee on Migration supports legislation “and policies that enhance protections for victims and address the conditions that result in trafficking.” The committee recently released a statement that the USCCB supports the Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Reauthorization Act of 2023. 

Chair of the Committee on Migration, Bishop Mark Seitz of El Paso, was quoted in a USCCB media release that he had concerns regarding some of the “migration related provisions” in the Emergency National Supplemental Appropriations Act HR 815. Concerns included provisions that would limit due process and protection for those who are not citizens with bona fide asylum claims. He noted that immigration reform could not be achieved without “authentic bipartisanship.”

Bishop Seitz was recently in the national media spotlight speaking out against the Texas attorney general’s efforts to shutter the El Paso Annunciation House. The Catholic facility serves migrants and asylum-seekers with several shelters offering food, housing, assistance and information regarding legal documents to apply for asylum. Newsweek reported that the bishop referred to the attorney general’s efforts as “a campaign of intimidation.”

The Texas Attorney General’s Office accused the Annunciation House of “facilitating illegal entry to the United States” and “human smuggling,” as reported by Franciscan Media.

The Iowa Catholic Conference, the public policy voice of the Iowa Catholic bishops, including Bishop Walker Nickless, recently issued legislative alerts regarding several issues important to Iowa Catholics, including potential legislation for state “solutions to migration policy.”

Bills that the ICC opposes include:

• HSB 703 and SF 2340 - creating a state crime of “illegal entry into the state by an alien.” 
• HF 2112 - creating the state crime of “smuggling of persons.” 
• HF 2320 - stopping state universities and community colleges from offering in-state tuition to residents of Iowa unless they can prove “lawful presence.”
• SF 108 – mandating use of the federal E-Verify system by employers in the state.

Regarding HF 2112, the ICC explained in their legislative alert that “the church does not encourage illegal immigration but is concerned the bill as drafted could be interpreted by some to criminalize providing basic charity to immigrants.”

The ICC urges the faithful to contact their state legislators regarding these bills and others. More information is available at iowacatholicconference.org.

Iowa Catholic dioceses provide services to immigrants, each tailored to their diocese’s needs.

The Diocese of Davenport’s Catholic Messenger newspaper ran an article by Editor Barb Arland-Fye in their Feb. 22 edition featuring the Iowa City Catholic Worker House and Escucha Mi Voz leaders’ call to action regarding the “anti-immigrant bills” that the ICC opposes.

A group of 30 immigrant and refugee workers and four clergy traveled to the state capitol last month to “share their stories and their concerns.” 

The Catholic Worker House hosted a Mass and supper with an opportunity for “concerned Catholics and others gathered to learn more about the legislation and how they might respond to it.” A naturalized citizen who had immigrated from Venezuela expressed concern that the proposed laws would separate families of varying immigration status.

The Archdiocese of Dubuque Catholic Charities offers immigration legal services for immigrants and refugees. The Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Des Moines offers refugee services to help resettle those with family or friends in their area and assists with job placement, school enrollment, language classes and more.

“We want to get the entire family off to a great start so they can be successful,” from the Catholic Charities Des Moines website. 

In January 2023, in partnership with the Diocese of Sioux City, Siouxland Immigration Law Firm and Catholic Charities Office launched the Welcome program. The program offers high-quality immigration legal services, mental health services and additional case management services for northwest Iowa residents of all faiths.

“One of the great blessings of our Diocese of Sioux City is its cultural diversity. We are enriched and encouraged by the many and varied cultural groups that make up our diocese,” said Bishop Walker Nickless when the program launched. “The Catholic Church is for people of every nation and background. All are called to be a part of the body of Christ. That is why I am so proud of our new initiative, ‘Welcome.’”

Some circumstances have changed since Mother Cabrini sailed to New York from Italy. What would she think of the church’s efforts today assisting immigrants and refugees?

“We are all human beings. We are all the same,” Mother Cabrini shouts in the film, Cabrini.