The Archbishop of Tarragona, Mons. Joan Planellas, stated that “whoever rejects immigrants cannot consider themselves Christian,” in an interview with ACI Prensa following his diocesan pilgrimage to Rome.
The prelate affirmed that “Christian faith cannot be separated from love for one’s neighbor” and that the Gospel “cannot be understood without openness to the other.” He cited the passage from Exodus—“do not oppress the foreigner, because you yourselves were foreigners”—and emphasized that “being xenophobic is not the Gospel.”
During his visit, Planellas recalled that “Christ identifies with the foreigner, the hungry, the naked,” and that the Church must be “a global village.” In his opinion, welcoming the immigrant is not a political issue, but “a theological consequence of the Gospel.”
Charity yes, but with order
The archbishop’s words reignite a necessary debate. No one disputes the evangelical mandate to welcome the needy, but charity cannot contradict prudence.
In a Spain overwhelmed by irregular immigration and by do-gooder discourses, faith is not demonstrated by surrendering sovereignty or confusing mercy with naivety.
Welcoming is not the same as replacing; helping does not equate to dismantling order. The Church, if it wants to be a mother, must remember that justice and truth are also forms of charity. Because loving the immigrant—as the Gospel teaches—does not imply renouncing common sense or the good of one’s own home.