Posted on 01/11/2008 7:27:41 PM PST by backtothestreets
NUEVO LAREDO, Mexico (Reuters) - At a Catholic-run shelter just across the border from Laredo, Texas, dozens of Latin American migrants say grace and tuck into a hearty meal of sausages, beans and rice, before trying to swim across the Rio Grande into the United States.
Weary migrants on their journey north often recharge their batteries at a network of similar shelters run by the Roman Catholic Church -- a lifeline sanctioned by the Vatican, despite increased U.S. efforts to keep out illegal immigrants.
"Migration is a human right and migrants are some of the world's most vulnerable people. It is the church's obligation to help them," said the Rev. Francisco Pellizzari, an Italian-Argentine missionary who runs the Nazareth migrant shelter in Nuevo Laredo.
~ Excerpt ~
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
So where is the ORDER to GO HOME????
"Unemployment in the Somali community is estimated at fifty per cent. Alex Nicolaou, an employment counsellor for Catholic Charities in Maine, who works mainly with Somalis."
Since charity begins at home, I wonder when the Vatican will start selling off its priceless artwork and real estate and give the proceeds to the poor. Certainly the Vatican is opulently luxurious; at least a bit more luxurious that my greedy American palace.
Our country maintains this ridiculous de facto immigration policy whereby almost anyone who scurries across the border successfully gets to stay indefinitely. Most immigrants to our country choose to enter illegally because that status confers a more favorable package of rights and benefits without the hassle of almost impenetrable and certainly incomprehensible bureaucratic red tape. These shelters exist because of this set of legal and political circumstances in the United States of America.
If we finally muster the political will and undertake some simple steps, then these shelters will transition their mission toward providing for the welfare of unsuccessful migrants and their safe return to their respective points of origin or safe establishment in the affluent border communities. But WE in the United States of America MUST:
(1) Secure our entire southwestern border using fencing and other technologies and regularly patrolling said easily identified and defensible border at all hours of day and night every day of the year, even weekends.
(2) Establish a simple, speedy, open, and effective method of processing immigration petitions, incorporating communications technology and electronic records and ending decades-long waiting periods and bureaucratic snafus.
(3) In cooperation with the Mexican government to avoid prolific increases in crime in that country, deport all non-citizens convicted of a felony and not pardoned or granted other clemency for such offense. We need to reduce the influence of Hispanic gangs in this country and deprive them of sources of income.
That is an example of typically sloppy, biased reporting. The so-called “Vatican sanction” is not church approval as the story implies. It refers to a papal blessing certificate displayed on the wall, but just about anybody can get one of those. My mother-in-law has one. Her mother had one. We got one for our choir director. It has nothing to do with enabling migrants to enter the US illegally. It has everything to do with the shelter’s taking in homeless people and caring for them in Christian charity. To be sure we have our share of leftwingers, both lay and religious, who make perfect interviewees and give the false impression that they represent the Church. They only represent themselves. I consider them to be an embarrassment.
ping
You’re right.
Every time I see an article like this it makes me question the motive. Hmm, could there be a political motive behind painting Catholics in this way??
Papal teaching is that countries have a right to control their borders, illegal immigrants can be sent home or to another country if it is not feasible to help them become legal and that the most lasting and best solution is to have the sending countrie clean up their own act so that the reason to emigrate is removed.
Read JPII Address on Migrant 1996
The fact is that some Catholics support illegal immigration, but surely an equal or larger number do not.
Some Protestants oppose illegal immigration, but the leading backers of normalizing vast illegal immigration, Mike Huckabee and John McCain, are self described Baptists.
What is really incredible is that pro-illegal Presidential candidates, McCain, Huckabee, Obama, Clinton seem to be doing so well in a country that professes to oppose illegal immigration.
The Mexican government is a secular republic with a history of hostility to the Church. It is also the result of interference from, and the spread of socialist ideology by, their northern neighbor... the US.
Ping to you.
Guess the Native American Indians who helped the first settlers of America were wrong for helping them.
And the Franciscans who helped the early settlers and Indians and Spanish Explorers.
And the Catholic chaplains who gave their lives on the battlefield while saving lives and souls were not good either.
Or the early orders of Sisters who gave free education to the poor children in America were wrong too eh?
Or the Catholics who championed the cause of labor reform and liberty in America- they were all bad too eh ?
As well as the Catholic Hospitals that gave free care to poor mothers and helpless parents, and prayed with the families...
soo harmful to America ?
And now the Catholic church is hurting and you try and heap more abuse on it ?
Think before you judge so harshly
... a serious commitment to a fair distribution of wealth...
I think this sort of maybe sounds like socialism...what do you think.
Our Communist Pope says...
A underground railroad that is not underground at all..
For me, this is a tough one, the RCC serves God and the Faith first, to deny desperate people food or even a chance at a better life for their families is not very moral.
ONTOH, A part of me thinks that this is a demographic play that involves bringing poor RCC members to a country were they will become much wealthier and have even more RCC children.
That said, if the RCC is so concerned with the plight of of the Central American poor, then why aren’t they speaking out about the horrible conditions rather then merely casting aside the law of the land of the US?
Also, why isn’t the RCC speaking out about the terrible treatment of non Mexican immigres at the hands of the Mexican police and Government?
National Organizations:
Anti-Defamation League
American Friends Service Committee (AFSC)
American Jewish Committee
American Jewish Congress
American Society for Muslim Advancement (ASMA)
B’nai B’rith International
Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC)
Church World Service/Immigration and Refugee Program
The Conference of Major Superiors of Men
Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS)
International Catholic Migration Commission
Irish Apostolate, USA
Islamic Circle of North America
Jesuit Conference
Jesuit Refugee Service/USA
Jewish Council for Public Affairs
Jewish Reconstructionist Federation
Jubilee Campaign USA
Justice for Our Neighbors Immigration Clinic Network
La Ermita - The Hermitage
Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service
Mennonite Central Committee U.S. Washington Office
Mexican American Cultural Center
National Council of Jewish Women
National Ministries, American Baptist Churches USA
U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops
Union for Reform Judaism
United Jewish Communities
United Methodist Committee on Relief
United States Province of the Priests of the Sacred Heart
Women In Islam, Inc.
Women’s League for Conservative Judaism
World Relief
*********************************************
Local Organizations:
Baltimore Jewish Council
Building Bridges: Hispanic Outreach Project Community of St. Anthony Church in Canton, Ohio
Cabrini Immigrant Services, Dobbs Ferry, New York
Cabrini Immigrant Services, New York, New York
California Province of the Society of Jesus Capuchin Province of St. Joseph, Detroit, Michigan
Catholic Charities Diocese of Des Moines
Catholic Charities Diocese of San Diego
Catholic Charities Hawaii
Catholic Charities Health and Human Services, Diocese of Cleveland
Catholic Charities Housing Opportunities (CCHO), Youngstown, Ohio
Catholic Charities in the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, New Mexico
Catholic Charities in the Diocese of Paterson, New Jersey
Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Arlington, Virginia
Catholic Charities of Tennessee, Inc.
Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, Texas
Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Washington
Catholic Migration Office of the Diocese of Brooklyn, New York
Catholic Social Services in Anchorage, Alaska
Clerics of St. Viator, Chicago Province
Commonwealth Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Richmond, Virginia
Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of San Antonio
Congregation of Holy Cross, Southern Province
Congregation of Our Lady of Victory Missionary Sisters, Huntington, Indiana
Detroit Province of the Society of Jesus
En Camino, Migrant and Immigrant Services, Diocese of Toledo, Ohio
Family Unity & Citizenship Program of the Diocese of Las Cruces
HIAS and Council Migration Services of Philadelphia
Hogar Hispano - Catholic Charities, Falls Church, Virginia Houston Dominican Sisters
Human Concerns Commission of the Diocese of San Jose
Interfaith Refugee and Immigration Ministries of Illinois
Jewish Community Action, St. Paul, Minnesota
Jewish Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona
Lutheran Children and Family Service of Eastern Pennsylvania
Lutheran Family Services in the Carolinas
Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota
Lutheran Social Services of Michigan
Lutheran Social Services of New England
Lutheran Social Services of Northern New England
Lutheran Social Services of South Dakota
Lutheran Social Services of the National Capital Area
Marianist Province of the United States, St. Louis, Missouri
Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty, New York
Migration and Refugee Services Diocese of Trenton, New Jersey
Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Conception, Province of the Immaculate Conception, Paterson, New Jersey
Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Stella Maris Province, New York, New York
Missionhurst-CICM, Arlington, Virginia
National Catholic Rural Life Conference, Des Moines, Iowa
New Albany Deanery of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, Indiana
Northern Indiana Ecumenical Multicultural Ministry (NIEMM), Morocco, Indiana
Organización for Latino Awareness of the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago
Priests of the Sacred Heart (SCJ), Hales Corners, Wisconsin
Provincial Council of the Province of St. John the Baptist of the Order of Friars Minor, Cincinnati, Ohio
River's Edge Community Church, Oella, Maryland
Saints Peter and Paul Church, Savannah, Georgia
Society of Jesus (Jesuits), New York Province
Society of the Divine Word, Chicago Province
St James Faithful Citizenship, Elizabethtown, Kentucky
St James Parish Council, Elizabethtown, Kentucky
St James Parish Social Ministries, Elizabethtown, Kentucky
St. Benedict's Abbey, Benet Lake, Wisconsin
UJA-Federation of New York
Vincentian Center for Church and Society at St. John's University, New York
Western Dominican Province, Oakland, California
Wider Church Ministries - United Church of Christ, Cleveland, Ohio
Wisconsin Province of the Society of Jesus
*************************************************
Individual Faith Leaders:
Pamela Beech, Archdiocese of Detroit, Lay Leadership and Formation
Rev. Dr. Clive Calver, Walnut Hill Community Church, Bethel, CT
P. Adem Carroll, 9/11 Relief Director Islamic Circle of North America USA (ICNA Relief)
Patrick Gilger, SJ, Loyola University Chicago
Most Reverend Nicholas DiMarzio, Bishop of Brooklyn
John E. Dister, SJ, Detroit Province Jesuits, Loyola of the Lakes Retreat House
Bob Dunden, SJ, St Benedict the Moor Parish, Omaha, NE
John C. Fickes, Detroit Province of the Society of Jesus
Francis Cardinal George, Archbishop of Chicago
Michael Higgins, C.P., Provincial Superior of Holy Cross Province of the Passionists, Chicago, Illinois
Daniel Idzikowski, Catholic Charities of the Diocese of La Crosse, Inc., La Crosse, Wisconsin
Fr. Michael J. Kavanaugh, Port Wentworth, Georgia
Dr Khurshid Khan, President of the Islamic Circle of North America
Most Reverend Gerald Kicanas, Bishop of Tucson
Clifton Kirkpatrick, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly, Presbyterian Church-USA
Abbot Jerome Kodell, OSB, Subiaco, Arkansas
Reverand John S.Korcsmar, CSC, Austin, Texas
Sister Larraine Lauter OSU, Owensboro, Kentucky
Reverand Msgr. Ronald T. Marino, Brooklyn, New York
Peter Vander Meulen, Office of Social Justice and Hunger Action, Christian Reformed Church
Carrie Monnette, Detroit Province Jesuits, Assistant for Social and International Ministries
Allan Parker, Pastor, Quitman Church of the Nazarene, Quitman, GA
Sylvia Romero, Hispanic Ministry at Grace United Methodist Church, Olathe, Kansas
Most Reverend Carlos Sevilla, S.J., Bishop of Yakima, Washington
Secretary General, Rashid Siddiqui, Islamic Circle of North America
Michael Simone, SJ, Weston Jesuit School of Theology
Most Reverend Jaime Soto, Auxiliary Bishop of Orange, California
Madonna Della Strada, Jesuit Residence
Professor Elie Wiesel, Boston University
Most Reverend Thomas G. Wenski, Bishop of Orlando
You have no reason to shake in your boots, just like I have no reason to belive that just because a few people want to blame an entire religion for illegal immigration there is a massive FR conspiracy to put Catholics down. Remember that the same religous beliefs are claimed by William F. Buckley Jr and Ted Kennedy. That's a pretty diverse range of opinion. Idon't see them uniting for a cause, any cause, any time soon.
I never realized the Indians were Catholic.
Is it the RCC’s role to do what the US Government should be doing?..That is- speaking from Washington DC and telling the Central American nations to do a better job with their people, and vigorously protesting Mexican treatment of our US Nationals held in Mexican jails, or held as hostages?.
The RCC is not responsible for affairs of State..it is responsible for the care of souls..and broken bodies..it is called compassion. This makes it difficult for US Catholics because we are so close to Mexico..The US Government needs to pass a comprehensive immigration bill to stop the flow of illegal immigrants and criminals into the US. That is Congress’ job and the President’s duty to sign a bill into law..It is not the RCC’s fault if this is not happening...
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