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Catholic Bishops Say Amnesty for Illegal Immigrant Children Is 'Pro-Life'
Breitbart's Big Government ^ | July 31, 2014 | Dr. Susan Berry

Posted on 08/01/2014 9:47:00 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet

Some Catholic bishops have recently suggested that granting amnesty to illegal immigrant children from Central America is consistent with “pro-life” Catholic teachings.

As reported in National Catholic Register, Bishop David Zubik of Pittsburgh said that providing for the needs of the young illegal immigrants is one facet of a truly pro-life philosophy.

“The Catholic Church responds to humanitarian crises here at home and all across the world because we are pro-life,” Zubik said in a statement on July 19th. “Being pro-life requires we protect and care for vulnerable persons from conception to natural death.”

“Whether they are traveling because of poverty, or violence, or with the hope of reuniting with relatives on the other side of the border,” the bishop continued, “followers of Jesus are called to protect these children and help them because they are very vulnerable and defenseless against any abuse or misfortune.”

“At the same time we respect the rule of law and the right of nations to have secure borders,” Zubik said, adding that “respect” refers to the necessity of the international community to determine why people are fleeing their homelands in the first place.

Similarly, Fr. James Melnick, writing at Catholic Stand, states that the recent words of Bishop Anthony Taylor of the Diocese of Little Rock indicate that pro-life issues and immigration are the top concerns of many dioceses in the South.

“When we talk about social doctrine of immigration, we talk about the right to work and the dignity of the human family,” Melnick wrote.

He points to a recent statement by Taylor who observes that the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has found that 58 percent of the illegal women and children immigrants coming across the U.S. border from Mexico qualify as refugees fleeing persecution....

(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...


TOPICS: Catholic; Current Events; Moral Issues; Religion & Politics
KEYWORDS: catholics; dreamers; illegalaliens; immigration
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To: ansel12
Why would the Catholic denomination want all these Catholic refugees fleeing Catholic countries, to move permanently to a non-Catholic country?

So evangelicals and pentecostals can proselytize them here instead of sending missionaries to Catholic countries... it saves on wear and tear this way apparently.

21 posted on 08/01/2014 11:02:42 AM PDT by Legatus (Either way, we're screwed.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

The two most powerful institutions that support illegal immigration in this country:

1) The Democrat Party
2) The Catholic Church

As a Catholic I find it appalling.


22 posted on 08/01/2014 11:06:36 AM PDT by Trapped Behind Enemy Lines
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Yo Bishop... if you are so concerned tell the church to get their pedophile loving asses down to Honduras and work on the problem there. Sitting in the comfort af a free country you are happy to help destroy is chicken shit.


23 posted on 08/01/2014 11:13:43 AM PDT by Breto (Stranger in a strange land... where did America go?)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

It is inhumane to keep those poor children in this country. They must be returned into the loving arms of their parents. It is the humane thing to do. Every child needs parents to nurture them in their development to adulthood, not the US government.

The US is no different than a pedophile who offers a candy bar to lure a child into his car or home to exploit.


24 posted on 08/01/2014 11:21:29 AM PDT by elpadre (AfganistaMr Obama said the goal was to "disrupt, dismantle and defeat al-hereQaeda" and its allies.)
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To: C19fan
"The Catholic Church is I believe the largest landowner in the US"

Nope, not even close.

A couple of years ago Ted Turner has lost his title as America's largest individual landowner to John Malone, the television pioneer and chairman of Liberty Media, who now owns 2.2 million acres.

Ted Turner remains a close second with slightly more than 2 million acres in his name.

Most Catholic assets are not actually held by the Catholic Church per se --- meaning dioceses and parishes, which ccount for less than 10%. Most of the assets are separately incorporated non-profit institutions who are less and less under the control of the bishops --- like a hospital system four times larger than the U.S.'s biggest private hospital chain, HCA Holdings, and a network of schools four times larger than the New York City Department of Education.

These hospitals and schools are, as I said, separate from direct Church governance, and more "separate" all the time: which is a historic tragedy, actually, since they're often not "Catholic where it counts" but they still have the name.

The rest of your argument might be OK, but the idea that the Catholic Church in America is land-wealthy or dollar-wealthy is bogus. Many dioceses are closing parishes and teetering on the edge of bankruptcy.

25 posted on 08/01/2014 12:23:05 PM PDT by Mrs. Don-o (Lord, save Your people and bless Your inheritance; give victory to the faithful over their adversary)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
Catholic Bishops Say Amnesty for Illegal Immigrant Children Is 'Pro-Life'

"We Democrats are not Pro-Life!"

26 posted on 08/01/2014 12:33:43 PM PDT by BerryDingle (I know how to deal with communists, I still wear their scars on my back from Hollywood-Ronald Reagan)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
We'll be a de facto "Catholic country" in 20 years at this rate. Of course, it'll be "liberation theology" left-wing Catholicism.

WE HAVE A WINNER!

This is why the dims are in such a big favor for this to happen. Lots of new voters who hold big government views.

27 posted on 08/01/2014 1:26:40 PM PDT by ealgeone (obama, borderof)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

I am sorely ignorant when it come to the immigration issue. Are the only two choices amnesty or sending them back home?


28 posted on 08/01/2014 1:53:44 PM PDT by piusv
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To: blackdog

“Hey Zubick, (padre) Put them up in your rectory first.”

Aren’t these “children” supposed to be running away from sexual predators already?


29 posted on 08/01/2014 2:36:43 PM PDT by Hugin ("Do yourself a favor--first thing, get a firearm!")
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To: Petrosius

Simply labeling an issue as “political” is a totally slipshod, inadequate way of stating the problem. There is no rational basis for the assertion that the Church has no business speaking on any issue merely because it’s “political.”

Abortion is a “political” issue, but the Church has a clear teaching on the matter: It is an obligation of the State to prohibit and punish abortion because abortion is homicide.

No one is at liberty to disagree with that teaching. Any person who supports “legal” abortion is not a Catholic.

The Church abuses its authority not by speaking on “political” issues, but when clerics take positions on issues about which Catholics are at liberty to disagree with one another.

“The Church” is clamoring for open borders and amnesty. They have no business doing this because Catholics are at liberty to oppose open borders and amnesty.

It has been pointed out to many bishops, many times, that immigrants (Mexican, Asian, whatever) vote 70% pro-abortion. So far, no Catholic bishop has expressed any concern about this fact.

An influx of immigrants from any source country will destroy the pro-life movement. And, since pro-abortion politicians are all wicked, violent, and treasonous, eventually immigrant voters will destroy the country.


30 posted on 08/11/2014 1:38:14 PM PDT by Arthur McGowan
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To: Opinionated Blowhard
Next will be that increasing Welfare and Food Stamp payments is “Prolife.”

You're only about 40 years behind the news.

31 posted on 08/11/2014 1:42:05 PM PDT by Arthur McGowan
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To: Arthur McGowan
You misunderstand my point. I meant that it is only political, i.e. something that is up to the prudential judgment of the body politic. The level of immigration that a nation must accept is not a subject of moral teaching and thus does not come under the proper authority of the bishops. The question of abortion, on the other hand, is driven by a moral component: "thou shalt not kill." This should, in a perfect world, raise it above mere politics. Thus, despite the political divisions over abortion, it is a proper topic for the bishops to address.
32 posted on 08/11/2014 1:48:01 PM PDT by Petrosius
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