Posted on 07/11/2014 4:42:44 AM PDT by NYer
"In order to avoid future clashes with the citizens of Murrieta, Calif., over attempts to transfer illegal immigrants there, the Obama administration has turned to an unusual bedfellow: the Catholic Church. Deacon Luis Sanchez of the Diocese of San Bernardino tells National Review Online that an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent approached the diocese on July 2, 2014, and “expressed his desire for the Church to help in helping these families reach their destination.” Since that time, he says, diocesan officials have spoken on the phone with ICE, and they held a planning meeting on Monday.
John Andrews, the diocese’s director of communications who attended the planning meeting, tells NRO that the idea is to set up “transitional centers” where volunteers and representatives from Catholic Charities would provide food, medical, and spiritual care for families who have been processed at a Border Patrol station. He says he hopes to help the people pushed out of Murrieta, and would need to accommodate 140 people arriving every three days. Andrews says he expects the centers will house mostly mothers and their children for one or two days. But if there’s a situation where a family needs to stay longer than a day or two, he says that placing illegal immigrants with a local family would represent a “very viable option.”#ad#
Andrews says several of the parishes within the diocese might be used as part of the plan, but he would not provide details about the locations he disclosed at Monday’s planning meeting. He has withheld such details, he says, because he does not want to invite the “type of folks who gathered in Murrieta to protest” to disrupt their plans. “They [the Murrieta protesters] don’t see the immigrant in the same way we do, which is as a human being that’s created in God’s image with dignity, just like everyone else,” he says.
Some Church officials appear to take the view that the “type of folks who gathered in Murrieta” must be seen differently from the immigrants. In her blog, Sister Mary Ann Walsh, director of media relations for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said that images of the Murrieta protesters recalled the “fire hoses and snarling police dogs in Birmingham, Alabama, used against African-American students protesting racial segregation.” The images also reminded her of a picture of a “little girl in North Vietnam running terrified and naked with burning skin after South Vietnamese planes accidently dropped napalm on Trang Bang” in 1972. Walsh referred derisively to the “mob in Murrieta,” and wrote that she awaits a “moral conscience moment” similar to what occurred with the passage of civil-rights legislation 50 years ago and the moment when the U.S. pulled out of Vietnam.
Parishioners in San Bernardino do not uniformly share Walsh’s view of illegal immigrants flooding into their community, however. One couple who attended the planning meeting called into Rush Limbaugh’s radio show to offer an alternative position. Eddie, a caller identifying himself as a retired doctor, said he’s concerned about the spread of illnesses that might result from the plan put together by the Obama administration and the Catholic Church. “We’ve got FEMA facilities that can provide medical care, housing, nutrition and clothing, safety and transportation, and stabilize the situation so that these people can be reintegrated or be dealt with,” Eddie said. “But to put us and subject us to health-care problems, risk, whatever you want to call it, seems to be an incompetence on behalf of the government when they themselves, these different agencies are not talking to each other.”
It may come as a surprise that government officials are collaborating with the Catholic Church, given recent conflict between the two. The Little Sisters of the Poor faced hefty fines when they challenged the Obamacare contraception mandate. While the Obama administration objects to the kind of health care the Little Sisters would like to provide their employees, it is working on a plan with the Diocese of San Bernardino to allow Catholic Church officials to provide medical attention to illegal immigrants, according to Andrews. And though Massachusetts state government officials have shuttered Catholic Charities’ adoption service, churchgoers in California may soon be permitted by federal government officials to house entire families in their homes.
The Los Angeles ICE office did not return requests for comment about the plan, and Sanchez and Andrews would not disclose the name of the ICE official who has worked with the diocese. But if the plan described by Andrews comes through, the Obama administration may begin using the Catholic Church to shepherd immigrants all over the country.
Cowgirl, you have a way with words.
Just as an anecdote, my mother is in a Polish Catholic nursing home and it’s great. The nuns are cheerful and patient - and it takes a lot of patience to work in these places. Two thumbs up for Catholic workers!
Of course, I believe all of the people coming over the border must be returned home.
Precisely the response obama is hoping to get from the church and and country he is committed to destroying. He knows he can't do that without the complicity of the ones who he wants to bring down.
1. Being a nun is a calling, not just a job. God bless them for their charity. Taking care of the elderly is one of the most trying jobs there is, I imagine.
2. Yes, they MUST. Pressure HAS to be brought to bear on their respective governments. It HAS to be but our President doesn't have the cajones to do that. Mrs. O has his in her purse.
Archbishop Levada was OUR Archbishop for some years! Wonderful man and priest.
FROM THE INTERNET: http://www.catholiccharitiesoregon.org/about_us_history.asp
Catholic charity in Oregon dates back to the first orphanage founded in 1838 by Father Francis Blanchet and the Sisters of Notre Dame du Namours. This partnership began a legacy of serving Oregon's poor and vulnerable, beginning with Oregon's youngest residents. In 1913, Oregon child labor laws were enacted as a result of the investigative work of Father Edwin O'Hara, teamed with other community leaders. This led to the establishment of the Catholic Children's Bureau in 1917. In 1932, Father Lucien Lauerman evaluated Catholic social welfare work in the Archdiocese of Portland and presented his report to a group assembled by Archbishop Edward Howard on September 12, 1933. The result was the establishment of the first Catholic Charities office, where Father Lauerman employed four staff members who represented Catholic social service institutions in all court cases and acted as case managers for children.
Over the years, Catholic Charities has sought to respond to the ever emerging needs of the poor and vulnerable throughout western Oregon consistent with the call of Jesus and the teachings of the Church. Subsequently, several initiatives have followed in steady succession to meet these needs.
1938
Catholic Community Services of Salem was established to advocate for children in foster care.
1945
Catholic Charities become involved in the reception and resettlement of refugees after the end of World War II. Subsequently, Catholic Charities has aided refugees all different parts of the world.
1946
Catholic Charities founded the Catholic Youth Organization sports program.
1952
Catholic Charities of Lane County was established, and later renamed Catholic Community Services of Lane County in 1984.
1952
Camp Howard, a 160 acre wooded campsite, is founded near Sandy to conduct summer sports and camp programs for grade school and junior high children.
1954
Catholic Family Services and Catholic Services for Children were formed, and later combined into Catholic Community Services of Portland in 1989.
1987
Archbishop William Levada commissioned a study to evaluate Catholic social services within the Archdiocese.
1989
Archbishop Levada and a newly appointed Board of Directors established a restructured Archdiocesan Catholic Charities organization with Dennis B. Keenan, MSW, as its Executive Director. This office, while supporting parish outreach activities, also conducted needs assessment and program planning efforts, and provided leadership to member agencies in the areas of fiscal and personnel management, fundraising, public relations and accreditation.
1990
Catholic Community Services of Southern Oregon was established to respond to the needs of families hard hit by the downturn in the timber industry and influx of immigrant workers. It was renamed Catholic Charities of Southern Oregon in 2006.
1991
Catholic Charities initiated Ministry to the Elderly to support parish-based services for the elderly.
1994
Catholic Community Services of Portland merged with Catholic Charities.
1994
Project Rachel was initiated in an effort to provide emotional and spiritual healing to persons previously involved in abortions.
1996
Immigration Legal Services program was established, with a branch office in Medford opened in 1999.
1999
Catholic Charities Caritas Housing Initiatives completes its first low-income housing project.
2006
Following in the tradition of serving homeless women and children, Catholic Charities opens its Housing Transitions Program.
The first record of Catholic Charities service statistics shows Catholic Charities served 1,323 individuals in 1952. By 2000, that number had risen to over 100,000 annually. Today, Catholic Charities operates 25 programs, has four Member Agencies and 20 grantee agencies serving people of all ages, races and beliefs.
“Some people just don’t get it.”
You are right. I don’t get it. The Catholic Church has an overwhelming presence in Central America.
Why aren’t they addressing the suffering there instead of at the end of a harsh 1,000 mile journey in which so many die.
Could it be because the Church is being used as a tool by the Dark Lords of DC to destroy the last bastion of Christian liberty in the world.
The term Lenin used was “useful idiots”.
Nah. That couldn’t be it.
You must be right. I just don’t get it.
Your statement doesn’t negate RFEngineer’s “nonsensical screed”. In fact it seems that your statement even supports the idea of just bring in and housing illegals under the doors of the Catholic Church. The Vatican has been very supportive of illegal immigration. Sorry but RFEngineer is right.
Catholics can remember that when they dance with the devil they’re going to get burned.
com·plic·i·ty
kəmˈplisitē/
noun
noun: complicity
the state of being involved with others in an illegal activity or wrongdoing.
---------------------------------------------
Some precision of thought is required. Performing the Corporal Works of Mercy is not contingent; nor is it wrongdoing.
Let's stay clear on who the real bad actors are in this situation.
Of course not.
The Catholic Church is, for the most part, a Liberal organization. Evangelical Protestant churches tend to be Conservative.
Obama can’t afford the risk of bringing all of these future voters here, then putting them into contact with people who could, through word and deed, convince them to vote the wrong way.
My use of the word “workers” was to send a shout out to everyone who works in these nursing homes - nurses, nurses aides, cooks, bottle washers, etc. I’ve never met a more kind group of people. If only they would stop playing those polka cd’s...
Unlike many people they did not miss the lesson about doing charity in the dark so as not to call attention to yourself. The Sisters in South America and in fact all over the world do a whole lot without much resources.
The only ones we hear about in the US is the malcontents who never had a true vocation, they just needed something to do. The malcontents I have known of fall into categories. There are the fat and ugly ones who went into the convent because they had no marriage prospects back when women stayed home until they married. Or they were women who back in the 60's and 70's went into the convent convinced that Vat II would allow them to be priests. Then there are the ones who like to say how independent they are, but they lack the courage to go into the world as a single woman.
You do not have any idea what the other 98% of religious sisters do. You just think you do. I know!
Bring in? Please source that statement.
“Throughout its history, the Catholic Church has ministered to the downtrodden”
I find it very hard to believe that the Catholic Church would support children leaving their parents and making a trek to a foreign land.
The Catholic Church is very strong in the “source” countries for these illegal immigrants. They could, if they wanted, minister to and support these children in their host countries.
This has nothing to do with religion. It has to do with politics and bureaucracy expansion. It has to do with power and control.
In this case Obama and the Catholic bureaucracy are allies. Both want to bring America down a peg or two or ten.
It’s wrong, and I suspect most faithful American Catholics agree with me.
From your article:
There is no discussion of sending these people back. Rather the Catholic Church is facilitating bring these people into the United States.
The Catholic Church is part and parcel to bring these illegals in.
But the allegedly pro-life conservatives who are not Catholic, would rather these kids die then take up any space in their precious universe, because they are poor and illegal. Most of these illegals probably don't have a clue what they are doing here. They are being used. So by all means we should just get in line and mistreat them. Then the headline will be "Catholics Turn Backs on Hispanics". Don't care! We can't win that one!
You know I am tired of this. Lets go spiritual, shall we. Today's first reading. "for in you the orphan finds compassion.” I will heal their defection, says the LORD, I will love them freely; for my wrath is turned away from them. "
For the literalistic that will pounce.
Orphan: one deprived of some protection or advantage.
Today's Gospel:Jesus said to his Apostles: “Behold, I am sending you like sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and simple as doves. But beware of men, for they will hand you over to courts and scourge you in their synagogues, and you will be led before governors and kings for my sake as a witness before them and the pagans. When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say. You will be given at that moment what you are to say. For it will not be you who speak but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. Brother will hand over brother to death, and the father his child; children will rise up against parents and have them put to death. You will be hated by all because of my name, but whoever endures to the end will be saved. When they persecute you in one town, flee to another. Amen, I say to you, you will not finish the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.”
Don-o, it very well may be that God is giving us a means to redemption. This country has and continues to go off the rails. Even though we don't support abortion, infanticide, eugenics etc. a large part of our country does.
I am reminded of the story from the Old Testament, where God promised not to destroy the city if there were even one righteous man in it.
I don't claim to be righteous but we owe it to God to try.
I would have preferred that these kids stayed home with their families, but they didn't. They are here. They are human beings, they are sick and hurt and frightened. Instead of gratitude that the Catholic Church is willing to step up and try to get at least some of this burden off the citizens and tax payers all they get is grief. Accusations of ulterior motives, suspicions, complicity. I would love to have a conversation with some of their pastors.
Link goes to some notes and quotes from it.
While I would not agree today with everything he says, his major premise is Our argument, then, is that idolatry and its associated concepts provide a better framework for us to understand our own society than do any of the alternatives."
Perhaps keeping that in mind will help in understanding where some folks' bewildering comments originate. My Missus has taught me that is a worthwhile thing to try to do.
"This, the man who hates the CC with the fury of a thousand drag queens who have been denied admittance to the ladies’ restrooms."
Awesome. I'm stealin' that.
http://www.sbdiocese.org/contact.cfm
"Dear Bishop Gerald Barnes,
I understand that the Spiritual and Corporal Works of Mercy are not optional. The love of Christ impels us to help the needy.
However, Mercy does not impel us to become accessories in crimes, not to be exploited by the coercive power of a lawless State.
The resettlement of tens or hundreds of thousands of Central American people here is a crime, since both they (perhaps unwillingly, in the case of children) and the present Administration are breaking the reasonable laws of the United States regarding just, lawful and humane immigration.
This is being done in a manner totally opposed to the Common Good. And the present Administration is using this for partisan political purposes which are at odds with the Rule of Law in our country, and our citizens' well-being. It amounts enabling to one of the biggest, most immoral human trafficking schemes in the history of the United States.
I believe we must fed the hungry when we see them, clothe the naked, and shelter the homeless.
I urge you to tell the authorities of the state that you will house and help these unfortunate Central American young people, only pending the reunification of their families VIA THEIR REPATRIATION TO THEIR COUNTRIES OF ORIGIN.
Sincerely,
(Name)
Diocesan Pastoral Center...This is the main administrative office building for the Diocese of San Bernardino, established in 1995 with the consolidation of several external locations.
Pastoral Center
The Pastoral Center
1201 E Highland Ave
San Bernardino, Ca 92404
Phone: (909) 475-5300
Fax: (909) 475-5155
E-mail: info@sbdiocese.org
General Office Hours:
Monday-Friday: 8:30am - 4:30pm
Closed 1st and 3rd Friday of the month
Monday-Friday: 8:00am - 5:00pm those weeks
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