Publication Date
Fall 2024
Abstract
Katherine Marshall, a student of Religious Studies, responds to the following question by recounting a series of interviews with professors and pastoral care practitioners from Mexico and the United States of America: “With a focus on the Catholic Church, what is the importance of pastoral care for people migrating through Mexico to the United States of America?” Pastoral care is a part of many religious traditions, but, in a Christian context, it is a practice that involves becoming a physical reminder of God’s constant presence. Pastoral care practitioners make deep listening the core of their work, responding to various needs as they are shared. Many people who migrate have a strong sense of faith, and this reality constitutes a large piece of the answer as to why pastoral care is important in this context. Pastoral care for migrating populations takes different forms in Mexico and in the borderlands because migrants have different needs in these different stages of their journey. Pastoral care in Mexico meets many needs that allow people to keep moving North, whereas pastoral care in the borderlands meets other needs that emerge in a long season of waiting at the border or, upon entry, adjustment to life in the United States. Many organizations providing pastoral care in El Paso of them are actively under attack from the Texas government, and some are closing in anticipation of the administration of soon-to-be President Donald Trump. Still, pastoral carers persist in their work, using their first amendment right to a freedom of religious expression to defend their accompaniment of migrants, as seeking these populations is part of their religious beliefs. The paper ends with a call to action for white American Christians, highlighting the juxtaposition between Christian doctrines calling for the support of migrating populations, the work of Christian pastoral care practitioners, and the reality that most white Christians hold negative views about immigrants.
Disciplines
Arts and Humanities | Social and Behavioral Sciences
Recommended Citation
Marshall, Katherine Rocky, "In God’s Time: Pastoral Care and Migrant Faith in Mexico and the Borderlands of the United States of America" (2024). Mexico: Migration, Borders, and Transnational Communities. 1.
https://digitalcollections.sit.edu/mxr1/1
