A Call to Solidarity: Binational Mass

By New Outlook 
 
The Diocese of Tucson in collaboration with the Kino Border Initiative and the Diocese of Mexicali are planning a Binational Encuentro: Migrants, Pilgrims of Hope in Christ on Sunday, October 12, 2025. The procession will highlight the presence of the Catholic Church in its empathetic and merciful mission to stand in solidarity with migrants.
 
Bishop Gerald Kicanas and Bishop Enrique Sánchez of the Diocese of Mexicali will gather in San Luis, Arizona with a number of their brother bishops from the region as well as pilgrims representing 20 dioceses across the US and Mexico. The group will process as pilgrims into Mexico where they will join the Catholic community in San Luis Rio Colorado to celebrate Mass at Immaculate Conception Parish in San Luis, Rio Colorado. Members of our Diocese are welcome to attend.
 
After the Mass, the bishops from the region in the US and in Mexico will sign a common statement encouraging action to protect the rights and dignity of all people which will be followed by dinner. As Catholics we believe in the dignity of every person which we will celebrate when we gather.
The procession and Mass are an opportunity for social advocacy to be a prophetic sign and demonstrate the clarity of Catholic teaching on the dignity of migrants. This procession toward hope and peace reminds us that, in our identity as Catholics in a universal Church, we are all migrants and pilgrims united on this journey building the Kingdom of God.
 
In his message for the 2025 World Day of Migrants and Refugees, Pope Leo XIV invited everyone to unite hope, migration, and mission. His Holiness echoes Pope Francis's declaration that people on the move are "pilgrims of hope." Therefore, from the Binational Encuentro, the diocese wishes to highlight this timely and necessary message.