No, Mahoney is not doing that, Doug.
He is objecting to government interference in the ministry of priests, deacons, and laymen. He thinks it is wrong (as do I) for the House to pass legislation which requires these ministers to determine whether a Hispanic who comes to them is in the country legally before they minister to them. The penalty for ministering to an illegal is jail!
That's just nutty, and the Senate judiciary committee knocked that provision down as its first order of business.
The House wants priests to be cops. Bizarre.
Sorry, I need to be more specific. The L.A. archdiocese was responsible for busing protestors into the rally.
Good heavens!
I tend to lurk more than post, but (like BlackElk) I very, very rarely (if ever) agree with you, much less Cardinal Mahoney. Yet here I find that I am in complete agreement with both!
I agree with you 100% on this. No minister or priest should be required to (or should even if they are required to) determine whether a person is "legal" or not before ministering to them. If we get started on that, the seal of the confessional will be next and priests will be required (and hopefully will die rather than do so) to report to the police if a criminal confesses to them.
I can see it now: someone calls the rectory requesting Viaticum for his mother and is told that he will have to produce her green card before it will be given.