Posted on 06/30/2007 8:27:21 AM PDT by hardback
WASHINGTON, June 29 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The U.S. bishops decried failure of immigration reform and its implicit exploitation of millions of people.
The position was voiced by Bishop Gerald R. Barnes of San Bernardino, California, chairman of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee on Migration.
"As a nation, we cannot continue to employ an immigration system that leads to the exploitation of millions of our fellow human beings," bishop Barnes said.
"We cannot accept the toil of a large underclass which does not have full rights in our society. This strikes at the very character of our nation and lessens us as a people."
Bishop Barnes called on "Congress not to abandon this issue and to return to it as soon as possible." "The status quo is morally unacceptable and should not be allowed to stand," he said. "The U.S. bishops shall continue to point out the moral deficiencies in the immigration system and work toward justice until it is achieved."
The June 29 statement follows. On behalf of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), I am deeply troubled that fair and comprehensive immigration reform legislation has failed to move forward in the U.S. Senate.
I applaud those U.S. Senators of both parties who showed courage in working for comprehensive reform legislation and encourage them to continue their efforts to fix our broken immigration system.
As a nation, we cannot continue to employ an immigration system that leads to the exploitation of millions of our fellow human beings. We cannot accept the toil of a large underclass which does not have full rights in our society. This strikes at the very character of our nation and lessens us as a people.
I urge our elected officials in Congress not to abandon this issue and to return to it as soon as possible. The status quo is morally unacceptable and should not be allowed to stand. The U.S. bishops shall continue to point out the moral deficiencies in the immigration system and work toward justice until it is achieved.
SOURCE U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops
two-faced hypocrites!
You’re asking the liberal Bishops to actually *think*! As I always say, a lib is a lib is a lib.
The point is that when the MSM can get statements from liberal priests and bishops, they just love to USE the Catholic Church. But let Pope Benedict XVI defend unborn babies, and the MSM demonizes the Catholic Church.
Another tactic the MSM uses is to use “Bishop” in an article, and imply that the bishop is Catholic, rather than make clear that he is an Episcopalian.
As a Catholic, I consider that appellation to be insulting.
...have a problem with the Mexicans and Central Americans streaming across our borders ILLEGALLY....
Instead of wasting bandwidth with your sarcasm, how about Googling "Catechism of the Catholic Church immigration," and find out what His Holiness thinks about the responsibilities of immigrants.
Hillary’s Dream Act
Any illegal who avoids deportation for 5 years should get automatic citizenship and all the benefits we have to offer.
******
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton at the 2005 National Council of La Raza Annual Conference
I am a proud co-sponsor of the DREAM Act. We want to make it possible for the 65,000 undocumented young people who graduate from our high schools each year to receive in-state tuition rates
I also want your help to take on asthma. We are in the middle of an asthma epidemic. Asthma rates doubled between 1985 and 2005 – and no community is being hit harder than the Latino community. In my own state, in New York City, one in every three asthma sufferers is Hispanic, and in some communities, like East Harlem, New York, one out of every three Puerto Rican children is asthmatic. And, because of the problems in our health care system, many of these children are not getting adequate treatment.
I want the money to go to medically underserved communities and require researchers to researchers to collaborate with nonprofit organizations like La Raza
we already spend $35 billion a year to treat people who do not have health insurance. And I think we can do that more intelligently. And I’ve worked with Senator Chafee from Rhode Island to introduce the Immigrant Children’s Health Improvement Act to give health services to pregnant women immigrants and children who are currently prohibited from receiving such services for the first five years they are in this country.
if we take care of pregnant women, if we take care of infants, we solve problems. In fact, if we spend money on prenatal care, we will avoid problems later. It’s like if we spend money on early childhood education, we will prevent some of the learning problems children will face later. So let’s invest money on the front end of a child’s life and make sure we avoid the expense of the difficult health problems, which come because immigrants don’t have health insurance anymore. They don’t have even access to health care.
And the federal government, I have advocated, should be helping those hospitals, like those in New York and New Jersey, and Texas, and Arizona, and California and elsewhere that provide a lot of free health care to immigrants. We should be doing everything possible to make sure that health care is a top priority going forward for our nation.
there isn’t any group in America that works harder than immigrants. And I know how much money immigrants send home from America to their home countries to help their families and I am a proud co-sponsor on two pieces of legislation that we need your support and voices on.
You know, on average, I don’t need to tell you this but on average, immigrants send home two hundred dollars a month, despite earnings that add up to less than $25,000 a year. Now, in my mind that is the very definition of family values and I’m going to do all I can to pass this legislation
You have been a strong voice insisting that the American dream knows no boundaries of language, color or national origin. And by doing that you have helped to make the American dream stronger
So the bishop agreed we should seal the borders and send back the illegals. Good.
maybe we all should be illegals....it would save us a zillion on taxes....
“Whom do you know under the age of 75 who’s afraid of contradicting the clergy?”
I meet people often who are afraid to say anything against the position of their parish priest. And it gets worse outside of the USA in predominately Roman Catholic countries.
No, you didn’t read my post. I said, “Bible-believing” Baptists. Denominational Baptists, like the ones who put up the sites you listed, are as liberal as the day is long. Most of their church members carry books called Bibles, but are flub-ups dating back to Catholics Westcott & Hort in the revision committee of 1881-1884.
On the other hand there are a lot of assumptions about the chaotic mess that is the Catholic Church -- as in the Pope calling them out. While there have been clear pronouncements about the evil of so-called liberation theology, the Pope, having no divisions and all and being at the head of an eleemosynary institution, has to choose his fights carefully, and public rebuke is one of the biggest weapons in his arsenal -- and bit only because he uses it sparingly.
We must run with different crowds. ;-) Around here that is one problem I have NOT run across.
My Dear Bishop,
The fact is that this bill would have institutionalized the continued exploitation of illegal immigrants.
One must read past the title of the bill and listen to somebody with more integrity than Ted Kennedy to reach this understanding.
Sincerely,
We agree Bishop, that's why we insisted the amnisty bill be defeated. Legal immigrants can not be exploited because they are here legally and earn the same as any other American. "We cannot accept the toil of a large underclass which does not have full rights in our society. This strikes at the very character of our nation and lessens us as a people."
Again, we agree. Illegal immigration is morally unacceptable that is why the illegals must go home and come in through LEGAL channels. It is the immorality of those who assisted these people who bear the burden of their exploitation. Those of us who insist on legal entry do so because it is right, it complies with the law as taught by Christ, and it is compassionate because those who honor the law are under the protection of the law.
Demand a border fence! Build it NOW!! Beef up the border patrol and close our borders!
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Courtesy of a pro-amnesty group, no less!!
Republican National Committee
310 First Street, SE Washington, D.C. 20003
phone: 202.863.8500 | fax: 202.863.8820 | e-mail: info@gop.com
Take a look at their hidden agenda: http://www.mexica-movement.org
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