The United States government’s decision to launch a special resettlement program for white South African refugees has prompted a wave of moral and theological critique from church leaders both at home and abroad.
- The U.S. government initiated a special resettlement program for white South African refugees, citing risks of race-based targeting.
- Major Christian organizations criticized the policy for being m
- orally selective and subverting humanitarian principles.
- Faith groups emphasized the importance of impartial assistance and condemned policies shaped by political motives.
The policy, announced through an executive order earlier this year, singles out Afrikaner white descendants of Dutch settlers in South Africa for preferential refugee status.
According to the U.S. State Department, the initiative to offer refugee status to white South African farmers is meant to offer protection to “communities at risk of race-based expropriation and targeted violence.”
But major Christian bodies say the policy undermines the core values of humanitarian protection and Christian ethics.
Church withdrawals mark a turning point
Within weeks of the policy taking effect, the Episcopal Church (USA) announced it would sever its longstanding refugee resettlement partnership with the federal government.
In a public letter, Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe called the program “morally selective” and incompatible with the Church’s mission to serve “the least of these” without prejudice.
“This is not how Christ taught us to welcome the stranger,” Rowe wrote, explaining the church’s decades-long commitment to refugee advocacy that cuts across race, nationality, and political status.
The Episcopal Church’s decision to end its resettlement program by September 2025 follows months of internal deliberation. Church officials described the administration’s refugee criteria as ethically flawed, privileging groups that do not meet the standard international definition of persecution.
Solidarity across continents
In South Africa, the policy has also met resistance from religious quarters. Anglican Archbishop Thabo Makgoba commended the Episcopal Church’s stance, calling it “a powerful witness to justice and gospel truth.”
Makgoba, a well-respected moral voice in South Africa, emphasized that Afrikaners are not a marginalized or persecuted group in the country.
“We cannot equate the discomfort of lost political power with actual persecution,” he said, noting that South Africa’s constitution protects the rights of all its citizens, including landowners.
The archbishop also challenged the narrative of “genocide” against white farmers, a claim that has repeatedly been discredited by both South African law enforcement and independent human rights groups.
Catholic Bishops reevaluate participation
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), another major player in refugee and migrant services, has also signaled a withdrawal.
In April, the bishops opted not to renew federal contracts related to refugee resettlement and children’s services. While financial uncertainties played a role, Church leaders pointed to deep ethical discomfort.
Archbishop Timothy Broglio, president of the USCCB, warned against refugee policies driven by ideology rather than need. In a public homily, he urged U.S. Catholics to “remember the biblical mandate to welcome the stranger without condition.”
Vatican-affiliated media outlets have echoed similar sentiments, cautioning against any policy that “weaponizes charity” by assigning worth to human lives based on ethnicity or political narrative.
Despite White House claims that the program addresses a specific humanitarian crisis, faith leaders argue that such selective resettlement only widens global inequality and undermines the moral authority of refugee protections.
At the heart of their protest is a question older than any policy document: Who is our neighbor?
As the Church disengages from this program, it sends a broader message that compassion, if truly rooted in faith, cannot be partial.
In the words of Bishop Rowe:
“We cannot remain silent while the sacred work of hospitality is politicized and stripped of its moral clarity.”
For Christian communities committed to justice and equity, this is not just a policy debate, it is a moment of spiritual reckoning.
Fathia Olasupo
