text: I wasn't implying anything about how you many interpret scripture, but that  Pope Francis and the majority of bishops do invoke Matt 25's  "welcome the stranger" as Jesus' endorsement of open borders.   
  
  One can invoke tradition as the most reliable indicator of correct Catholic social teaching.   But history tells me that  tradition doesn't trump reason and conscience.    
  
  An example:  Catholic bishops in the South never admonished the Confederacy for its stance on slavery, and even after the Civil war,  some churches had segregated schools and pews.   My conscience and reason tell me this was an error; yet the Catholic social teachings of those times said it was just.    What would Catholic leaders of those days have said about their fidelity and interpretation of Catholic tradition?  No doubt they'd have been sanguine they were in the right.
  
  By the same token, I feel that Francis and the bishops are not entirely correct, not absolutely right, in views about immigration.