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Living Aloha, Welcoming All

August 24, 2026

(lucas_moore / Shutterstock.com)

From the Office for Social Ministry

“For this 112th World Day, the theme, ‘Even just one of these children,’ draws our attention to the minors directly involved in the experience of migration and flight, to the care owed to them, and to the Lord’s promise that ‘whoever receives one such child in my name receives me’” (Mark 9:37).

— Pope Leo XIV, Message for the 2026 World Day of Migrants and Refugees

Migration in the news can often seem like a story of statistics. Millions of people around the world have been forced to flee their homes because of natural disasters, poverty, wars, violence and other crises. Pope Leo XIV urges us to look beyond the numbers and focus our gaze on the faces and stories of migrants persons, and the most vulnerable among them—the children. According to United Nations data, roughly two out of every five migrant refugees are children. Many have been separated from their families. “Their dignity,” our Holy Father writes, “is trampled upon in countless ways.”

But Pope Leo also points us toward hope and ask us to really see the person before us. He emphasizes the Gospel tells us each and every person matters. Onefrightened child at a border matters. One refugee child beginning school in an unfamiliar language matters. One child separated from a parent matters. One young person carrying memories of violence matters. Why? Because, as Pope Leo reminds us “every child, every human being, possesses an infinite dignity.” Each is created in the image of God.

Pope Leo challenges our parishes and communities to make welcoming migrants “a stable pastoral practice.” The entire Christian community is called to see all migrants as sons and daughters of our human family. That welcome can begin with simple acts: helping a newly arrived family navigate school enrollment, providing food or transportation, supporting language learning, connecting parents with community resources, inviting newcomer children into parish activities and, perhaps most importantly, listening to their stories. Listening itself can be an act of love. Pope Leo asks us to hear their “fears and dreams.” A migrant child is more than someone in need of assistance. Each child brings gifts, hopes, faith and dreams for the future.

Here in Hawaiʻi, we have a compelling example of what it means to accompany migrant children separated from their families. Catholic Charities Hawaiʻi’s Unaccompanied Children Program provides free legal and case support to immigrant children who have arrived in Hawaiʻi without their parents. These children need advocates who can help them navigate a complicated immigration system, protect their rights and build safe and stable futures. Services include representation in immigration and family courts, assistance with asylum and other immigration applications, case management, language assistance, and help accessing education, healthcare and community resources. This ministry puts a human face on Pope Leo’s words: even one. One child accompanied through immigration court. One young person helped to find stability. One child reminded that he or she is not alone.

Family separation takes another form among the migrant fishermen and other seafarers who sacrifice greatly to support families thousands of miles away. Through the Diocese of Honolulu’s Apostleship of the Sea ministry, the Church accompanies these men during long periods of separation from their spouses, children and communities. Many migrant fishermen who help bring fresh ahi to Hawaiʻi spend their time in port confined to their vessels because they lack immigration documents permitting them to enter the community. The Apostleship of the Sea reaches across that isolation by welcoming seafarers as family, connecting them with local community members and caring for their physical, emotional and spiritual well-being. These seafarers sacrifice much to provide a decent living for their families. Months away from spouses and children can test family relationships. Digital communication helps bridge the distance, but a video call cannot replace the embrace of a child or a meal shared around the family table. By accompanying these workers, listening to their stories and sharing both gifts and vulnerabilities, we discover something about ourselves as well: what it means to become the Body of Christ and to build a community of justice, peace and love through compassionate presence.

Pope Leo’s message—and the examples of Catholic Charities Hawaiʻi’s Unaccompanied Children Program and the Diocese of Honolulu’s Apostleship of the Sea—invite us to see migrants with a new lens and a new heart of compassion.The Gospel calls us to to see migrants differently: not statistics, but people. not strangers, but neighbors. Not someone else’s responsibility, but as brothers or sisters, all children of God, entrusted to our care as one human family.

The global challenge can seem overwhelming. Jesus in the Gospel, however, brings us back to something simple: “whoever receives one such child in my name receives me” Through acts of aloha such as  accompanying even one migrant child, one migrant seafarer, one migrant family, we can discover that the stranger before us was never really a stranger at all. Because as Christ also clearly told us “I was a stranger and you welcomed me” (Matthew 25:35).

For the full text of Pope Leo’s message to the September 2026 World Day for Migrants and Refugees, please visit the Vatican website www.humandevelopment.va. For more information on Catholic Charities Hawaii’s Unaccompanied Children Program, please visit www.catholiccharitieshawaii.org and for more on the Diocese Apostleship of the Sea, please visit www.officeforsocialministry.org/seafarerministry/. Mahalo.