Wyoming bishop calls on Catholic community to approach immigration with compassion

Gathered with Catholic leaders from across the United States last November, Wyoming’s bishop, Steven Biegler, voted to send out a special message expressing concern for immigrants living in the United States. 

In a vote of 216 for and five against, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops overwhelmingly approved speaking out against President Donald Trump’s mass deportation agenda and its impact on immigrant communities. It was the first time they’d sent out a special message in 12 years. 

In the months that followed, Biegler, bishop of the Diocese of Cheyenne, knew he wanted to do more than put his name on the special message, but he struggled with how to talk about immigration with the parishioners of churches he oversees across Wyoming. That struggle ultimately resulted in a letter Sunday to the thousands of Catholics who make Wyoming their home.

“As pastors, we the bishops of the United States are bound to our people by ties of communion and compassion in Our Lord Jesus Christ,” stated the message he supported last year. “We are disturbed when we see among our people a climate of fear and anxiety around questions of profiling and immigration enforcement. We are saddened by the state of contemporary debate and the vilification of immigrants.” 

The message condemned poor conditions in detention centers and immigration enforcement tactics that infringe on “the sanctity of houses of worship and the special nature of hospitals and schools.” The bishops grieved for “parents who fear being detained when taking their children to school” and “family members who have already been separated from their loved ones.” 

The undignified treatment of immigrants is at odds with Catholic teaching that recognizes “the fundamental dignity of all persons,” the message explained. “We bishops advocate for a meaningful reform of our nation’s immigration laws and procedures. Human dignity and national security are not in conflict. Both are possible if people of good will work together.”

After signing on to the special message, Biegler wrestled with what it would take for Catholics in Wyoming to work together for immigration reform.

“I found myself hesitant even to speak about it,” Biegler said. “People can quit listening pretty quickly if you just mention immigration.”

He’d received angry letters from parishioners who support mass deportation and were upset by priests who’d spoken forthrightly about mercy and compassion for immigrants. “People get quite angry,” Biegler said. “I mean, people have walked out of more than one parish here.”

Given the charged atmosphere and that Trump won Wyoming with approximately 70% of the vote in both 2016 and 2020, Biegler said he wrestled with how to speak about the harm caused by current immigration policies in a way “that will set a framework for a more balanced conversation.” 

If he did it wrong, anger and heightened emotions could drive people away, and “once they walk out, you can’t engage them anymore,” Biegler said. 

But anger was just one piece of the emotional equation. Biegler was also hearing from parishioners living with intense fear. He’d spoken with a 15-year-old girl who was afraid to go to school. As the only U.S. citizen in her family, she worried about what might happen to her undocumented mother and siblings while she was away. 

Biegler also had to consider that immigrants in Wyoming weren’t solely impacted by Trump’s agenda, but policies set at the state and local level as well. Last year, Gov. Mark Gordon directed the Wyoming Highway Patrol and the state’s National Guard to ink agreements with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to play varying roles in immigration enforcement. Six county sheriffs, and counting, have signed on as well. That means Wyoming’s Catholic community likely includes local law enforcement involved with deportations. 

As complex and messy as the conversation may be, “to do nothing is not an option,” Biegler said. “I just feel very strongly that we have to talk about [immigration].”

And that’s exactly what Biegler did Sunday with a pastoral letter entitled “Be a merciful neighbor.” 

More than 14,000 people fill Catholic church pews across Wyoming. That’s thousands more than can fit in the University of Wyoming’s basketball arena, and every single one of them was notified of Biegler’s 20-page letter with a one-page synopsis distributed this weekend during Mass. 

“As one Catholic community in Wyoming, I invite all of us to listen to those who are suffering, just as God listens with compassion, to reflect on Scripture and Church teaching and discern the way forward, and then to act with the mercy of Christ,” the synopsis states.  

In his first pastoral letter in nine years as Wyoming’s bishop, Biegler said he took an unconventional approach. 

“A pastoral letter typically doesn’t have questions in it. Typically, it’s like, OK, this is the teaching of the bishop or the church,” Biegler explained. His letter combines stories from immigrants with insights about applicable scripture while posing questions for reflection throughout. 

“This is more of a kickstarter for let’s talk about this. These are some principles and some key scripture passages that should be part of your conversation. But let’s talk about this. Let’s dialogue,” Biegler said. “What’s the Spirit asking of us?”

He wants Catholics across Wyoming to take time to sit with that question and work through it together. 

“My aim with this letter is to inspire courage where there is fear, compassion in place of hostility and hope for a new future,” his letter states. “The Gospel can move us to treat every person with dignity and love, just as Jesus did, in a culture impacted by anger, unrest, anxiety and violence. And it can inspire us to faithful citizenship and to take concrete action to build a more just and compassionate society.” 

He points to the story of the Good Samaritan to encourage parishioners to “learn from marginalized people.” Throughout the letter, Biegler shares excerpts of his conversations with immigrants living in fear in Wyoming. He encourages Catholics to consider their own immigrant backgrounds and to learn from their more recent immigrant neighbors. 

“To the Catholic community, listen to the stories of those who have migrated, educate yourself on these issues,” Biegler wrote. 

While much of the focus on mercy and compassion for immigrants concerns their current experience in the United States, Biegler said it’s also important to understand what drives people to leave their home countries. 

“We know that wars do it, and we’re now involved in a new war,” Biegler said. “We know that violence does it. We know that people are fleeing because of safety concerns, economic concerns, just to provide for their families. And so … there’s a real component here of an international concern for one another as brothers and sisters.”

The first step in teasing out this complex issue is a willingness to listen, Biegler said. With his letter, he wants to “nurture dialogue, to help people listen again. Listen to one another. Listen to these stories. Listen the way God listens to them.” 

From there, he hopes for a Catholic community that can work toward “sensible solutions that will benefit all people.”

Are you a Catholic Wyomingite? After reading Bishop Biegler’s full letter, what’s your reaction? Let us know by emailing tennessee@wyofile.com.