The following comes from a Jan. 10 letter written by Archbishop Jose Gomez in the Los Angeles archdiocese paper, the Tidings.
The Church in the United States is observing National Migration Week, January 5-11.
After a year of debate over comprehensive immigration reform, I get the sense that some people are tired of hearing about the issue. They seem to wish the Church and others would just stop talking about immigration.
But the issues remain urgent for millions of our brothers and sisters, and it will not go away.
In Los Angeles and throughout California and the rest of the country, we face many challenges — the spreading of poverty, material and spiritual; the erosion of the middle class; the breakdown of marriage and the family; abortion, euthanasia, drugs and human trafficking; and the growing fragmentation and polarization of our society — economically, culturally and morally.
But right now, it’s urgent for us to address the daily injustices and offenses to human dignity being caused by our broken immigration system.
As a society, we have come to accept a permanent underclass of men and women who are living at the margins of our society. Members of this underclass perform much of the manual labor and basic services that are essential to our society — caring for our children; building our homes and offices; harvesting the food we eat. They pay many millions in taxes and social security, and yet they have no rights and no security.
In our neighborhoods and parishes we know the reality — that families, especially children, are the ones suffering the most. We hear many arguments and justifications for why our leaders can’t fix this broken system. But nothing they say can answer the tears of a child whose mother or father has been deported or locked in an immigration jail.
Our Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI said that globalization can make us all neighbors — but it can’t make us brothers and sisters. For that we need God. Because if we don’t believe that God is our Father, then we’ll never have any reason to treat others as our brothers and sisters.
That’s why I continue to believe strongly that immigration reform is a spiritual issue — just as much as it is a human rights issue and a family values issue.
Too many Americans today justify the treatment of immigrants — the deportations that break up families, the poor working conditions and the denial of basic rights — on the grounds that these immigrants have violated our country’s laws. “They are getting what they deserve,” the argument goes.
The rule of law is important for the good of society. But God’s law of love calls us always to a higher standard. In God’s eyes, we can never justify being cold or indifferent to the sufferings of others. A person without the “proper papers” remains a child of God, created in his image and likeness, deserving of dignity and our respect….
To read entire letter, click here.
Hmmm why is it OK for Mexico to maintain their border with countries to its south, but not for us. No other country on planet earth acts this way when it comes to protection of its own borders., not one.
“Irish need not apply.”
Ah, we’ve seen anti immigration nonsense in this country since day one — as when Catholics and Quakers were outlawed in the early days.
Seamus, that was not that many years ago. I still remember the “Irish need not apply” signs and the KKK burning crosses on our church lawn. And that was in New England, not the south.
So, I’m in the grocery store yesterday. There are two women in front of me. They don’t speak English, are carrying cell phones (my husband said it was the new Iphone), and they are making several transactions in order to get their “free” grub and cash.
1) We are paying for our own food. We have Never, and will NEVER, ask the government to pay for us. It is not their job nor responsibility
2) We do not have the newest phones on the market.
3) We at least have the courtesy to speak the language of America – English.
I fail to see how Americans, who have spent TRILLIONS of dollars on the poor continue to spend TRILLIONS of dollars on the poor to no avail .They are still poor, still stealing from Joe taxpayer, and still ARE BREAKING THE LAW BY LIVING AND STEALING FROM US. I fail to see the justice in that. And how the Catholic Church can actually condone this is beyond the realm of belief.
The Church, in matters of faith and morals, is infallible.
The Church, in matters of border security and economics, is just plain wrong.
Nellie: 1) How do you know that they were on the phone trying to get free stuff from the government? Do you speak their language? Do you know what websites they were on? And if you DO know, why were you staring at their phone?
Secondly, have you ever travelled to a country where you know the language but turn to your husband and speak English? I have! How bizarre it would have been for me to turn to my partner and speak French to him because we were in France. Why would you demand that people speak English to each other if their mutual first language was Spanish, or Italian, or Chinese, or whatever!!
Thirdly, morals MORALS is more than what you might imagine MORALS to be. Treating people with compassion, respect, and dignity ARE morals. This is the morality that our Church calls us to.
Self called YFC,
Have you ever heard of the Capital Sin of Sloth?
May God have Mercy on an amoral Amerika!
Viva Cristo Rey!
God bless, yours in Their Hearts,
Kenneth M. Fisher
What no one seems to comprehend is that the Catholic Church is doing what it can to bring more Mexicans to California where they are thrown into “the breakdown of marriage and the family; abortion, euthanasia, drugs and human trafficking; and the growing fragmentation and polarization of our society — economically, culturally and morally.” This is spiritually devastating. Look at the statistics now of the lives of most Mexican families in California. Poverty in Mexico is less soul-deadening than life in California. Salvation is the pearl of great price, not big-screen TVs and Facebook accounts.
Laurette,
Your comment is 100% correct. Another factor to consider is that the Church in California would be in worse shape than it is now if it were not for south of the border money. All the Bishops care about is money to keep their lifestyle alive & in reality they care very little about us.
“In Los Angeles and throughout California and the rest of the country, we face many challenges — the spreading of poverty, material and spiritual; the erosion of the middle class; the breakdown of marriage and the family; abortion, euthanasia, drugs and human trafficking; and the growing fragmentation and polarization of our society — economically, culturally and morally.”
The Bishop should worry about the awful state of the Mass in the parishes of his Archdiocese.
Archbishop Gomez wrote, “I get the sense that some people are tired of hearing about the issue.”
That “sense” is not coming from where the Archbishop wants to lay blame. That SENSE is the PRESENCE of the Holy Spirit enlightening Archbishop Gomez’s conscience to place his priorities in the correct order by an unceasing constant reminding to FIRST guard the Deposit of the Faith. What does it profit the *soul of an immigrant* to come to the United States in order to have his faith destroyed by shepherds who did not guard it.
I understand the concern by why is the attention geared towards only Mexicans, what about other cultures ?
Joe R. you are right. People are coming in through illegal means from all over the world, including from Canada. The Northern states complain about this too. Also, many come here legally, overstay their visas and do not return to their own countries and nothing is done. One woman from East India in a laundromat complained to me about illegal immigrants when I had said nothing to her, and she did not know me at all. She said she had come here legally and became a citizen. She was probably taking about Mexicans. That was right after an Avon lady of mine from East India had told me her niece had overstayed her visa. I doubt if the niece was ever sent back home. I have always regretted not asking the woman in the Laundromat, “Not just which illegal immigrants are you talking about?”
The Avon lady was Hindu. I do not know the religion of the lady in the Laundromat.
And yea, we do have a right to control our borders and know if the people coming across will be good citizens and do us no harm, such as blowing up buildings or planting bombs or dealing in human trafficking.
I should have written “coming into and across” in my last post as often bombers or Muslim radicals have come into the U. S. legally and illegally. One radical Muslim was caught coming in from Mexico and probably some from Canada.
Joe R,
Would agree that the Mexicans seem more targeted and certainly the current administration has demonstrated a more arbitrary and heavy handed policy for arresting and deporting a folks. However, my hair cutter, from England, who was working and engaged to marry an American was deported very swiftly as well. She had a legal work visa but did not maintain contact and overstayed. Seems they had their quota of English already. My point is that the government probably exercises their laws “equally arbitrarily.” I am sure there is some cultural aspects but it may appear to be targeted because there are more Mexicans and Latin Americans here.
Finally, I do suspect that bishops lobbying for a political solution carries less authority on the faithful than Christ’s request to feed and care for the poor on a moral level.
This is a blatant lie! A nation has a right to defend her borders. The Catholic Church has always taught this. Without laws, there is chaos. If people want to come to live in the United States, as potential American citizens, then they must enter the nation legally. and obey her laws. Do I have a right to try to live in Switzerland, Austria, or Germany without that nation’s permission? Certainly not! Recently, within the past three years Pope Benedict wrote that immigration laws must be respected, and there was an article about this in CATHOLIC WORLD REPORT. Sure, if a person is suffering under an evil government, consideration should be given to that individual. But to let hoards of undocumented people enter the United States, just to milk her dry is preposterous! Seek ye first the Kingdom of God; that is what must be on the agenda of the episcopacy. But to advocate nonsense such as what the Archbishop said is totally asinine. Moral and just laws must be enforced, and as we are seeing, because they are not,the United States is rapidly becoming a third world pagan nation. May God help and have mercy on us.
When one reads or hears anything about the archbishop, all he seemingly talks about is illegal aliens (sorry, undocumented workers) as he bounces around the country and the Vatican. I’m so pleased to know that all of the following are no longer a problem in the LA Archdiocese:
1. The Mass (as Gratias mentioned, above);
2. Homosexual
– priests
– lay teachers in Catholic schools
– SSM;
3. Common Core;
4. Religious “Education” Congress; and
5. All the Catholic schools in the archdiocese, where the Magisterium is either ignored or belittled (including – and especially, LMU). Of course, there are the “Catholic” high schools that have hit the papers during the past year (St. Lucy’s Priory High School and Verbum Dei – one can’t help but surmise that there are more).
The Abp needs to start teaching the Faith thoughout his Diocese, not preaching his personal form of politics to the world.
Helping the poor is one thing, ILLEGAL immigration is something else.
Yes, the Abp has much work within his own Diocese. The heretics in the Religious “Education” Congress need public correction by the Abp.
If the Abp told everyone to study the CCC in entirety at home, partial Church teaching could not be used to further the politics of some.
Archbishop is dead wrong. How people are treated, immigrant (legal or otherwise) or not, is a spiritual issue. Not immigration reform. What is a spiritual issue is treatment of the unborn. Abp. Gomez seems to be as silent as his predecessor on that.
As an immigrant himself the Archbishop seems to be “stuck” on the immigration issues…….seems all we hear coming out of the chancellery is about immigration.
Is it not time we hear about other issues in the diocese? He is alienating all the rest of those of us who do not have “a dog in the fight”!
How about abortion reform? Is that a spiritual issue?
How about reform of the sick Religious Education (Dis-Education) Congress!
May God have Mercy on an amoral Amerika!
Viva Cristo Rey!
God bless, yours in Their Hearts,
Kenneth M. Fisher
The entire future of the catholic church, especially in california, is with the latino or mexican people…their birth rate is the highest…all others are very low…the church needs people to continue it’s mission…whatever that is!!!! With the new (jesuit) pope…LIBERATION THEOLOGY becomes the center of all discussions…mainly.. the end justifies the means…….
“CATECHISM of the CATHOLIC CHURCH, Second Edition” which Cardinals, Bishops, Priests, Nuns and all Laity are required to adhere to – – –
CCC: ” 2241 The more prosperous nations are obliged, to the extent they are able, to welcome the foreigner in search of the security and the means of livelihood which he cannot find in his country of origin.
Public authorities should see to it that the natural right is respected that places a guest under the protection of those who receive him.
Political authorities, for the sake of the common good for which they are responsible, may make the exercise of the right to immigrate subject to various juridical conditions, especially with regard to the immigrants’ duties toward their country of adoption.
Immigrants are obliged to respect with gratitude the material and spiritual heritage of the country that receives them, to OBEY its LAWS, and to assist in carrying civic burdens.”
This is what happens when Bishops get into politics rather than concentrate on Saving Souls.
The USA is no longer prosperous. Federal government over $17 TRILLION in debt; CA over $419 BILLION in debt, and many local governments are in debt.
The jobless numbers in the US are at 14% not the lies from the Obama administration of 7%. (Check out the “US Bureau of Labor Statistics”.)
The Bishops believe whatever the Democratic administration tells them. Jesus and his Apostles were not involved in politics.
Look at the picture above with this story. Does this look like these men are “obeying” the immigration laws of the USA?
Do the Bishops really want to destroy this Country by teaching and rewarding law breaking?
Stop calling it immigration. This is an outright invasion. No country on earth would tolerate it, including and especially Mexico.
Look at their draconian immigration laws, Abp. Gomez.
When Archbishop Gomez first came to Los Angeles he would throw out the one liner “A country has a right to protect it’s borders”, followed by paragraph after paragraph on how and why we should welcome those who violate US immigration law. I couldn’t help but notice that this time around, he completely left out his “A country has a right to protect it’s borders” statement.
No matter what any individual Church leader states, the “Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition” contains the Doctrine of the Faith.
When those who are supposed to teach – leave out parts of the Doctrine to better improve their own political position – they are a wolf in sheeps’ clothing.
Many times Jesus rebuked some of the religious teachers of his day (Pharisees and Sadducees). One example is: Mt 16:12.
Human nature has not changed.
To insure that we are not sucked in by bad teachers – make certain that you read the Bible and the “Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition” as provided by the Magisterium.
CCC: “2241 The more prosperous nations are obliged, to the extent they are able, to welcome the foreigner in search of the security and the means of livelihood which he cannot find in his country of origin. Public authorities should see to it that the natural right is respected that places a guest under the protection of those who receive him.
Political authorities, for the sake of the common good for which they are responsible, may make the exercise of the right to immigrate subject to various juridical conditions, especially with regard to the immigrants’ duties toward their country of adoption.
Immigrants are obliged to respect with gratitude the material and spiritual heritage of the country that receives them, to obey its laws and to assist in carrying civic burdens.”
What is the Archbishop teaching regarding the mortal sin of contraception?
When was the last time the Archbishop taught about the mortal sin of scandal?
When was the last time the Archbishop taught that the Catholic Faith is the one true Faith?
When was the last time the Archbishop encouraged everyone to read the CCC (which is also printed in Spanish) so the people in his Diocese would know the truth of what the Church teaches? (Not the gospel according to the political beliefs of some.)
When was the last time he preached against breaking the law – ILLEGAL immigration, which is one of the root causes of breaking up families, the illegal sex trade, drugs coming across the border, growth of the Mexican Mafia in the USA, etc.
Abp Gomez in the recent past compared illegal immigrants to the Holy Family. The Holy Family never broke any laws.
In fact when it was most difficult for Mary, the Holy Family left their home to comply with census laws.