The day after the recent conclave to elect Pope Francis ended, the cardinal electors assembled in the Sistine Chapel to concelebrate Mass with him. He preached a very straightforward homily, constructed around three words: to walk, to build, to proclaim. We are to walk together, to keep moving, but at such a pace that no one is left behind or overlooked. We are to build as we walk so that the generations that follow will have a home in the church. As we walk and build, we are to talk, to profess our faith in Christ crucified and risen. That, in three words, is the program for the new evangelization. The church tries to walk with everyone, even those who cannot physically walk: the aged, the unborn, the chronically sick. There is another group of outcasts that merit our special attention these days: those who have spent many years walking among us but who are not here with rights because they crossed the border illegally. The U.S. bishops have not condoned illegal entry into this or any other country. The bishops have said, however, that we should look at those who are here as our brothers and sisters, deserving of concern for them and their families. Over a million undocumented immigrants have been deported in the last four years. Among them were men sitting in the pews in their parish church on Sunday and put in chains on a plane to Mexico on Friday. Wives and children are left behind. There must be a way to diminish this suffering. There must be a way to walk together through what has become an intolerable situation. When I was Bishop of Yakima, Wash., a small diocese in the Northwest with an economy dependent on harvesting fruits and vegetables, many workers would regularly come up from Mexico, work most of the year in Washington State and then return to Mexico for a month or so. The borders were porous, for we needed their labor on the farms and in construction. We failed to enforce our own laws. Those who are here now are our neighbors and friends, and our economy still depends upon many of them. If they are forced to leave, they will not be able to return for 10 years, their families will be abandoned and all of us will suffer. Bipartisan legislation introduced last week in Congress by eight Senators reflects many of the provisions that the bishops have been asking for these past 15 years. The proposal provides for a 13- year path to citizenship for those who arrived before 2012. Those who have illegally crossed the border would be fined. Those who cannot speak English would be enrolled in language courses. It would expand the pool of visas for skilled and unskilled workers. It changes the process for adult children or siblings of legal residents to join their family here. It creates a new set of “triggers” for determining that the border is secure before parts of the law may be implemented. No law is perfect, but this is a good start. It restores due process protections and weeds out criminals, for there are dishonest people born elsewhere as there are dishonest people born here. It provides a path to citizenship and supports families and children. It will help us to live and walk together more justly and peacefully. In a global economic system, emigration will wax and wane. Right now, the Mexican economy is growing faster than ours and there are sometimes more jobs available in Poland than here. Immigration is decreasing for the moment. This pause gives us a chance to rethink the immigration system under less pressure, and it would be a great shame not to do so now. We have the real possibility to respond to personal suffering and social distress. As we walk together in our neighborhoods and parishes, our homes and workplaces, we can build both the church and a better society by proclaiming in word and deed that Christ has been crucified and has risen from the dead. Everything is now possible, with the grace of the risen Lord shaping our lives with him and with all those he gives us to love along the way. God bless you.