Hospitality and Emerging Populations: Toward a Theology of Migration in the Context of the Catholic Church In the United States by Kathleen Philipps A Thesis submitted to the Faculty of the University of St. Michael’s College and the Theology Department of the Toronto School of Theology In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Theology awarded by the University of St. Michael’s College © Copyright by Kathleen Philipps 2015 Hospitality and Emerging Populations: Toward a Theology of Migration in the Context of the Catholic Church in the United States Kathleen Philipps Doctor of Philosophy in Theology University of St. Michael’s College 2015 Abstract In Christian communities in the United States today, the reception of Latino/a immigrants is often influenced by the negative and dehumanizing rhetoric advanced in the public arena, creating marginalization, exclusion, and division within those communities. There is a dire need for an ethic of resistance and solidarity that rejects that rhetoric and the damage it leaves in its wake. This thesis thus proposes a theology of migration that employs hospitality as its entry point, and that speaks to the engagement between receiving communities and those migrating. An identification and analysis of the anti-immigrant rhetoric will serve as the context and point of departure for the remainder of the project. After calling for a metanoia from that which is contrary to God’s mission of healing, reconciliation, and justice, the search for solutions draws upon Catholic social teaching, scripture, and tradition, and proposes a recovery of the tradition and understanding of early Christian hospitality as the catalyst for a theology of migration. Although hospitality was once an honored virtue and a moral imperative, for the people of God, whose formative experiences were marked by migration and exile, hospitality was also a sacred duty, a response to God’s own grace and hospitality, and a means of welcoming strangers and those who were marginalized into the community. Yet today’s receiving communities no longer have that shared remembrance of vulnerability and displacement, and our present understanding ii of hospitality is too often operative within dynamics that reinforce divisions, power, and privilege. The thesis thus offers a critique of privilege and power, utilizing sources from missiology, and postcolonial and liberation theologies. Erga Migrantes Caritas Christi envisions hospitality and migration as the basis for sacramental unity, and the migrant as the co-builder of community. It also proposes that hospitality is practically marked by the vocation to be in exile. Using that capstone document as an orienting vision, this thesis argues that a theology of migration must seek solidarity across difference in a spirit of reconciliation, be rooted in vulnerability and grace, and embody the practices and virtues of hospitality. iii Acknowledgements I am deeply indebted to the director of my thesis project, Dr. Tom Reynolds of Emmanuel College, for his ongoing encouragement, wise and collegial guidance, and the high standards he set for me and that he models. His theology of hospitality and his exceptional scholarship have been an inspiration and guide for me. I am also indebted to the professors who encouraged my own studies and who displayed a passion for excellence I have tried to emulate, including Dr. Sheila McGinn, Dr. Joan Nuth, Dr. Louise Prochaska, Sr. Ellen Leonard, Dr. Mike Attridge, Fr. Don Cozzens, Dr. Lee Cormie, and Sr. Mary Ann Baran. Many thanks as well to the community that has grown around Karpos Ministry. You have taught me so much about what it means to embody hospitality. I am also grateful for the friendship and support of the Social Justice Commission of St. Mary Parish—Krista, Ed, Kathy, Pat, Cheryl, Brian, and Dan—whose daily commitment to social justice is an inspiration to me. Thank you to the parishioners of St. Mary’s, Fr. Steve, the staff, and especially Oscar and the members of the parish council, for undertaking the journey to become one parish, and for all the hard work involved. Sister Rita Mary Harwood, SND, Secretariat for Parish Life for the Diocese of Cleveland, is a tireless warrior for immigration reform, a gentle friend to migrants, and an advocate for those in need, especially the incarcerated and displaced. Thank you for your model of solidarity and compassion in ministry, and for your unmatched ability to mobilize people. Thank you to my family, especially my children, Josh and Alyssa, and my friends who have been so supportive of my studies and this project, and so understanding about the time it consumed. Finally, and most of all, this thesis and my studies would not have been possible without the unwavering support and encouragement of my husband, Dan. His calm patience and generous love kept me going through many difficulties, and I am very grateful to him. It is a joy and honor to share the journey of life with him. iv Table of Contents Introduction ................................................................................................................................................... 1 Overview of Chapters ................................................................................................................................. 15 Chapter 1 ..................................................................................................................................................... 20 Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 20 I. Narrative, Metaphor, and Rhetoric in Public Discourse ................................................................. 25 A. Metaphors and Narratives .......................................................................................................... 27 B. Framing ...................................................................................................................................... 31 C. Discourse as Influence................................................................................................................ 33 II. Analysis of Public Discourse on Latin American Immigration ..................................................... 35 A. The Latino Threat Narrative ....................................................................................................... 38 B. Immigration as Dangerous Waters ............................................................................................. 49 C. Immigrants as Animals and Alien Invaders ............................................................................... 53 D. Summary and Critical Analysis ................................................................................................. 58 Conclusion and Looking Ahead .......................................................................................................... 63 Chapter 2 ..................................................................................................................................................... 65 Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 65 I. Social Sin ......................................................................................................................................... 66 A. An Overview of Social Sin ........................................................................................................ 66 B. The Implications of Social Sin ................................................................................................... 71 II. Catholic Social Doctrine: A Brief Review ..................................................................................... 78 A. Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 78 B. The Era of the Immigrant Church .............................................................................................. 80 C. The Right to Migrate and Migrant’s Rights ............................................................................... 82 D. Solidarity and Human Dignity ................................................................................................... 87 E. Interim Summary and Critical Analysis ..................................................................................... 94 F. Erga Migrantes Caritas Christi ................................................................................................... 98 Concluding Remarks and Looking Ahead ........................................................................................ 103 Chapter 3 ................................................................................................................................................... 109 Introduction ....................................................................................................................................... 109 I. Narrative Survey: The Scriptural Heritage of Migration ............................................................... 111 A. Theological Identity as Sojourner, Alien, or Outsider ............................................................. 119 B. Christ as Model ........................................................................................................................ 126 II. Hospitality’s Roots and Understandings