Posted on 03/01/2006 9:49:07 PM PST by NormsRevenge
Cardinal Roger M. Mahony called on Roman Catholics Wednesday to embrace immigrants regardless of their legal status, criticizing what he said was increasing hostility toward the nation's bulging undocumented population.
The cardinal also said he would tell priests to defy any law enacted that would try to force churches and other organizations to determine the legality of immigrants before giving them assistance.
Mahony, a longtime advocate of immigrant rights who oversees a racially diverse archdiocese of more than 4 million people, used Ash Wednesday and the beginning of the Lenten season to urge Catholics to "make room" for immigrants.
"Unless you are a Native American, everyone in here is the son or daughter of immigrants," said Mahony, speaking during Mass at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels.
Mahony said he was concerned that "voices that are very much anti-immigrant, mostly in California and Los Angeles, are catching fire," but didn't name any particular group.
On Tuesday, Mahony criticized the Minuteman Project and other anti-illegal immigration groups, arguing their efforts were misguided and wouldn't solve national security issues.
"The war on terror isn't going to be won through immigration restrictions," he told the Los Angeles Times.
Minuteman co-founder Jim Gilchrist accused Mahony Wednesday of pandering to Hispanic immigrants, and said the cardinal's stances encouraged illegal immigration.
"Cardinal Mahony must be part of a lawless group," said Gilchrist. "The church has no business messing in the rule of law."
As the illegal population balloons, now an estimated 11 million people, most of whom are Hispanic, the debate on how to deal with the phenomenon is intensifying.
Anti-illegal immigration groups regularly stage protests at day labor sites where Hispanics wait for work, threatening to report employers who hire illegal immigrants. Immigration advocates have responded, staging counter protests and organizing campaigns against legislation to crackdown on illegal immigrants.
Mahony told those attending Mass Wednesday he was not in favor of "unfettered immigration," but that the current system was inhumane and inefficient.
Mahony said stringent laws and government bureaucracy meant immigrants were often separated up to 15 years from family members trying to immigrate.
"We need reform that looks to family unification," he said. "What we have now is broken and invites violation."
Reflecting positions of the U.S. Roman Catholic bishops, Mahony said reform had to include a guest-worker program and the legalization of undocumented immigrants.
Mahony said the church's stance was not political, but he made reference to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, which is slated to take up immigration reform this week.
During an interview with Spanish-language press afterwards, Mahony vowed to instruct priests to disobey any law requiring churches and other social organizations to ask immigrants for legal documentation before providing assistance.
Such a provision was in the immigration bill passed by the House of Representatives in December.
"I would say to all priests, deacons and members of the church that we are not going to observe this law," said Mahony, speaking in Spanish.
When asked if he would be willing to go to jail for the stance, Mahony said "yes" because "helping people in need were actions that are part of God's mercy."
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa backed Mahony's stance, saying the "church should not be in the business of enforcing our immigration laws" and calling "incredulous" the idea that church officials wouldn't help people in need based on their immigration status.
Just one of a thousand reasons why I left Los Angeles and returned to Kansas.
What is Kansas like? I may want to get out of here one day myself.
"Sometimes I wonder why I'm catholic."
With all due respect, after all of the sexual abuse imposed on little boys by so many Catholic Priests, I don't see how anyone could still be a Catholic.
Sorry, but every Catholic Priest I see, I wonder..........
Looks like Mahoney is broadcasting the seeds of anarchy throughout his flock.
His underwriting of blatant lawlessness is shameful and represents a direct attack on the legal foundation of this nation.
Naked sedition fomented from the pulpit by a Prince of the Church.
I live in a suburb of KC on the Kansas side. I was born and raised here but spent the last 18 years in Los Angeles. Although I miss my work, the ocean and Gladstones4Fish, I'm so glad to be back in a red state where "my kind" thrive. Everyone speaks English, flags fly in abundance, manners prevail, and as the Country song "Corn Fed" says, "we live by the golden rule, yes ma'am, thank you." God bless flyover country.
Cardinal Roger M. Mahony called on Roman Catholics Wednesday to embrace immigrants regardless of their legal status
Congress, in it's cowardice, has now decided to try to make priests and ministers its bagmen in pursuing illegals.
Thanks for the post NormsRevenge.
One way to (further) discredit Mahoney is to point out that what he wants does more harm than good:
http://lonewacko.com/blog/archives/004709.html
With all due respect, the Catholic church is about as liberal an organization as there is. For everyone else that is. For themselves, its a cronyists dream. What is quite amusing to me is that God clearly speaks to these issues in his Instruction manual, seems I recall something about God saying he sets the boundaries of nations as he wishes. Mahoney is the furthest thing from a God fearing person that you can get. I wonder how old his date was last night?
All this vehemence and personal attacks on the person
just discredits those who disagree. (It backfires!)
The stupidity of their positions on the subject and the failure of judgement really ought to be sufficient.
Wallowing in hatred and hyperbole on an issue this obvious ends up making those who disagree seem like radical Muslim terrorists...but then again, is that who you really are?
I for one refuse to be part of a rabble that appears to be worse than the people they appear to oppose.
He is spouting the Vatican talking points. He is creating a Church mandated course where none really exists.
That would deprive the poster in question of all his ammo...
Yes, it's so hard to be a catholic, yet I'm sure it has always been hard going all the way back when Jesus was born and established the church. Many followed Him and the church he established but most left and continue to leave. I'm not one to leave no matter how nutty the bishops are here in the US.
So, Mojo, you think there is no provision included in the immigration bill recently passed by the House of Representatives (a similar proposal is in the version that the Senate Judiciary Committee plans to debate) that would require churches and other social organizations to ask immigrants for legal documentation before providing assistance and penalize them if they refuse to do so?
It would not be vaguely unconstitutional, it would be completely so.
The Church is a private organization, imagine if there was a law that said you cannot invide friends over to your house unless you first asked for their papers to ensure they're legal.
But again, we agree that this particular measure - getting the churches involved - is wrong.
I took the "bagmen" comment to be directly aimed at this provision - so maybe we don't all disagree afterall.
Anyway, it's a ridiculous privision because even if the church does succeed in identifying illegals it barely scratches the surface of the (immense) problem. The only way to successfully confront this is to do what I mentioned above (and what certain courageous members of Congress have been lobbying for) - heavily fine employers who hire illegals and cut off illegals' socal welfare benefits. The result: A mass immigration back to their countries of origin. No need for rounding up, detaining, or deporting. ....or church involvement.
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