To the editor:

We cannot pick and choose which lives we will defend. I have struggled with the ways in which our faith has been used to justify policies that completely contradict God’s call to love, mercy and justice.

Cardinal Wilton D. Gregory’s powerful words have stuck with me in these challenging times of calling Catholics into action. He says, “I have been ashamed because of the flawed example that we as Catholics have given to the world because of our increasingly harsh treatment of rejecting people because of race, gender, sexual orientation, ethnic origins or any other distinctions.”

We need to deny this idea that others are just “outsiders” and instead fully embrace our duty to uplift and protect the vulnerable, marginalized and all in need. Being pro-life means to welcome the immigrant, reject the death penalty, support welfare programs and to be actively working toward justice for all. Our faith demands this of us and is a misuse of the word “pro-life” if otherwise.

How can we claim to be pro-life while supporting the execution of prisoners? How can we celebrate the Holy Family’s flight to Egypt while turning away immigrants seeking a better life? How can we worship a Christ who walked among the poor while ignoring those who struggle in our own communities? These questions demand honest reflection and, most important, demand action. As Bernice King says, “Love is essential. But love is not a passing, weeping bystander. Love puts in the work.” Act with love, and put in the work to reject injustices and contradictions within our community.

The dignity of the human person is at stake in the way we treat immigrants and refugees. Too often, especially now, political rhetoric dehumanizes immigrants rather than acknowledging them as our brothers and sisters. As Pope Francis has urged, we must “welcome, protect, promote, and integrate” immigrants, recognizing in them the face of Christ himself. We must welcome the stranger as we are called to do. “It may be, in the end, that a good society is defined more by how people treat strangers than by how they treat those they know” (James Surowiecki, “The Wisdom of Crowds.”) Let us not only think of the people around us, but extend our mercy and care to the stranger.

This is a call to all pro-life Catholics to affirm the dignity of all people, from those on death row to the immigrant, from the homeless person on the street to the family struggling in poverty to LGBTQ+ individuals. If we, as Catholics, are to live out the Gospel authentically, we must reject policies and systems that devalue life and actively work for justice in all its forms. We must embody the radical love and justice Christ calls us to uphold. Anything less is a failure to live out the fullness of our Catholic faith. Today, choose radical love, a love that challenges us, transforms us, and compels us to act.

Mari Mello

Steubenville