At the start of National Migration Week, taking place this year Sept. 22-28, the chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee on Migration invited the faithful to join "The Cabrini Pledge" and be guardians of hope for migrants and refugees. Named after St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, patron saint of immigrants and the first U.S. citizen to be canonized, the pledge was launched "as a reminder of our Church and nation's immigrant heritage and a call to deeper engagement with our faith in response to current events," according to a webpage explaining this initiative. An Italian immigrant who adopted this country as her own, Cabrini also faced "discrimination and seemingly impossible odds, (yet) she never succumbed to hopelessness. With relentless faith, she accompanied her fellow immigrants and others living on the margins of society with a great missionary zeal," the pledge's webpage reads. "Mother Cabrini’s challenges, and the challenges of those she served, are not unique among the generations of Catholics and immigrants in general who have come to this land," said the initiative, and her witness can help in the "present reality in the life of our Church and nation."