ND Expert: Leaving UN Migrant and Refugee Compact comes at steep moral cost | News | Notre Dame News | University of Notre Dame Skip To Content Skip To Navigation Skip To Search University of Notre Dame Notre Dame News Experts ND in the News Subscribe About Us Home Contact Search Menu Home › News › ND Expert: Leaving UN Migrant and Refugee Compact comes at steep moral cost ND Expert: Leaving UN Migrant and Refugee Compact comes at steep moral cost Published: December 05, 2017 Author: Amanda Skofstad Holy Family On the first day of Advent 2017 and directly following Pope Francis’ apostolic visits to Myanmar and Bangladesh, the United States announced it will end participation in the United Nations process to develop a Global Compact on Migration. Rev. Daniel G. Groody, C.S.C. “The decision for the U.S. to leave the U.N. Migrant and Refugee compact not only leads us astray from our core American values, but also makes us less as a people,” said Rev. Daniel Groody, C.S.C., associate professor of theology and global affairs. “To close ourselves off from those who have certified claims of torture and persecution betrays an important value that has truly made us a great country and is the moral equivalent of deporting our hearts to a foreign and fearful land.” In his article in the current issue of Theological Studies, Groody argues that as the human community seeks to respond to the worst refugee crisis since World War II, Pope Francis provided an ideal model in the very first apostolic visit of his papacy. Referencing a 2013 papal homily where the Holy Father described the stories of refugees drowning in the Mediterranean as “a painful thorn in [his] heart,” Groody said: “When Pope Francis celebrated Mass at Lampedusa, he used a chalice hewn from a capsized refugee boat. When he used it in the context of the liturgy, he called the world to move from a globalization of indifference to a globalization of solidarity. He wanted the world to realize that when we make any-body into a no-body, every-body loses.” In his work on the theology of migration, Groody examines the integral connection between the bodies of refugees and the body of Christ in the Eucharist. The Church’s mission in responding to the refugee crisis, according to Groody, is to move from “otherness” to “oneness,” which means not just helping each refugee discover their dignity as “some-body” but also showing that they are connected to “every-body.” Groody added: “As Christians enter the Advent season, the world remembers the One who first ‘migrated’ into the territory of broken human existence — and became a refugee when escaping the persecution of a brutal dictator — in order to help all people migrate back to their eternal homeland.” Contact: Amanda Skofstad, assistant director of media relations, 574-631-4313, skofstad@nd.edu Posted In: Research International Faith Home Experts ND in the News Subscribe About Us Related June 01, 2022 University of Notre Dame to establish consortium of Catholic universities to study Muslim-Christian relations January 31, 2022 New book explores the role of Catholic peacebuilders in addressing global mining issues November 05, 2020 USAID awards $8 million to Notre Dame to expand early literacy, learning programs September 09, 2020 Notre Dame signs agreement with Yad Vashem promoting Holocaust education and research November 13, 2019 Notre Dame researchers help Italian church communities address seismic risks For the Media Contact Office of Public Affairs and Communications Notre Dame News 500 Grace Hall Notre Dame, IN 46556 USA Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube Pinterest © 2022 University of Notre Dame Search Mobile App News Events Visit Accessibility Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube LinkedIn