Conference in Rome underscores theology’s crucial role in migration research and policy
Mass migration has become an urgent issue in all regions of the world, and one of the most challenging issues of our time. Factors such as war, poverty, and climate change are driving vulnerable people to leave their homelands, and feeding a growing backlash in countries that are receiving migrants and refugees.
Experts at a recent conference in Rome suggested that theology may offer insights into some of these global problems. In particular, they emphasized how theology can reorient and reshape public conversations about migration by centering them on human dignity.
“Migration, a Pilgrimage of Hope” was held Oct. 21-23 at Pontifical Urban University in partnership with the Scalabrini International Migration Institute and the University of Notre Dame. The conference brought together more than 200 scholars, theologians, and religious leaders as well as representatives of NGOs, faith-based organizations, and migrant and refugee communities from every continent.
Rev. Daniel Groody, C.S.C., played a leading role in organizing the conference, which was held under the auspices of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, the Council of the Bishops’ Conferences of Europe, the International Union of Superiors General, and the Union Superiors General.
“Migration is one of the most challenging, complex, and important issues of our times. It is complex because it is studied by virtually every discipline, but it is simple because it speaks to the core of the value of human life,” said Groody, the University of Notre Dame’s vice president and associate provost for undergraduate education as well as a professor of theology and global affairs.
Groody said theology is often left out of conversations about migration, but it can play a crucial role by providing moral and ethical frameworks for studying the issue, spiritual resources to respond to migrants with compassion, and a counternarrative to those who dehumanize, demean, and degrade migrants. “Theology can enrich the discussions around migration,” he said, “by focusing on human dignity and the call to understand what it means to be human before God.”
Several partners from Notre Dame, led by the Keough School of Global Affairs’ Klau Institute for Civil and Human Rights and its multidisciplinary Migration Research Initiative, supported the conference. Other partners included the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies and Kellogg Institute in the Keough School as well as the Notre Dame Poverty Initiative.
‘An extraordinary opportunity’
“Migration, a Pilgrimage of Hope” featured two days of multidisciplinary panel discussions at Pontifical Urban University plus a third day dedicated to site visits in Rome. Conference attendees visited Casa Scalabrini 634, a place of welcome where refugees can find help starting their new lives, and Borgo Laudato Si’ in Castel Gandolfo, which is dedicated to ecological education and inspired by Pope Francis’s Laudato Si’ encyclical.
“Forced migration is fast becoming normal, but let us not forget it is forced,” Cardinal Luis Antonio Gokim Tagle, pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization and Grand Chancellor of Pontifical Urban University, said at the conference’s opening session. “In this context, the Church is called not only to react but to be present in a prophetic way — offering places of welcome, human promotion, paths of integration, and words of hope.”
Cardinal Tagle added that people of faith are also called to learn from migrants, as they can teach important lessons about hope. “Migration, in fact, is not only a challenge but an extraordinary opportunity to renew the Church’s missionary enthusiasm, to live the Gospel of encounter more authentically,” he said.
Several experts from the Keough School of Global Affairs built on these theological insights by explaining how dignity-first perspectives can translate into concrete policy and educational strategies.
On the conference’s first day, Associate Professor of Global Affairs Abby Córdova, Professor of Migration Amy Hsin, and Erin Corcoran, an associate teaching professor and executive director of the Kroc Institute, spoke on interdisciplinary panels about welcoming, protecting, promoting, and integrating migrants. The panels also included Alexander Kustov, an assistant professor of political science at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, who will join the Keough School faculty this spring.
Córdova presented her research on correcting misperceptions about undocumented immigrants in Mexico, where the government has taken an increasingly militarized approach to immigration enforcement. She emphasized the importance of highlighting migrants’ economic contributions as well as their resilience. “They thrive under very hard conditions,” Córdova said.
Hsin shared findings from a study of undocumented young adults in New York City, showing how education can serve as a democratizing force by offering undocumented youth the opportunity to realize their potential, even within a system that often marginalizes them. At the same time, punitive immigration policies — especially those that expand police surveillance and immigration enforcement — create fear and discourage students from participating fully in college life.
“Schools promote human dignity by recognizing potential over immigration status,” Hsin said. “This shows that when you give people opportunities, they are able to flourish and contribute to the community in meaningful ways.”
Kustov delved into research that was the basis for his recent book, In Our Interest: How Democracies Make Immigration Popular. He described the rise of far-right political parties in Europe and the United States, and the connection between that rise and anti-immigration sentiment.
Still, he noted, “For a lot of people, their opposition to immigration is not categorical; it's conditional. ... A lot of people support immigration when they truly believe it’s beneficial to their country and their communities.” He said this research shows the importance of communicating national benefits effectively when trying to persuade people to support immigration.
A need for ‘new moral leadership’
Corcoran discussed how the global crackdown on migrants and the increased securitization of immigration policy have spread fear in immigrant communities. “The ‘othering’ of immigrants is dangerous,” she said. “I think the rhetoric leads people to become numb to the treatment of immigrants.”
This is a moment for faith leaders to step up, Corcoran added.
“What’s happening in the United States is coming from the highest levels of leadership,” she said. “There needs to be an awakening of new moral leadership, and I think the Church has an important role to play in that.”
The second day of the conference included discussion groups that aimed to foster dialogue among theologians, social scientists, and scholars from related fields on the complex realities of migration.
Tom Hare, program manager in the Keough School’s Pulte Institute for Global Development and co-director of its Central America Research Alliance, discussed “the right to stay” as a theory of migration and its roots in Catholic social thought. Josie Soehnge Cohen, a Ph.D. student in anthropology at Notre Dame, presented her research on the role of faith-based groups along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Rev. Joseph Corpora, C.S.C., also attended the conference and shared his reflections from working with immigrants as a parish priest, at Notre Dame, and on the southern border. “When we do not welcome immigrants and refugees, not only are we refusing to live the Gospel, and not taking seriously the teachings of the Church,” Corpora said, “we are depriving ourselves of riches and blessings and gifts and graces that come from immigrants.”
Jennifer Mason McAward, associate professor of law and director of the Klau Institute, said the conference made it possible for a global group of scholars to build solidarity across borders and form new partnerships that will lead to valuable research and policy proposals in years to come.
“Migration is a fundamentally human issue that affects the world’s most vulnerable people,” McAward said. “It’s absolutely vital that we respond to these realities in ways that protect human dignity and promote integral human development.”
Watch sessions from the conference on the Scalabrini International Migration Institute’s YouTube channel.
Originally published by at klau.nd.edu on November 20, 2025.