Posted on 05/25/2008 4:17:34 PM PDT by SwinneySwitch
A small group of faith-driven activists in San Antonio has a message for unauthorized immigrants who are being run out from coast to coast by new laws and massive raids: You're welcome here.
Meeting quietly for months at a local church, they decided to counter what they see as an increasingly toxic anti-immigrant atmosphere by turning the city into a sanctuary for unauthorized immigrants.
The activists, all Catholics, are trying to organize a network of places and services that migrants can tap for help.
Need a place to stay? They can find one for you. Pockets and stomach empty? They'll get you some food. Too afraid to go to a hospital? They'll line up a doctor.
If the project pans out, all immigrants would need to do to get help is ask for “Romo.”
The group named it for Toribio Romo, a Mexican priest killed in the 1920s and later canonized as a saint. Many unauthorized border crossers invoke him when praying for successful passage into the United States.
Critics of the plan — including anti-illegal-immigration groups, government officials and the top Catholic leader in South Texas — warn that “Grupo Romo” is misguided at best and willfully breaking the law at worst.
Unfazed, Romo organizers abide by the literal belief in a higher calling.
“We are the new Sanctuary Movement in San Antonio,” said group member Víctor Ruiz, 63, who works for the immigration division of Catholic Charities and previously was with the Defense Department in Corpus Christi. “If immigrants need help, we will do all we can to help them out.”
The original “Sanctuary Movement” was a religious effort in the 1980s that created an underground railroad for Central Americans fleeing the region's bloody civil wars, whose trail crossed South Texas.
Jack Elder, a member of the earlier movement who ran Casa Oscar Romero, an immigrant shelter in Brownsville, has no regrets, despite spending five months in prison.
“Sometimes you just have to take a stand, so I hope people support this new group,” said Elder, now a high school teacher in San Antonio.
The Romo group arose independently, but similar coalitions in 35 cities have formed the “New Sanctuary Movement” to offer refuge to parents whose pending deportations would split them from their U.S.-born children.
The Romo mission is more universal, focused on the religious requirement of helping the stranger — organizers often cite Matthew 25 in the New Testament — but the national group applauds any such effort.
“What they're doing over there is incredibly powerful,” said Kristin Kumpf, a national organizer with Interfaith Worker Justice in Chicago and a national spokeswoman for the New Sanctuary Movement. “I'm grateful that people of faith in San Antonio are welcoming our immigrant brothers and sisters.”
Work in progress
Romo organizers aren't quite sure how far they'll take the effort. Citing it as a work in progress, their ultimate goal would be to find donated space to open their own immigrant shelter. Until then, they have lined up a couple of volunteer families that have already hosted immigrants, they said.
Since fundraising is not their forte, for now they're sticking to more attainable objectives.
Once a week, they visit day laborers, mostly undocumented migrants from Mexico and Central America, offering them coffee, breakfast tacos and small cards bearing a picture of Saint Toribio Romo on one side and a prayer and phone number on the other.
That number, a prepaid cell phone, has been dubbed the “Romo line” and will be the entry point for immigrants seeking help, as well as for supporters who want to volunteer or make a donation.
Besides outreach, the group is trying to connect people who already are quietly helping undocumented immigrants, hoping to create a more structured network.
It isn't lost on group members that they're flirting with violating federal immigration laws. Some are more willing to risk arrest than others, but all are convinced that religious and moral tenets supersede what they deem to be unjust laws.
“Immigrants need to know that they're not alone, that not everyone in this country is their enemy,” said Father Donald Bahlinger, 79, a Jesuit priest at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church who spent nearly a decade in Central America in the 1990s and sparked the Romo effort here.
Nodding in agreement, Lee Theilen, who works at the church, added: “We're accomplices if we don't speak out against this injustice.”
Some religious leaders contacted by the group praised the effort and are considering how to help.
For the Rev. Rob Mueller, it would mean returning to an incomplete project. About four years ago, he and members of Divine Redeemer Presbyterian Church wanted to open an immigrant shelter, but they couldn't find funding and the idea was dropped.
Offering sanctuary to the undocumented is controversial even within immigrant-heavy congregations.
Víctor Rodríguez, pastor of South San Filadelfia Baptist Church, personally experienced the issue's divisive nature after his church took in an immigrant two years ago for about two weeks. Many congregants opposed the move.
Rodríguez concluded it was the right thing to do. The church has since taken in others and would expand the effort by joining the Romo network.
“People should always look to the church as a safe haven,” he said. “It shouldn't be about legal issues — it's about our moral obligation from God to help those in need.”
Law over religion
Opponents say exactly the opposite: The law trumps religious compassion.
Jim “Hoot” Gibson, a San Antonio teacher and member of U.S. Border Watch, a Houston-based immigration-restriction group, said he and others stand ready to protest the Romo group.
The law is unequivocal, Gibson said: They'll be aiding and harboring undocumented immigrants.
A similar warning was sounded by Jerry Robinette, director of investigations for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in San Antonio.
He's all for people acting on political and religious convictions, and he's got nothing against helping needy folks, but he can't look the other way if they break immigration laws.
“I'd caution them that good intentions could make them criminally liable,” Robinette said. “They have to make the decision whether they want to violate the law or not.”
Even Archbishop José Gomez, who leads the Archdiocese of San Antonio, questioned the Romo group's philosophy, saying sanctuary for immigrants historically has been a political act and thus not purely religious charity.
It's noble to want to help immigrants — as long as it's done legally, he said.
“We respect the laws of this country,” said Gomez, who's originally from Monterrey, Mexico. “We're not promoting illegal immigration or any kind of sanctuary movement.”
One religious scholar in San Antonio can see both sides of the argument.
It's commendable that Romo members are willing to follow their faith on behalf of immigrants, but ultimately, they may do more harm than good, said Javier Elizondo, vice president of academic affairs at Baptist University of the Americas in San Antonio.
Massive pro-immigrant marches in recent years backfired by helping fuel national anti-immigrant sentiment, said Elizondo, who teaches Christian ethics.
It now remains to be seen whether the Romo sanctuary effort also draws more skeptics than supporters, he said.
Frankly the bulldog, take-no-prisoners attitude I sense from many posters daily is flat-out un-Christlike.I have not seen such an attitude here. No one here has advocated anything other than granting due process and returning those who violate our laws to their own country.
That church should remember Matthew 22:21, which states that Jesus said, “Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caasar and to God what bedlongs to God.” That means that Jesus wanted us to obey all laws. He probably thinks that our government should deport as many illegal aliens as possible, as quickly as possible.
Many illeal immigrants worship Santa Muerte — Saint Death.
exactly. Plus, I guess the next time someone breaks into my house, I don’t call the authorities....I just take a chance and not protect my child/home....and say “Oh I am sorry, did you need a t.v.?? Here take mine and Lord go with you....just please don’t shoot us on your way out...”
The Lord did not give us this country so that we would have the freedoms we do so that we could let another group of unappreciative law breakers in to wear away at our countries and culture...
The Catholic Church only wants them here so there will be more Catholics in the U.S. The Catholic church is only concerned with spreading Catholicism. Sorry if that offends anyone, but if the truth offends you then so be it...
If the church REALLY wanted to help these people they would pay their passage back to Mexico and send food/water or whatever it is that they need with them.....but helping them stay is just as bad as ANYONE that harbors a fugitive...I don’t care if you call yourself a church or how spiritual you are...
“Were Jesus to walk around in the U.S. today, he’d be visiting at the homes of illegals, among others. He fraternized with all kinds of lowly types - the poor, prostitutes, etc. He’d never encourage illegal behavior (unless in violation of God’s law), but he’d surely forgive them...”
Um, part of getting forgiveness is not having the intention of doing it again...and one more note....when Jese “hung out” with those people he always forgave them and said GO AND SIN NO MORE!
The alien guests to be treated with kindness acted like guests. Spies and rebellious natives were executed.
1) sojourner
a) a temporary inhabitant, a newcomer lacking inherited rights
b) of foreigners in Israel, though conceded rights
Agreed. As a Catholic, I'm offended that they're acting like just any other left-wing group: Being generous with other people's property.
The balance is that the “alien” in Old Testament Israel was a novelty. Mostly just passing through.
Not 20-30 million, with one million more every year.
That’s called an invasion.
And God in the Old Testament had a different way of dealing with that.
We should be sending them to the Kennedy Compound, to Bush's "Prairie Chapel Ranch" and to MacNut's mansion in Sedona. Let them demonstrate how much the country needs them by spending their resources instead of the country's.
And these same poor, pathetic illegal immigrants are the same ones we see in the demonstrations later, marching down streets carrying American flags hung upside-down underneath Mexican flags, threatening to “reconquer” American territory. I suppose the Christian thing to do would be to give them the Southwest, and whatever other regions they demand after that?
Here is a list of them, just so you know who they are:
**********************************************
Amazing how "churches" care more about filling the pews than they do about the thousands upon thousands of Americans killed by illegals since 9/11.>>>>>>>>>>>
In truth you speak. The Interfaith Council has put billions of dollars into Illegal immigrant assitance over the last twenty years. There is compassion and then there is IDIOT COMPASSION!( a liberal affectation). They are the lobbying group that has The President and the RINOs fawning all over them on illegal aliens! They wage demographic warfare on the United States, under the banner of Marxist socialist Liberation Theology!
Who are they? Take a gander:
http://www.wr.org/ourwork/whatwedo/reform.asp
QUOTE:
We, the undersigned faith-based leaders and organizations, join together to call upon President Bush and our elected officials in Congress to enact comprehensive immigration reform legislation that establishes a safe and humane immigration system consistent with our values. Our diverse faith traditions teach us to welcome our brothers and sisters with love and compassion.
UNQUOTE
The result of the Roman Catholic foundation movement is here, among many other religious institutions whose liberal values represent a multicultural agenda, and a complete social change for the United States, and the devolution of our culture of freedom through immigration for immigrants who have no intended allegiance to the United States or its constitution:
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
lol...
I prefer the gringo babe in a bikini!
Were Jesus to walk around in the U.S. today, he’d be visiting at the homes of illegals, among others. He fraternized with all kinds of lowly types - the poor, prostitutes, etc.”
________________________________
Read futher on down in your Bible, He also told them to “go, and sin no more.”
Um, part of getting forgiveness is not having the intention of doing it again...and one more note....when Jese “hung out” with those people he always forgave them and said GO AND SIN NO MORE!
________________________
Note: Key word here is GO.
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