Immigrants & Refugees

The Catholic Church in the United States is an immigrant Church with a long history of embracing diverse newcomers and providing assistance and pastoral care to immigrants, migrants, refugees, and people on the move.  Our Church has responded to Christ’s call for us to “welcome the stranger among us,” for in this encounter with the immigrant, the migrant, and the refugee in our midst, we encounter Christ.
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VIA  is the diocesan program, in partnership with the diocesan Hispanic Ministry Office, to provide pastoral care, education, public policy advocacy and prayer support on immigration and refugee issues.  

​Logo:  The Holy Family of Nazareth, which fled to Egypt to avoid the persecutions of King Herod, represents the model for our ministry of pastoral care, prayer, education and public policy advocacy for immigrants and refugees.

​Trinidad Molina 
Program Coordinator
VIA Immigration & Refugee Ministry

​Phone: (816) 756-1850, x521
Email: tmolina@diocesekcsj.org

Rescission Of Deferred Action For Childhood Arrivals (DACA) Program
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Welcoming the Stranger Among Us: Unity in Diversity 
Issued by USCCB, Nov. 15, 2000

Designed for both ordained and lay ministers at the diocesan and parish levels, Welcoming the Stranger Among Us: Unity in Diversity challenges us to prepare to receive newcomers with a genuine spirit of welcome that provides a bridge for them to cross from one culture into another.  A wonderful resource for communications and religious education committees, seminaries, and school superintendents.

Pastoral Care

Educational Topics

Resources & Referrals


"The Church of the twenty-first century will be, as it has always been, a Church of many cultures, languages and traditions, yet simultaneously one, as God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, united in diversity."                                              
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​                                                                                                                               Welcoming the Stranger Among Us: Unity in Diversity, A Statement of the U.S. Catholic Bishops

Human Rights Office ~ Diocese of Kansas City - St. Joseph  ~ 20 West Ninth Street ~ Kansas City, MO 64105 ~ ​(816) 756-1850 (x 521) ~ tmolina@diocesekcsj.org