Posted on 09/11/2011 10:19:56 AM PDT by Alex Murphy
Archbishop José Gomez of Los Angeles, chairman of the Committee on Migration of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, has issued a statement supporting efforts by Alabama’s bishops to overturn a recently enacted immigration law.
“The Catholic Church provides pastoral and social services to all persons, regardless of their immigration status,” Archbishop Gomez said in his statement. “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 US Constitution.”
“This new Alabama law makes it illegal for a Catholic priest to baptize, hear the confession of, celebrate the anointing of the sick with, or preach the word of God to, an undocumented immigrant,” Archbishop Thomas Rodi of Mobile said in August. “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. It is illegal for the clergy to counsel them in times of difficulty or in preparation for marriage. It is illegal for them to come to Alcoholic Anonymous meetings or other recovery groups at our churches.”
Source(s): these links will take you to other sites, in a new window.
“This new Alabama law makes it illegal for a Catholic priest to baptize, hear the confession of, celebrate the anointing of the sick with, or preach the word of God to, an undocumented immigrant,” Archbishop Thomas Rodi of Mobile said in August. “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. It is illegal for the clergy to counsel them in times of difficulty or in preparation for marriage. It is illegal for them to come to Alcoholic Anonymous meetings or other recovery groups at our churches.”
How did that piece of legislation make it into the law? Good grief. OK they may be illegal aliens, but we can't provide pastoral services? Sorry, but that part of the law is wrong.
Is this true or has someone purposefully miss-led the Church or Archbishop Gomez?
News from the Religion Forum....impressive!
Is this true or has someone purposefully miss-led the Church or Archbishop Gomez?
News from the Religion Forum....impressive!
>>Don’t know what the problem is, anyone help?
The problem is that everyone knows that the federal government will not enforce their laws, but the state of Alabama probably will enforce theirs.
My message to the priests is that Mexico is a Catholic nation. The Mexicans can stay there and get baptized, take communion, give confessions, and everything else on the list. They aren’t coming here to flee religious persecution!
The problem is that the Federal GOvernment will not enforce standing immigration law, despite its claims to the contrary; whereas, Alabama, among other states, WILL ENFORCE immigration law. =.=
The text of Alabama HB 56 is here:
http://latindispatch.com/2011/06/09/text-of-alabama-immigration-law-hb-56/
The archbishop might have a point, as it is illegal for anyone to conceal or transport a known illegal alien.
Generally speaking, I wish my church would use its influence and money to better conditions in Latin America, rather than to invite the population of Latin America into the US. Perhaps the Church feels powerless to fight the corruption there.
I pulled out just Section 13
Section 13. (a) It shall be unlawful for a person to do any of the following:
(1) Conceal, harbor, or shield or attempt to conceal, harbor, or shield or conspire to conceal, harbor, or shield an alien from detection in any place in this state, including any building or any means of transportation, if the person knows or recklessly disregards the fact that the alien has come to, has entered, or remains in the United States in violation of federal law.
(2) Encourage or induce an alien to come to or reside in this state if the person knows or recklessly disregards the fact that such coming to, entering, or residing in the United States is or will be in violation of federal law.
(3) Transport, or attempt to transport, or conspire to transport in this state an alien in furtherance of the unlawful presence of the alien in the United States, knowingly, or in reckless disregard of the fact, that the alien has come to, entered, or remained in the United States in violation of federal law. Conspiracy to be so transported shall be a violation of this subdivision.
(4) Harbor an alien unlawfully present in the United States by entering into a rental agreement, as defined by Section 35-9A-141 of the Code of Alabama 1975, with an alien to provide accommodations, if the person knows or recklessly disregards the fact that the alien is unlawfully present in the United States.
(b) Any person violating the provisions of this section is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor for each unlawfully present alien, the illegal presence of which in the United States and the State of Alabama, he or she is facilitating or is attempting to facilitate.
(c) A person violating the provisions of this section is guilty of a Class C felony when the violation involves 10 or more aliens, the illegal presence of which in the United States and the State of Alabama, he or she is facilitating or is attempting to facilitate.
(d) Notwithstanding any other law, a law enforcement agency may securely transport an alien whom the agency has received verification from the federal government pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1373(c) is unlawfully present in the United States and who is in the agency’s custody to a state approved facility, to a federal facility in this state, or to any other point of transfer into federal custody that is outside the jurisdiction of the law enforcement agency. A law enforcement agency shall obtain judicial or executive authorization from the Governor before securely transporting an alien who is unlawfully present in the United States to a point of transfer that is outside this state.
(e) Notwithstanding any other law, any person acting in his or her official capacity as a first responder or protective services provider may harbor, shelter, move, or transport an alien unlawfully present in the United States pursuant to state law.
(f) Any conveyance, including any vessel, vehicle, or aircraft, that has been or is being used in the commission of a violation of this section, and the gross proceeds of such a violation, shall be subject to civil forfeiture under the procedures of Section 20-2-93 of the Code of Alabama 1975.
(g) In the enforcement of this section, an alien’s immigration status shall be determined by verification of the alien’s immigration status with the federal government pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1373(c). A law enforcement officer shall not attempt to independently make a final determination of whether an alien is lawfully present in the United States.
(h) Any record that relates to the immigration status of a person is admissible in any court of this state without further foundation or testimony from a custodian of records if the record is certified as authentic by the federal government agency that is responsible for maintaining the record. A verification of an alien’s immigration status received from the federal government pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1373(c) shall constitute proof of that alien’s status. A court of this state shall consider only the federal government’s verification in determining whether an alien is lawfully present in the United States.
That is what Federal Law already says though.
They law doesn’t say anything regarding Church Services, it looks to me that someone is purposefully trying to deceive the church and use them as a political weapon.
I agree. You would have to interpret it very broadly and no law enforcement officer or judge would consider purely religious functions as something prohibited by this law. Transporting illegals in a church bus to place where they can be employed or to obtain government services they shouldn’t receive is covered and that’s what has liberal priests so upset.
I verified it, looks like no change in law at all.
Fake firestorm.
The Catholic Church has a right to voice their opinion in favor of illegal immigration if they wish. They will find me — and many other principled Conservatives — to be just as much a mortal enemy on that issue as I am a steadfast ally on the issues of abortion and euthanasia.
The borders, national security and immigration laws of our nation ARE NOT NEGOTIATION.
Thanks for the post. Will look into it this week.
The Bishops should listen to their members who are legal and will begin to stop supporting a church who does this!
I believe they are twisting what the law says into this.Yes it is illegal to give them rides but I don’t believe the rest of this is part of the law.The left likes to twist things into those that evoke emotion and they do a very good job of it don’t they?
Anybody who holds loyalty to Rome (as opposed to loyalty tp God) above loyalty to the USA would be stripped of citizenship and deported in an ideal world.
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