Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

September 23, 2025 -

As we approach the 111th World Day of Migrants and Refugees, to be celebrated this year on October 4 and 5, 2025, we are invited to enter into a very special journey. Pope Francis has chosen to align this Day with the Jubilee of Migrants and the Missionary World, offering us a unique opportunity to reflect on the profound link between hope, migration, and mission.

Our beloved city of Montreal has long been a place of welcome—a crossroads where cultures and hopes converge. Today more than ever, we are called to recognize in our migrant brothers and sisters not a burden, but a true blessing from God.

The Hope That Unites Us

Each person who arrives in our archdiocese carries a story of hope. As Pope Leo XIV reminds us, these men and women are “privileged witnesses of hope lived out in daily life.” Their courage in the face of adversity teaches us the true meaning of faith in action.

Our Shared Mission

As a Christian community in Montreal, we are called to be, in turn, “missionaries of hope.” To welcome the stranger is to welcome Christ himself. As Scripture reminds us:

“Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing so some have
entertained angels without knowing it.” — Hebrews 13:2

A Concrete Call

I encourage you to:

• Open your hearts and parish communities to newcomers;
• Support our diocesan organizations serving migrants and refugees;
• Pray for all those still on their way toward a better future;
• Bear witness, through your lives, to the love of Christ who excludes no one.

A Special Invitation Here in Montreal

In this Jubilee Year, I warmly invite you to join us for the Diocesan Mass for the Jubilee of Migrants, to be celebrated on Sunday, September 28, 2025, 5:00 p.m. at Mary Queen of the World Cathedral.

This celebration will be a special opportunity to pray together, welcome our migrant brothers and sisters, and bear witness to our unity in the diversity that enriches our Church here in Montreal.

Let us entrust to the Blessed Virgin Mary, Comfort of Migrants, all who seek refuge and hope in our archdiocese. May she keep alive in us the assurance that hope does not disappoint.

✠ Christian Lépine
Archbishop of Montreal

Download the Archbishop's pastoral letter (PDF)