The Pope, the Border, and the Law
Pope Francis’ Letter to the Bishops of the United States on what he describes as “the major crisis that is taking place in the United States with the initiation of a program of mass deportations” is plainly meant as a rebuke of President Trump’s vigorous enforcement of United States immigration law. Yet implicit in the pope’s criticism of Trump’s actions is a condemnation of the very existence of laws that regulate the consequences of illegal entry into a country. Any deportation, mass or otherwise, is now presumed to be a violation of the human dignity of people who simply seek a better life.
Every nation has laws governing entry, including the Vatican City State, which recently stiffened the penalties for illegal entry to include “fines ranging from 10,000 to 25,000 euros (about $10,200 to $25,700) and prison sentences ranging from one to four years.” The December 2024 Decree signed by Cardinal Fernando Vergez, President of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State, states:
[t]hese fines will apply especially to those who enter by means of violence, threats, or deception, bypassing border controls or security systems. . . .[T]he penalties can be increased if the crime is committed with firearms, corrosive substances, by a person in disguise, or by several people together. Likewise, if illegal access is made in a vehicle, the penalty can increase by up to two-thirds. . . .Anyone convicted of illegal entry will be banned from entering Vatican territory for a period of up to 15 years. If this sanction is breached, the offender may be punished with a prison sentence of one to five years.
The arrest and deportation of those who enter a country illegally and thus have no valid claim to be allowed to remain there is simply the due enforcement of law, whether by the United States or the Vatican City State.
Yet Pope Francis describes “the act of deporting people who in many cases have left their own land for reasons of extreme poverty, insecurity, exploitation, persecution, or serious deterioration of the environment” as something that “damages the dignity of many men and women, and of entire families, and places them in a state of particular vulnerability and defenselessness.”
He adds that human beings possess “infinite and transcendent dignity” which is “the most decisive value possessed by the human person” and which “surpasses and sustains every other juridical consideration that can be made to regulate life in society.” The claim that a finite creature has, or ever could have, an “infinite dignity” is a poetic exaggeration. It is metaphysically impossible for something finite to possess an infinite quality. Only God is infinite and has infinite qualities.
The logic of Pope Francis’ assertions would make the enforcement of laws against illegal entry and permanence in a country a violation of the respect due to every human being who possesses an “infinite and transcendent dignity” that “surpasses” any national law.
This claim is plainly preposterous. A person who illegally enters and remains in a country cannot reasonably claim that he is beyond the reach of the law because enforcement of such law would violate his infinite dignity as a human person. For a nation such as the United States to qualify as a just and fair society, must every illegal alien be spared the indignity of “unjust” arrest and deportation?
On the contrary, enforcing immigration laws affirms the dignity of a human being by compelling him to recognize and submit to laws enacted to promote social harmony and peaceful coexistence. The law-breaker is held to the same standard as everyone else. His dignity is promoted when he is reminded of his duty to obey just laws.
If a foreign national tries, however, to illegally enter and remain in Vatican City State, he is subject to arrest, imprisonment, fines, and prohibitions from re-entering the territory for an extended period. Do ICE agents inflict harm when they arrest an illegal alien, but the Vatican police do not?
So, which is it? Is it unjust to arrest and deport those who break the law to gain illegal access to a country, or is it moral and just for a nation to detain and deport those who break the law to gain entry?
Pope Francis told the American bishops: “I exhort all the faithful of the Catholic Church, and all men and women of good will, not to give in to narratives that discriminate against and cause unnecessary suffering to our migrant and refugee brothers and sisters.” If this is the case, then the Vatican City State laws are discriminatory and cruel.
In fact, Vatican City State should be proactive in inviting migrants to enter its territory as an effective sign of respect for their dignity. They have a moral claim upon Pope Francis to abide by his own exhortations requiring national leaders to allow practically anyone who leaves his own country to go and stay wherever he may decide. Building a tent city in the Vatican Gardens would be a powerful sign that Vatican City State sets the example for every other nation.
The Church has never taught that people have an infinite dignity that outweighs, and renders void, any legal restrictions on their movements. No one has a right to camp out in the Vatican Gardens, or to demand a room in the Apostolic Palace. No one has a right to illegally enter the United States or any other nation. No migrant has a right to claim that his removal violates his dignity, which “surpasses” any laws regulating entry into the country.
Countries have borders that they control. It is up to them to decide who is allowed to enter and remain. The exercise of such a basic function of government is not canceled out by a supposed superior claim of infinite human dignity that entitles foreign nationals to illegally enter and remain in the country of their choice. That is the case for Vatican City State, and for every other country.
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