WASHINGTON (CNA) — The U.S. bishops have backed efforts in Alabama to turn back a state law they say would threaten the Catholic Church’s ministry to undocumented immigrants.
Archbishop José Gomez of Los Angeles, chair of the migration committee of the U.S. bishops’ conference, offered his “solidarity and support” to Archbishop Thomas Rodi of Mobile, Ala., Bishop Robert Baker of Birmingham, Ala., and other religious leaders in the state who are trying to reverse the law.
Archbishop Rodi and several Protestant denominations are seeking relief from a law they say criminalizes parts of the Church’s mission and interferes with the free exercise of religion.
“The Catholic Church provides pastoral and social services to all persons, regardless of their immigration status,” Archbishop Gomez said Sept. 8. “Our mandate is to provide for the pastoral and social care of all of God’s children. Government should not infringe upon that duty, as America’s Founding Fathers made clear in the U.S. Constitution.”
He called upon the Obama administration and Congress to enact “comprehensive” immigration reform.
“Our nation is in great need for a federal solution to the challenge of illegal immigration, one that balances the rule of law with humanitarian principles,” Archbishop Gomez said.
The Alabama legislature’s H.B. 56 requires law enforcement officers to attempt to determine the immigration status of a person “who they suspect is an unauthorized alien of this country.”
It also criminalizes the “transport, concealment, harboring and housing of unauthorized aliens” in a broad manner that critics say will make most forms of assistance to immigrants illegal.
In an Aug. 1 letter to Catholics, Archbishop Rodi said the law makes it illegal for a Catholic priest to baptize undocumented immigrants, hear their confessions or preach the Gospel to them.
“Nor can we encourage them to attend Mass or give them a ride to Mass. It is illegal to allow them to attend adult Scripture study groups or attend CCD or Sunday school classes,” he said.
He charged that the law prohibits “almost every activity” of St. Vincent de Paul Society chapters or Catholic social services and could even make it illegal for these immigrants to attend Alcoholic Anonymous meetings.
“This law,” the archbishop said, “attacks our very understanding of what it means to be a Christian.”
The Justice Department has filed its own lawsuit charging that the law intrudes on the federal government’s immigration policies and responsibilities.
The law was scheduled to take effect on Sept. 1, but a federal judge temporarily blocked it. A decision on the law is expected by the end of September.
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However the Bishops no longer Speak Out About Abortion funding in Obamacare Bill.
I do not agree with the Archbishop. As Christians, you are also suppose to obey the law. Nowhere would it say that they can not allow illegals to practice the Sacraments. But if they have broken the law by being illegal then they are criminals. Of course we do not have any less love for them but we also have to take actions to protect our country in many different aspects. If those people want to be in our country they can come and do it the legal way.
Brett you miss the point, this law will make it impossible for clergy or lay people to practice our faith and not break the law. The law criminalizes any activity that provides aid or comfort to illegal aliens. If food pantry gives food to illegal they broke the law, if a priest hears confession and provides counsel or guidance he breaks the law. They took out the protection for churches before the bill was voted on. It also requires the Church to do the job of the state by identify who is illegal before service can be provided. The State is dictating who the church can minister too. Many of the illegals are Catholic, yes they broke the law, but so do millions of American’s every day from speeding, cheating on taxes, drug use, along with major felonies. The immigration policy of the country is broken and needs to be fixed. But a law that will make Catholic practices of charity illegal is not the way to fix it.
“If those people want to be in our country they can come and do it the legal way.”—my reply-I agree 100 percent. As Catholics, peoeple are supposed to respect and obey authority. Illegal immigrants are not doing that. I am surprised at men of the cloth that protect law breakers such as illegal immigrants.
I will say at least the Archbishop is being honest—Not allowing immigrants in this country would indeed hurt the ministry—Because hardly any Americans go to church and many peoeple from other countries still have faith!
I just want to say, “what belongs to Caesar’s, give to Ceasar”. The issue of immigration is a concern for both the state and religion. Is this an issue needing a fine tooth comb to sort through?
David
You might be correct in your general view but don’t whitewash Mexican sins. How is it that whenever Catholics break the law, the new Catholic response is that everyone breaks the law. It’s as bizarre as: yes our clergy abused sexually but public school teachers also do…..or yes we burned people in the Inquisition but so did Protestants. What if we tried that in Confession…..“Father I robbed a Lexus this week but everyone in my neighborhood is doing it too so….do I have to return it?”
In the immigration debate, it is disheartening to see how many Catholics are unaware of some basic principles of Catholic morality, and how often political positions take precedence over matters of Catholic faith and morals. Unfortunately, I am not in my office where my Catechism of the Catholic Church is, but it can be easily looked up by those who are interested. The Church teaches that human persons have a basic human right to those things that are necessary for survival, and there are numerous documents among the social teachings of the Church that speak of the right of peoples to migrate, not just within nations, but across national boundaries, according to what is needed for their survival. While it is certainly not true of all immigrants to our land, there are certainly many—the vast majority from Latin America—who have come here because it is necessary for their families to survive economically. Yes, they should come here legally, but with our broken immigration system that provides inadequate numbers of visas for unskilled workers, that is easier said than done. It is especially easy for those of us to say whose families are not hungry. While as a nation we work toward some form of comprehensive immigration reform, which we need, and for which our bishops are calling, we must always remember that the vast majority of the immigrants who are here illegally (or “undocumented,” if you prefer) are not criminals. (Yes, they broke the law, but out of desperation for their families!) Most are hard working folks who simply want to provide for their families as best as they can, and have made tremendous sacrifices in order to do so. And yes, many of them are Catholics, and they need the sacramental ministry of the Church, and whatever other form of assistance the Church can offer. The Church’s “preferential option for the poor” does not exclude those who are here illegally. And the Church should not be criminalized for fulfiling the role that Christ has called her to fullfill on his behalf. Many Christians need to examine their hearts for placing their politics before their Christianity over this issue of immigration!
Bill, not all sins are equal. Rather, there are some moral qualifiers, rendering actions as either more or less sinful. To take the last of the examples from your post: “Father, I robbed a Lexus this week…” Your example could read: “Father, I robbed a Lexus this week, BUT there was a bag of groceries in the back seat and my children were hungry.” To many immigrants, the U.S. is a great big Lexus parked up north filled with groceries. It’s just too great a temptation when the discrepancy between rich and poor is so great. It is interesting that in the old moral manuals a man in dire poverty who stole food to feed his family was not considered guilty of theft, because he was considered to have had a right to what his family needed to survive. Legally, he may have been guilty of theft, but not morally. Thus, not all “criminal” behavior is truly criminal, nor is all “lawbreaking” truly immoral. Nor, I might add, would it be immoral for Catholic parishes and other institutions to minister to illegal immigrants in Alabama should the new legislation be upheld. They would be violating the civil law of the State of Alabama, perhaps, but they would be violating an unjust law in favor of a higher law, the law of God.
What teaching of Jesus gives the bishops the spiritual authority to knowingly harbor and encourage the inducement for law breakers?
Let them come thru the LEGAL way.
Yes, they should come legally, respecting the laws of our nation, but the fact is many have not, so how to deal with those who are here illegally? We cannot deal with those who are here because of economic hardship simply as if they were common criminals. The immigration issue with respect to poverty must be viewed by Christians according to the teachings of Christ. St. John Chrysostom said: “Not to enable the poor to share in our goods is to steal from them and deprive them of life. The goods we possess are not ours, but theirs.” (This quote is in the new Youcat, page 244) This calls for a radical sharing by the rich nations with those who are poor. In Populorum Propressio, Pope Paul VI wrote, “The hungry nations of the world cry out to the peoples blessed with abundance. And the Church, cut to the quick by this cry, asks each and every man to hear his brother’s plea and answer it lovingly.” This “cry” takes on flesh and blood (is “incarnated”) in the persons of many of the immigrants who come here in search of sustenance for their families, many of whom live in dire poverty back home in their countries of origin. Those who are here need to be dealt with accordingly, with the compassion of our Lord.
Father Leonard
The problem is that they are not leaving a starvation zone like Somalia. They are leaving what Wiki describes in these words: ” From 2000 to 2004, the population in poverty has decreased from 24.2% to 17.6% in the general population and from 42% to 27.9% in rural areas.[114] Since the late 1990s, the majority of the population has been part of the growing middle class. The Mexican economy is expected to nearly triple by 2020…. according to a 2008 UN report the average income in a typical urbanized area of Mexico was $26,654, a rate higher than advanced nations like South Korea or Taiwan, while the average income in rural areas just miles away was only $8,403, a rate comparable to developing countries such as Russia or Turkey.[118] Daily minimum wages are set annually by law and determined by zone…..”
Do you know Father of any cases of starvation in that setting that would justify Aquinas’ ” need makes all things common”?
Father Leonard
Could you supply not the youcat reference to Chrysostom but the actual cite to Chrysostom’s works. I found the second sentence of the quote (“the goods we possess are not ours but theirs”) to be leftist and false unless the persons are starving…. plain and simple and it sounds like 10 inches from the leftist Prudhon’s “property is theft”.
Paul who was actually inspired by the Holy Spirit implied the legitimacy of varying levels of afluence and he said in Philippians 4:12….” I know indeed how to live in humble circumstances; I know also how to live with abundance. In every circumstance and in all things I have learned the secret of being well fed and of going hungry, of living in abundance and of being….13 I have the strength for everything through him who empowers me.”
Bill,
I have visited communities in El Salvador from whence commeth immigrants to this country, both to visit the families of parishioners, and to visit members of my own family who live there, and there is no such middle class (at least not in the communities I visited) like that of which you speak. On the contrary there is tremendous poverty. And there is likewise poverty among the immigrants who come here, because they are forced to live in the shadows and make wages that cannot possibly support themselves and their families.
Bill, you ask if I know of cases of starvation that would justify “need makes all things common.” Well, starvation, no. But hunger, yes. Nevertheless, if my brother or sister is hungry, then I am to feed them, not wait until they are at the point of starvation.
God help you, Bill, you are proving my point! It looks as though enough has been said on this thread anyway. God bless.
Father Leonard
God does help me. I’ve been giving alms for decades and currently must meet a monthly goal for a Catholic orphange in Beijing that cares for dying infants. But adults sometimes breaking our borders, using our emergency wards free and yet sending money home to relatives while they are a net deficit to the country they broke into….is not Christlike choices. You may feel good being careless of US citizens’ money as you do the talk thing but maybe that attitude is why no Pope has apologized for the three billion dollars the sex abuse crimes costs all Catholics including the clergy.
Some estimates are 51k lifetime deficit to the US for an illegal after he uses our medical etc. despite paying taxes. Imagine if that money were spent on USA mentally ill many of whom live on our streets under the overpasses with the homeless.
I do not agree with the Catholic church regarding immigration. As Catholics, we are supposed to follow laws of poeple in authority (ex. Stopping at red lights, go by speed limits, wear seat belts, etc). So why is it OK with the Catholic church to let people come into our country illegally? Havin illegal immigrants coming into the country illegally does disheartens America, for the current wave of immigrants that come to America today are mostly lazy criminals that only want to reap the freedoms and the govt. assistance programs we offer and they don’t even have the respect to adapt to our culture not learn our language.
The real reason the Catholic church wants the immigrants in America is to fill their pews—For America has become egotistical and dumbed down and are ignorant to morals and faith.
It would be wise if the Catholic Church wants to have illegal aliens live here, they need to start sponsoring these poeple and chip away at the gold bars that are in the vatican to support these desired alien parishioners.
I’m for poeple coming into America, but if you want the liberties we offer do it right!—Become citizens, learn our language, adapt to our culture and GET A JOB!
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