Individual liberty versus the common good and the ongoing need for comprehensive immigration reform are among the issues religious groups continued to debate as the High Court’s term came to a close.

The Supreme Court is weighing the legal challenge to Arizona's strict immigration law, and religious groups opposed to the law are appealing to language throughout the scriptures "to take care of the stranger," says Catholic News Service staff writer Patricia Zapor.

They say Israel's Law of Return permits them to become Israelis. But some Israelis wonder whether they are really Jews.

“When we say grace we are grateful for the food on our plates. But where did that food travel? Who picked it? How did it get to us? As people of faith we are called to think about that.”

"The government is trying to tell us what we can or can’t do in terms of works of mercy, works of charity, which are fundamental to our faith," says Father Tom Ackerman of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Birmingham.

"The [Mormon] church has become a worldwide church and its interests now extend far beyond Utah, and it has to meet the expectations of its worldwide audience," says Ron Mortensen, founder of the Utah Coalition on Illegal Immigration.

“Secularism is indispensable. It’s a protection so everyone has peace, believers and non-believers,” according to one French citizen.

“For most of the French, religion was an enemy of democracy, liberalization, freedom,” says this political scientist who specializes in Islamic studies, and “a synonym for public disorder.”

Watch excerpts from President Obama’s May 12 speech at the National Hispanic Prayer Breakfast, along with comments on immigration reform by Rev. Luis Cortes Jr. and Bishop Orlando Findlayter.

Join our discussion of the most anticipated religion and ethics news in 2011, from social and cultural issues to the political and economic debates that loom ahead.