Seven Tennessee and Kentucky bishops are the latest to join the chorus of U.S. Catholic leaders expressing solidarity with immigrants over the uncertainty surrounding President-elect Donald Trump’s hardline proposals such as mass deportation.
“We pledge that the Catholic Church in Kentucky and Tennessee will continue to accompany and serve migrants with every possible resource,” the Tennessee and Kentucky bishops said in a Dec. 29 statement. “We will continue to advocate for your just treatment and dignity as our Catholic Social Teaching instructs in every way that we are able to do so.”
Catholic Diocese of Nashville bishop Rev. J. Mark Spalding (left) and Louisville diocese archbishop Rev. Shelton Fabre (right) at a July 26, 2024 ordination ceremony for Knoxville diocese bishop Rev. Mark Beckman. Spalding, Fabre, and Beckman were among seven total Catholic bishops in Tennessee and Kentucky to show support for immigrants in a Dec. 29, 2024 statement amid a chorus of Catholic leaders expressing similar sentiments.
This latest statement, though it doesn’t explicitly refer to Trump by name, alludes to “ongoing heightened discussion surrounding our migrant community has engendered fear and uncertainty.” The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in a collective statement and 30-plus U.S. bishops in additional statements have echoed similar sentiments following Trump’s election in November.
Trump’s strong anti-immigrant rhetotic on the campaign trail has worried faith voices across the denominational spectrum, and Catholic voices especially due to the church’s support for immigrant rights through parish ministries and nonprofits like Catholic Charities. The Tennessee and Kentucky bishops’ statement is specifically about their support for legal immigration while they also prioritize “just and humane treatment of all migrants, including access to legal protections, and due process,” the Dec. 29 letter said.
Catholic Diocese of Nashville bishop Rev. J. Mark Spalding (left) and Knoxville diocese bishop Rev. Mark Beckman (seated) at a July 26, 2024 ordination ceremony for Beckman. The two bishops joined five of their peers in a Dec. 29, 2024 statement to show support for the immigrant community.
The letter’s signatories are Tennessee’s three Catholic leaders — Bishop J. Mark Spalding of the Nashville diocese, Bishop David Talley of the Memphis diocese, and Bishop Mark Beckman of the Knoxville diocese — and Kentucky’s four Catholic leaders, who Archbishop Shelton Fabre of the Louisville diocese, Bishop William Medley of the Owensboro diocese, Bishop John Stowe of the Lexington diocese, and Bishop John Iffert of the Covington diocese.
Starting in November, similar statements have received endorsements from bishops in Arizona, California, New Mexico, Iowa, Nebraska and Kansas.
Other Catholic leaders are seeking ways to equip their communities ahead of any potential drastic action by the federal government to detain and deport immigrants. As examples, National Catholic Reporter said a diocese in Washington state provides “Know Your Rights” resources, while Religion News Service highlighted efforts within the San Antonio, Texas diocese to distribute a form of identification known as congregational IDs.
Federal, state and even municipal policy will supersede churches’ best efforts to support and perhaps even shield immigrations. For Tennessee, Gov. Bill Lee has already expressed willingness to assist the incoming Trump administration’s actions on immigration.
Various Kentucky and Tennessee Catholic leaders at a July 26, 2024 ordination ceremony for Knoxville diocese bishop Rev. Mark Beckman. Catholic leaders from the neighboring states issued a joint statement showing support for immigrants on Dec. 29, 2024.
There’s little available data about immigration demographics within Tennessee or Nashville’s Catholic community, though Pew Research Center reported last April about 40% of Catholics in the South are Hispanic. Due to the growth of Hispanic parishioners within the Nashville diocese, prospective area priests who are studying in seminary are learning to be bilingual in English and Spanish.
Other recent on area Hispanic Catholics: Spanish-speaking church becomes Nashville’s newest, largest Catholic parish
Liam Adams covers religion for The Tennessean, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at ladams@tennessean.com or on social media @liamsadams.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee, Kentucky bishops join in support for immigrants