Posted on 06/21/2010 8:39:35 AM PDT by Alex Murphy
Archbishop Antonio Maria Vegliò, president of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant Peoples, addressed the worldwide phenomenon of illegal immigration during a June 17 ecumenical prayer service.
“Millions of people in developing countries relive the Gospel story of poor Lazarus, longing to alleviate their hunger with the crumbs which fall from the excessively lavish tables of the masters of the world,” and are willing to risk the “crime of being outlaws” when they enter “the home of the rich man without an invitation.”
Denouncing human trafficking and acknowledging that countries receiving immigrants are legitimately concerned about national security, Archbishop Vegliò called upon
all parties to shoulder their respective responsibilities and identify solutions other than simply heavier sanctions on illegal immigrants or the hermetic closure of borders. These solutions include interventions which go further than verbal declarations for development in the country of origin, so as to promote a serious fight against human traffickers, rational programs for flows of regular entrance, greater willingness to consider individual cases demanding interventions of humanitarian protection and political asylum; lastly, it is necessary to safeguard the right to family reunion, a guarantee for cohesion and stability for individuals and for society.
A fence sounds good.
So does enforcing the law.
Some would have you believe that the Church should advocate nationalism over Beatitude. Those are the same people who would have joyfully supported the German Protestant Church under the Nazis and even today seek to silence the church when it doesn't agree with them.
The constitution bars the Government from participating in Church affairs, but not the opposite. The Church has an obligation to attempt to influence public policy. Catholics will not be quiet in public about serious moral issues because of some misguided sense of good manners. A healthy democracy requires vigorous moral debate to survive. Real pluralism demands that people of strong beliefs will advance their convictions in the public square -- peacefully, legally and respectfully, but energetically and without embarrassment. Anything less is bad citizenship and a form of theft from the public conversation.
As citizens, we can never afford to abdicate our shared civic life to a political or economic elite. A nation's political life, like Christianity itself, is meant for everyone, and everyone has a duty to contribute to it. Our constitution recognizes that EVERYONE within the jurisdiction of the United States has rights and the Church is right to insist that these rights be respected. A democracy depends on the active involvement of all its citizens, not just Protestants, lobbyists, experts, think tanks and the mass media. For Catholics, politics -- the pursuit of justice and the common good in the public square -- is part of the history of salvation. No one is a minor actor in that drama.
Yes, and of course we must render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s. The just, humane, and decent treatment of all citizens and immigrants is God’s Law.
It seems to me that the Bishops etc have an obligation to spread the gospel and tend their flock....Not try to tell the governement how it should behave when it comes to illegal immigration...I sure don’t want to live under the dictates of Bishops or Cardinals...their moral standing could stand a lot of fixing up before they go after those that want to protect our borders from invasions from the south..
Related threads:
New L.A. Archbishop...Discusses Immigration & Hispanics In Church
Solving illegal immigration requires fixing economic causes, stresses Bishop Wester
Immigration Integration [Catholic Bishops Advocate for Humane Treatment of Illegal Immigrants]
Vatican official prods US on immigration reform
Archbishop Wenski of Florida urges Catholics to act up
Catholic bishop calls for new thinking on illegal immigration
How to Train Catholic Citizens to Elect Morally-Perverted Catholic Politicians
Some Church Leaders Are Wrong On Immigration
Toning Down the Immigration Debate among Catholics (Lots of Interesting Comments)
Bishop Slattery calls for secure borders, immigration reform [Tulsa, OK]
Immigration, Politics, and the Church (Ecumenic)
Cardinal: Catholics are key to achieving immigration reform [ or stopping it ]
US Catholic Latino leaders meet with Vatican officials, discuss ‘Hispanic reality’
Welcome the Stranger (Catholic theology & Church history against illegals)
Arizona immigration law shows need for reform, Archbishop Chaput writes
Bishops to the Left of Senate Dems on Immigration
Mahony blesses L.A.'s rally [pro-(illegal)immigration rally]
Jose Gomez (future LA Archbishop), champion of illegal immigrants [2005 post]
Catholic Money and Tax Dollars Finance Illegal Alien Rally
Cardinal Mahony speaks on illegal immigration
Catholic Church Facilitates Foreign Invasion
Archbishop Timothy Dolan: Immigration Reform. Here We Go Again
US Catholic Bishops Opposition To Arizona Immigration Law Leaves Many Unanswered Questions
USCCB OPPOSE ARIZONA LAW
US Catholic church attacks 'draconian' Arizona law
Pope Benedict urges bishops to work for recognition of immigrant rights
Arizona's Proposed Illegal Immigration Crackdown Akin To Nazi Tactics, Cardinal Roger Mahony Says
Hispanics increasing Catholic numbers in US, but assimilation has downside
Fewer receive sacraments
Does the American Catholic Church Have a Numbers Problem?
Denver Archbishop Supports Tuition Equity [Chaput favors extending in-state tuition to illegals]
US Catholic bishops condemn US immigration raids
Gathering calls for 'fair and humane' immigration policies [Catholic Bishops on immigration reform]
Journey to Justice: A Catholic Vision of Immigration
Catholic Church Chooses Wrong Side Again
Survey: Catholics Adapt to Culture at Cost of Committed Faith [Blacks 1/7 of the population, but only 1/25 of the Catholic Church]
GOP Senator: Immigration Bill's Fate Hangs in the Balance [SBC, Catholic Church support the bill]
Recognize Christ in every immigrant, bishop urges U.S. Catholics
Local Catholics celebrate diversity [Catholic "Immigration Mass" in Apple Valley, CA]
Putting faith in search for rights [Catholic "Immigration Mass" in Chicago, IL]
Praying for immigration reform [Catholic "Immigration Mass" in Los Angeles, CA]
Irish, Latino Catholics march for immigrant rights [Catholic "Immigration Mass" in San Francisco]
Catholics push for immigration reform [Catholic "Immigration Mass" in Raleigh, NC]
Catholic bishop calls deportation policies immoral
Withholding their 'amens' [Catholics object to a call for a revised immigration policy at Lent]
Denver Archdiocese Reacts To ICE Raid
Yes, we must remain humane and just was we are raped, robbed and run over by drunk drivers who are illegals. After all, we’re so rich we deserve to die and those poor people who break into our homes in the middle of the night and beat up old ladies are just doing what they have to in order to get the crumbs from our bontiful tables.
True.
There is nothing inhumane about enforcing the border, or enforcing the law.
We allow a million legal immigrants each and every year. We give Mexico pride of place of having the largest quota of legal immigrant visas; they get more visas than the next half dozen countries combined; they get probably ten times the visas that our closest partners get. If that number isn't enough to satisfy the needs of humaneness, you should try coming up with a number. No other country even comes close to us on that score.
I would reverse this. If people are fleeing a nominally Christian nation by the millions, and they are, then there are serious moral problems at the heart of it. That nominally Christian nation has become a missionary field, and that is where the church needs to focus its attention.
Lots of links you sent, I’d rather read a Rex Stout novel but thanks anyway......
Don’t you find it interesting that most of the illegals in the USA are from third world countries that have as their main religion the Roman Catholic Church?
I don't understand the analogy to the illegal alien debate. Could you elaborate?
Common sense in the face of uncharitable demagoguery bump.
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