About Migration and Refugee Services
Johnny Young, Executive Director
The MRS Office of the Executive Director provides staff support to the USCCB Committee on Migration in its oversight of the work of MRS. The Office also guides and supports the other MRS offices in key areas related to:
- operational and strategic planning, budget and financial management, and staff development in accordance with MRS priorities;
- development and maintenance of printed and web-based materials and publications that are responsive to the needs of the MRS networks;
- collaboration with other USCCB offices, allied Catholic organizations, and other partner agencies on special projects and initiatives designed to promote awareness of and collective responses to the plight of immigrants, migrants, refugees, trafficking victims, and people on the move.
Cecile Motus, Director
The Churchs loving care for the newcomers in our midst is manifest in the work of the MRS Office for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Refugees. Through its network of national pastoral centers, pastoral consultants, and diocesan personnel who minister to various ethnic groups and people on the move throughout the country, the Office seeks to:
- encourage an appropriate welcome of the newcomer into the Church;
- provide language and culturally-appropriate liturgical and religious education materials;
- assist with leadership development from within communities;
- serve as a clearinghouse of information to assist diocesan and parish pastoral agents;
- convene pastoral agents at diocesan, regional, and national levels.
Click here for more information about the work of the
MRS Office for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Refugees.
Kevin Appleby, Director
The MRS Office of Migration and Refugee Policy is charged with assisting the bishops in the development and promotion of migration and refugee policy positions within the context of the Church's social and moral teaching. The Office staff:
- works in solidarity with grassroots Catholic networks across the United States and with other non-governmental and intergovernmental organizations to promote fair immigration and refugee policies;
- seeks to educate decision makers and the public about immigration and refugee policy issues;
- assists the U.S. Catholic bishops and diocesan networks across the country in carrying the voice of the Church to Congress, the Administration, and other leaders in the U.S. government.
Click here for more information about the work of the
MRS Office of Migration and Refugee Policy.
Anastasia Brown, Director
MRS offers hope to some of the worlds most desperate people refugees who have fled their countries of origin in fear for their lives, refugee and migrant children who are alone with no one to care for them, and adult and child victims of human trafficking. To fulfill its mission of providing new life opportunities to these vulnerable populations, the MRS Office of Refugee Programs:
- partners with over 100 diocesan resettlement offices to meets the initial needs of food, clothing, shelter, and jobs for nearly one quarter of all refugees admitted for resettlement into the U.S. each year as well as for Cuban/Haitian entrants, asylees, and detainees;
- works with a broad network of Catholic agencies to assist refugee children to resettle with their families and place children traveling without adult relatives in culturally appropriate, caring foster homes;
- combats the modern-day evil of human trafficking through advocacy, by increasing public awareness, offering training and technical assistance, and by providing direct outreach and services to the trafficking victims themselves.
Click here for more information about the work of the
MRS Office of Refugee Programs.