Letter to the Editor from Jefferson, GA (Illegal Immigration Response in Diocesan Newspaper)

I do not appreciate the archdiocesan article telling Catholics to contact their legislators to support Senate Bill 1033. When will the Catholic Church learn to stay out of politics? Have we not lost enough Catholics in the past 20 years? I myself am seriously considering leaving the Catholic Church after more than 50 years of faithful attendance and support. Perhaps it makes you proud to see thousands of Spanish people parading down the streets of America waving the flag of Mexico; however I do not share your enthusiasm. These people have broken the law by entering this country illegally; they take our money and pay no taxes. They flood our schools with children who cannot speak English dragging down our academic standards and test scores. They utilize our medical system for free. They displace Americans from their jobs and they have no interest in becoming Americans.

A great many of these people do not speak English … and have no incentive to learn. Our pastor and several other Catholic churches in and around Atlanta preach a united Christian community, yet they have separate Masses in Spanish, separate fundraisers, separate breakfasts and events. At Christmas the Mass was said in English and Spanish. Why would these people want to learn the language when we make it so easy for them not to? Why would they assimilate into our society when we work so hard to recognize theirs? What we have in America is a culture in a culture and the Catholic Church is quite happy with it. I am not. I am a veteran who fought for this country and buried several of my friends who were not so lucky. … It pains me to see our bishop and his personal newspaper falling in step with a left-wing political amnesty program. …

From the Archbishops' response:

"SB 529, unfortunately, does little to meet the needs of our immigrant brothers and sisters or of the State as a whole. The bill is not comprehensive; it is not designed to bring immigrants out of the shadows, shut down the "black market" of smuggling, fake documents or exploitation; restore the rule of law at our borders, workplaces or communities, or encourage those who settle here to get on the path of citizenship."

"The two Catholic Bishops continued their support for immigration reform that includes (1) economic and social development that addresses the root causes that force people to migrate"

Link: www.archatl.com

There are probably many who disagree with the Archbishops on this statement, but I don't think it is hypocritical from the RCC's point of view. It is just a different set of objectives from those of our politicians. Example: Offering Spanish and English masses meets the objective of sharing the Gospel with as many as possible, as Jesus instructed us to do. It does not meet the objective of all Americans speaking proficient English, which would be a goal of the government not the church.

Why are not the Catholic Bishop's pursuing the root causes and remedies of this illegal immigration that emanated from Mexico, Central America and South America?

The Roman Catholic Religion has been the majority religion in that part of the world for many centuries but have failed to rectify the social injustices effecting these people!

It appears to me that the Catholic Bishops do not respect the enforcement of the laws of country dealing with the integrity of our borders and the fair and just application of our ummigration laws fom all the people of the world and not just one demographic group! That is, what about the the people of Darfor, China, Nepal, Indonesia, etc.?

My personal opinion is that the Catholic Bishops are just as short sited as many of our politicians and just service the most vocal constituents!

Or do the Catholic Bishops propose that all of the people of the world should relocate to the USA for social justice because social justice is not available anywhere else on this planet?

I don't know that the Catholic Bishops in Latin America are not trying to fix the situations in these countries. I would guess that they are. But, just like in Georgia, the Bishops have limited political power. Notice that the comments made by these GA Bishops are in response to the passing of SB529, which they were against.

I would think that the Bishops' concerns about human dignity would apply to people of all nations. I doubt that they would advocate all people immigrating to the US. I do think they are concerned about those who live in severe poverty and have no access to the necessities of life.

The Bishops may be short sighted from a political standpoint, but I think they are on pretty solid ground religiously. My comments were made in response to those saying that they were only concerned with money. I sincerely believe that their concerns are for those who are struggling to find a better life, and for the families who are immigrating.

The END DOES NOT JUSTIFY THE MEANS!

If the Bishops were consistently concerned about human rights, they would be aggressively putting forth a PRO LIFE message with Marches around the country in all of the major cities. What about the rights of the 35 million aborted children!

The Bishops have never targeted their voices at any of the Pro Abortion Catholic Politicians such as Kennedy, Durbin, Leahey, Biden, Mikulski, Murray, Salazarr, Menendez, and about 70 Catholic Members of the House of Representatives!

The Bishops mismanaged the priest / Pedophile transaction.
The Bishops have cost the faithful $1.5 billion in law suit settlements because they lacked the moral fortitude to address the issue of priestly pedophiles.

The Bishops have place Diocese in Bankruptcy to avoid the the payment of the lawsuit settlements.

Cardinal McCarrick and Keeler have hired lobbyist in Washington to pursue legislation for a statue of limitation on the reporting of crimes of Pedophile Priest.
Where did the Bishops get the money for this activity? This was money from the faithful that could have been used to feed the poor!

The Bishops lack credibility in this area of illegal immigrants because of their inconsistent manner they deal with major human right moral issues such as abortion and priestly misconduct!

the article is about the 2 Bishops in Georgia. Those are the Bishops that I am talking about. They have been very agressive in the pro-life movement. They did tell the priests to consider withholding the sacraments to pro-choice politicians. As for the scandals, you cannot blame the 2 Georgia Bishops for the mistakes of others. We had a few problems here in Atlanta and they were taken care of quickly and appropriately.

Why do you think that the Bishops don't put forth a pro-life message? Here in Atlanta we have the Walk For Life, which is strongly supported by the church. I am sure they have marches in other cities because I have seen them. I can't think of a stronger influence on pro-life than the Catholic Church.
Are you Catholic? Or, are you another one that only wants to criticize the church for everything it does?

Yes I am a Catholic. I am just putting for my observations of the Illegal Immigration situation!

The Bishops have not put forth the same amount of vigor, energy and newspaper articles (Georgia Bulletin) and sermons and public demonstrations with regard to the Pro Life movement as they have for the Illegal Alien movement!

The Walk for Life did not disrupt traffic or cause people not to go to work! The Bishops did not put forth an aggressive campaign to rally the people to participate in this Pro Life Demonstration. The Pro Abortion Catholic Politicians are seldom called to task by these Bishops. However, the sponsors of the Immigration Bill in Georgia had to deal with the feedback from the Bishops.

The actions of the Bishops were a key impetus to these demonstrations. At no time did the Bishops talk about the obligation to obey the laws of our country with regard to the Border integrity and the immigration laws of our country. The Bishops have been absent when it comes to encouraging the illegal aliens to respect and obey the laws of our country.

This is where these Bishops are putting forward the theology of the END JUSTIFIES THE MEANS!

I don't know why you think they don't rally the people to go to the Walk for Life. They talked constantly about it at Mass and encouraged Catholic Schools to take their students. They wrote about it in the Bulletin for weeks.

On the other hand, I have not heard anything at Mass about the immigration rallies, only prayers for the immigrants. The Bishops issued a statement on immigration reform and a response when SB 529 passed. To say that the Georgia Diocese is not putting effort into the pro-life movement is not true. You either do not live here, or are totally unaware of what is going on.

As for the Bishops' statement I posted part of it above. It does reference the need to create comprehensive immigration reform, including enforcement of the law. they also mention as their number one criteria, that efforts to fix the root cause of immigration--policies in Mexico-- should be included in the bill.

It might not be what you would like it to be, but you are completely misstating the priorities and beliefs of the Archdiocese.

With regard to the PRO LIFE MOVEMENT, I stated the following:

The Bishops have not put forth the same amount of vigor, energy and newspaper articles (Georgia Bulletin) and sermons and public demonstrations with regard to the Pro Life movement as they have for the Illegal Alien movement!

The Bishops have not issued any explicit statements to tell the illegal aliens that they are not obeying the laws of our country and respecting our borders.

The following letter expresses the feelings of many of the Catholics in Atlanta with regard to the Bishops dealing with the illegal alien issue:

To the Editor:

As a Catholic who struggles to reconcile the U.S./Mexican illegal immigration crisis with Christian principles, I was grateful to see and eager to read Bishops Gregory and Boland’s pastoral letter on immigration reform. However, after studying the document I was disappointed and dismayed—not by what was said but by what was left unsaid.

Expecting a comprehensive exploration of the moral responsibilities of all parties involved, I found the overwhelming focus of the letter to be, in essence, the failure of U.S. taxpayers to be sufficiently generous to those who reside here illegally. While I appreciated our bishops’ insistence on the protection of the human rights of all immigrants, legal status or no, it is only one part of the moral equation.

Entirely ignored was the question of the extent to which immigrants are morally obligated to observe a country’s laws governing entrance and residence. And if one’s moral obligation to abide by the law is mitigated by one’s difficult financial circumstances, how are we to discern to which situations this moral leniency does and does not apply? If I am in dire financial straits through no fault of my own, may I, with moral impunity, choose to cheat on my taxes (say, by forging Social Security numbers to obtain tax credits for nonexistent offspring) rather than attempt the lengthy process of going through the proper IRS channels for possible relief? Consistent pastoral guidance for individuals in such situations is essential.

Moreover, unlawful activity begets more of the same. Because they have chosen to enter the U.S. by other than legitimate means, illegal immigrants must choose between having their illegal status discovered or the breaking of additional laws—e.g., driving without a license or driving with a forged license. Paradoxically, the thing that gives the U.S. its stability—its rule of law—is the very thing being undermined by those who seek the stability offered by this country. To what degree can the escalating unlawfulness be morally justified? At what point does Jesus’ injunction to “render unto Caesar” become applicable?

Referenced only in passing within the pastoral letter is the moral obligation of Mexico (a developed country with natural resources) to rise to its potential and provide adequate opportunities for its own citizens. As jointly stated by U.S. and Mexican bishops, its failure to do so is the root problem of illegal immigration. What pressure are Mexican bishops exerting to make their government more accountable to its people? Do not measures (by both the U.S. and Mexico) that embolden and encourage illegal immigrants ultimately serve to enable Mexico to persist in its dysfunctional state? If so, are our good intentions perhaps misguided compassion? If a person is not seeking asylum due to starvation, persecution, etc., is he ever morally bound not to simply abandon his troubled country but to work toward, fight for its improvement?

The purpose of my letter is not to argue but to beseech our bishops to shepherd us to a comprehensive understanding of the morality involved in all the various components of this dilemma.

Lisa Olwine, Lawrenceville
=================== This letter succinctly states the problems that the Faithful Catholics are having dealing with the illegal aliens! The Bishops are appear to promulgating the Theology of the END JUSTIFIES THE MEANS! The Bishops have published this letter in the Georgia Bulletin but they have not put forth any response to it. All wisdom does flow flow the Bishops in the USA as their actions have demonstrated in the past!

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