Cardinal Francis Leo’s message for the Oct. 5 World Day of Migrants and Refugees 

My Dear Brothers and Sisters,

I am writing to you on the occasion of the 111th World Day of Migrants and Refugees. Our observance of this important day takes on an extra special significance as it takes place on 4-5 October 2025, coinciding with the Jubilee of Migrants and the Missionary World in Rome. This shift situates the event directly within the heart of the Jubilee Year of Hope, underscoring the Church’s desire to embrace migrants and refugees as central participants in this time of grace.

The theme chosen this year, “Migrants, Missionaries of Hope,” places migrants not only at the centre of pastoral concern but also recognizes their spiritual witness. Pope Leo comments, “Migrants and refugees remind the Church of her pilgrim dimension, perpetually journeying towards her final homeland, sustained by a hope that is a theological virtue. Each time the Church gives in to the temptation of “sedentarization” and ceases to be a civitas peregrine, God’s people journeying towards the heavenly homeland.

Migrants and refugees are often seen only through the lens of suffering and loss, but this year’s theme transforms the narrative reminding everyone that they are not passive recipients of charity but active protagonists of the Church’s mission. In their journeys, they embody the perseverance of Abraham who “set out not knowing where he was going” (Heb 11:8), trusting only in God’s promise.

During this Holy Year of Jubilee, we have continually reflected on Christian hope not as mere optimism but the conviction that God’s promises endure even in the darkest nights, and that His grace is present everywhere. Migrants, through their very existence, remind the Church of this truth. 

The plight of migrants and refugees who are transformed into missionaries of hope highlights how people forced from their homes through war, injustice, climate crisis or poverty can embody and convey hope. Their resilience, trust in God and capacity to rebuild lives in new lands make them not only recipients, but bearers of hope for entire communities 

There are countless stories that are marked by loss yet animated by faith. These testimonies inspire us to rediscover solidarity, mercy and fraternity. I am reminded of the sage question: “How can you love a God whom you cannot see, if you cannot love your brother and sister whom you do see?” (1 Jn 4:20).

Our Jubilee Year which stretches from Christmas Eve 2024 to Epiphany 2026, invites us to walk as “Pilgrims of Hope.” Pilgrimage is a spiritual motif that is deeply resonant with the migrant experience. Just as the people of Israel journeyed toward the Promised Land, and the Church herself is ever on pilgrimage toward her heavenly homeland, so too the migrant embodies the pilgrim condition of all humanity who travels with God’s assistance. In this sense, the World Day of Migrants and Refugees is not a side event but a Jubilee within the Jubilee. It calls the Church to recognize migrants as a mirror of her own identity as a pilgrim community. The struggles and hopes of migrants and refugees are not foreign to us but rather, are part of our shared story of salvation. As missionaries of hope, they call the Church and the world to deep renewal: to see beyond fear, to welcome the stranger, and to build communities rooted in faith and fraternity.

As we join the Universal Church in recognizing migrants and refugees and their families, I would like to thank the parishes and communities across the Archdiocese of Toronto who have helped refugees, along with the Office for Refugees (ORAT) and ShareLife. The influx of migrants and refugees into the many municipalities located in the Archdiocese of Toronto has been overwhelming at times and your support is appreciated. I would ask that you please continue to pray for refugees and migrants both here at home and abroad, and for those who work with them.

Finally, during this Holy Jubilee Year, I ask that we remember the important lessons that migrants and refugees teach us about what it means to be pilgrims of hope — trusting in God’s promises, walking together and witnessing to the hope that does not disappoint. ...