Archbishop Weisenburger’s statement for 2026 National Migration Week, World Day of Migrants

This year, National Migration Week takes place September 21-27, culminating with the World Day of Migrants and Refugees on September 27. Our Holy Father has given us a particularly poignant theme, drawn from the Gospel of Matthew where Jesus instructs us that [...] "Whoever welcomes even just one of these children, in my name, welcomes me.”

During my years serving the Church in Tucson, I had the privilege of witnessing firsthand the hopes and struggles of families who came to our country in search of safety and a better future for their children. A similar story has unfolded here in southeast Michigan, where generations of immigrants built our communities and imbued them with their faith, diverse cultures, and gifts. These encounters have reminded me again and again that behind every debate about immigration, there are real people, each one created in the image and likeness of God.

The theme of this year’s observance in particular calls us to look beyond policy and politics and see the child and her family standing before us. Today, I pray especially for migrant and refugee children, who carry fears and burdens that no child should have to bear. May we always welcome them, protect them, and walk alongside their families with compassion.

I invite Catholics throughout the Archdiocese of Detroit to continue this witness of welcome by joining myself and Strangers No Longer for Mass on Sunday, October 4, at 2:30 p.m. at the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament. It will be an opportunity for us to pray together, to encounter one another across cultures and backgrounds, and to remember that when we welcome the stranger, we welcome Christ.

May the Lord give us hearts willing to accompany the vulnerable, as well as the courage to welcome Christ whenever He comes to us in the stranger at our door.