Catholic Church in U.S. to focus National Migration Week on migrant children

The situations faced by migrant and refugee children will be the focus of the U.S. Catholic Churchʼs 2026 National Migration Week, addressing the same concerns expressed by Pope Leo XIV in his message for this yearʼs World Day of Migrants and Refugees.

National Migration Week will begin on Monday, Sept. 21, and conclude on Sunday, Sept. 27, the day the Catholic Church observes the 112th World Day of Migrants and Refugees.

On its website, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) announced that in solidarity with the pontiff, it will adopt the theme “Even One of These Little Ones,” the same theme chosen by Leo XIV for the global observance.

In his message, Leo XIV explains that this theme “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.’”

The chairman of the USCCB Committee on Migration, Bishop Brendan Cahill, noted that the Catholic Church, “in this country and beyond has a long, inspiring history of caring for migrant and refugee children.”

In the United States, this history spans “from the days…