Faith in the news

[Del]

+JMJ+

Source: Crux
Link: cruxnow DOT com/church-in-the-usa/2023/06/bishops-rebuke-house-dems-for-citing-faith-in-defense-of-abortion-rights

Bishops rebuke House Dems for citing faith in defense of abortion rights

This isn't going to be enough to change a single heart. Heck, it won't even bring on the persecutions.

[Wosbald]

+JMJ+

Title: Following Title 42's demise, sisters and church regroup to better help migrants at the border
Source: National Catholic Reporter
Link: ncronline DOT org/news/following-title-42s-demise-sisters-and-church-regroup-better-help-migrants-border

The Money-Quote:

Before Title 42, sisters at the Piedras Negras shelter put together lists they shared with authorities on the U.S. side, singling out some families who might qualify for asylum, as well as adults or children with special needs in their shelters. Many of them were able to enter the U.S. But when Title 42 expired and authorities pushed the use of the CBP One app to apply for asylum, "reality changed," Turcios said.

"It's like the lottery," said Patrick Giuliani, policy analyst with El Paso's nonprofit Hope Border Institute, who participated in the [June 22nd Zoom webinar marking World Refugee Day]. "There are people who secure a date [to book appointments to seek asylum in the U.S.] in a matter of days and others never get a date. You have people with sick children waiting for a chance (to enter the U.S)."

In El Paso, as in other parts of the country, Catholic sisters have continued to pray for migrants and for their legal woes as other barriers have been erected to keep them out, Turcios said. All the while, many sisters continue to oversee work of shelters so that travelers have food, clothing, water, and sometimes a word of comfort or legal advice. But it's getting tougher to help them keep their spirits up given the rapid changes and the difficulties faced by those stuck on the Mexico side, she added.

[Wosbald]

+JMJ+

Source: National Catholic Reporter / OSV News
Link: ncronline DOT org/news/us-bishops-praise-expansion-family-reunification-processes-migrants

US bishops praise expansion of family reunification processes for migrants

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Washington — The U.S. bishops July 10 praised a recent announcement by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that it would expand family reunification processes for some migrants.

On July 7, the department said it would implement the new processes for eligible nationals of Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. The expanded program, which began July 10, permits migrants from those countries to travel to the U.S. and gain work permits if they have family members who are U.S. citizens or legal residents, and those relatives filed visa applications on their behalf. Parole would be determined on a case-by-case basis, officials said.

In a statement, Bishop Mark J. Seitz of El Paso, Texas, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee on Migration, said the bishops "welcome this effort to provide a realistic opportunity for attaining family unity and reunification, which are foundational to the U.S. immigration system and central tenets of Catholic social teaching."

"As we know, 'Family relations contribute decisively to the sound building of human society in fellowship, which cannot be reduced to simply the inhabitants of a territory or citizens of a State who live together,'" Seitz said, citing a 2015 Vatican report.

"Unfortunately, what the need for such programs demonstrates — and as similar programs created for Cubans and Haitians have already underscored — is that backlogs continue to pose untenable challenges for aspiring immigrants who seek to avail themselves of the limited legal pathways currently available, whether family- or employment-based in nature," he continued. "This is why my brother bishops and I, along with the vast majority of civic leaders and the American public, know immigration reform is ultimately the only true and sustainable solution to these challenges."

Seitz said the bishops "continue to urge Congress to come together on a bipartisan basis to achieve this, a difficult but not impossible task, as demonstrated by recent measures such as the Dignity Act."

Among other provisions, the measure "takes into account the contribution of immigrants — including Dreamers — to our country by granting them legal protections to remain in the United States if they meet certain conditions," co-sponsor Rep. Jenniffer González Colón, R-Puerto Rico, said in a statement. "Dreamers" refer to immigrant young people, brought to the U.S. as children without legal authorization, who qualify for the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act.

The Dignity Act also would secure the border, and create a process for those already in the U.S. without authorization to pay restitution and "integrate into American society."

Immigration officials said the move on family reunification was intended to "provide lawful pathways" for migrants seeking citizenship or legal residency in the United States and to "reduce dangerous irregular migration."

[…]

[Wosbald]

+JMJ+

Source: Crux
Link: cruxnow DOT com/church-in-the-usa/2023/07/us-bishops-back-bill-to-help-immigrant-children-and-also-religious-workers

US bishops back bill to help immigrant children, and also religious workers

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NEW YORK — A bill to help immigrant children achieve permanent legal status has received the support of the U.S. bishops conference for how it would quicken the visa process for vulnerable children, but also because it could free up more visas for foreign-born religious workers.

The “Protect Vulnerable Immigrant Youth Act” was introduced in the House and Senate last month. In essence, it would exempt tens of thousands of children from annual employment-based visa caps, which supporters claim would ease case backlogs and free up visas for people such as religious workers, while allowing the children to continue life in the United States as lawful permanent residents.

“With this small change, you could uphold the right to religious exercise, a foundational American principle, and empower vulnerable young people to flourish in their new country, contribute to our nation, and reach their full God-given potential,” Bishop Mark Seitz of El Paso, the USCCB migration chair, wrote in a July 12 letter to Congress.

Eligible youth are those with Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS).

Requirements to qualify for the SIJS program include being under 21-years-old, currently living in the U.S., being unmarried, and having been a valid juvenile court order, which finds an immigrant youth cannot be reunified with one or both parents because of abuse, abandonment, or neglect, and that it is not in the youth’s best interests to return to their home country.

[…]

“It is unconscionable and completely unavoidable that children who have already been granted SIJS are trapped in a years-long limbo that endangers their lives, all because SIJS was mis-categorized in the visa system,” Rachel Davidson, the coalition’s director, said in a statement.

“The Protect Vulnerable Immigrant Act would ensure that thousands of SIJS youth are protected from deportation and can achieve the permanency in the United States that Congress intended.”

In his letter, Seitz highlighted the kinds of vulnerabilities SIJS children face as a result of the delay.

“Dreams of pursuing higher education are stifled by FAFSA ineligibility, heavy mental burdens are imposed by the looming possibility of deportation, and exploitation and homelessness remain ever-present threats,” Seitz said.

“Exempting SIJ applicants from the annual cap would put them on par with various other humanitarian classes who are exempt from the annual limitations in recognition of the fact that they are not employment-based immigrants,” he said.

The Protect Vulnerable Immigrant Youth Act was introduced in the Senate by Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), who said the backlogs are “keeping too many [vulnerable immigrant children] in limbo.

“My legislation will help these immigrant youth facing extreme circumstances to become legal residents so they can have the protection and opportunities they deserve,” Masto said in a statement.

Representative Jimmy Gomez (D-CA), who introduced the legislation in the House alongside 31 other Representatives, simply argued in a statement that “all young people deserve a safe and stable home.”

“I urge my colleagues to join us to make good on our nation’s commitment to protect immigrant youth,” Gomez said.

[Del]

+JMJ+

Source: Crux
Link: cruxnow DOT com/church-in-the-usa/2023/07/us-bishops-back-bill-to-help-immigrant-children-and-also-religious-workers

US bishops back bill to help immigrant children, and also religious workers

Is there any hope that we could get congressional Democrats to support this?

[Wosbald]

+JMJ+

Source: Crux
Link: cruxnow DOT com/church-in-the-usa/2023/07/texas-bishops-blast-reports-of-denying-migrants-water-pushing-them-into-the-rio

Texas bishops blast reports of denying migrants water, pushing them into the Rio Grande

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NEW YORK — In response to reports that troopers at the U.S.–Mexico border were told to push migrants back into the Rio Grande and to deny them drinking water, Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller of San Antonio has admonished that anyone “who denies water to the thirsty is corrupted and a killer.”

“Beautiful America, depriving people [of] water during this waving heat season. There is not anything beautiful about it,” García-Siller said in a July 18 statement. “People are dying of thirst. Jesus taught to give even a glass of water to the thirsty. Jesus keeps calling us to change our hearts and love PEOPLE. Please!”

Two days later, on July 20, García-Siller and the 21 other Texas bishops came together to denounce the actions that have been alleged, saying media reports “present a disturbing account of horrific tragedies occurring along the Rio Grande on the Texas/Mexico border.”

“These reports stir our hearts again for the plight of our sisters and brothers who are seeking a better life,” the bishops said in a statement through the Texas Conference of Catholic Bishops. “These mothers, fathers, children, and others are doing what anyone would do to find a better life. They have moved to secure honest work and a safe community.”

“The fact that they were born in a place which could provide these basic human rights does not give anyone the right to treat them inhumanely,” the bishops added.

The allegations, first reported by the Houston Chronicle, come at a time when Texas Governor Greg Abbott has taken it upon himself to attempt to secure the U.S.–Mexico border from illegal entries, as he has long spoken out about the challenges the nation’s migrant surge has posed border cities and the way the federal government has inadequately responded to the crisis.

Abbott’s administration has now set up river buoys along the Rio Grande and razor wire along the adjacent land in an attempt to repel migrant crossings. An internal message a state trooper recently shared with the Houston Chronicle led to the reports that troopers were told to push migrants back into the Rio Grande and to deny them drinking water — claims the Texas Department of Public Safety have denied.

Abbott and Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw said in a joint statement on July 18 that “no orders or directions have been given under Operation Lone Star that would compromise the lives of those attempting to cross to the border illegally.”

[…]

The Texas Department of Public Safety did not immediately respond to a Crux request for comment, and Abbott’s office declined to comment, citing the July 18 statement.

The White House weighed in on the reports on July 18, as well. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre acknowledged that the White House hasn’t verified the reports, but noted if they are true “it is abhorrent, it is despicable, it is dangerous.”

The Texas bishops, however, didn’t levy all of the blame for the present situation on the state. They put the onus on the federal government for decades of failures when it comes to migration policy, saying “they have failed to uphold our country’s principle to welcome all who seek a life free of tyranny.”

“We have a responsibility, as a faithful citizen, to work with our government officials to ensure the dignity of all, an ideal enshrined on the Statue of Liberty,” the bishops said. “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”

The bishops also asked the faithful to join them in their humanitarian efforts along the border, and asked for prayers “for our brothers and sisters experiencing the harsh realities of this journey, and for all who encounter them.”

[Wosbald]

+JMJ+

Source: National Catholic Reporter / OSV News
Link: ncronline. DOT org/news/catholic-groups-condemn-texas-report-alleged-inhumane-treatment-migrants-including-denying

Catholic groups condemn Texas report of alleged 'inhumane' treatment of migrants, including denying water

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July 20, 2023 — Catholic migrant advocates condemned a report alleging inhumane treatment of migrants seeking to cross the border into Texas, including an allegation that the state directed its personnel to withhold water from migrants despite extreme heat.

The Houston Chronicle reported July 17 it obtained a July 3 email this month showing a trooper-medic sharing concerns with a supervisor in the Texas Department of Public Safety over the treatment of migrants at the border in Eagle Pass, Texas. The email suggested that troopers involved in Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott's border security initiative, Operation Lone Star, have been given a directive not to give migrants water.

"Due to the extreme heat, the order to not give people water needs to be immediately reversed as well," the trooper wrote, adding, "I believe we have stepped over a line into the inhumane."

Dylan Corbett, executive director of Hope Border Institute, told OSV News July 19 that "what we're seeing is essentially a military occupation of the border by the governor."

"In El Paso, there is an embarrassing spectacle of state police, guardsmen, concertina wire, additional fences and military humvees, all positioned against the most vulnerable," Corbett said. "The strategy of the governor is to cause pain. And this is killing people."

Corbett said that in June alone, 70 people "that we know of died crossing the border."

"Just recently, the bishop had to administer last rites to a teenager who collapsed in the desert and died," he said. "This is what happens with brutal policies of deterrence at the border."

The July 3 email suggested state officials have set "traps" of razor wire-wrapped barrels in parts of the river with high water and low visibility, according to the Chronicle's report. The trooper argued in the email that the wire has increased the risk of drownings by forcing migrants into deeper, more dangerous, parts of the river.

The email said a pregnant woman having a miscarriage was found late last month caught in the wire, describing her as doubled over in pain. A father was found carrying his teenage son after he broke his leg navigating around the wire, while a 4-year-old girl passed out from heat exhaustion after she tried to go through it but was pushed back by members of the Texas National Guard.

CLINIC (the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc.) condemned the allegations in the report, saying they "represent the very worst of the U.S. immigration system, which dehumanizes the vulnerable and desperate people caught within it."

"People of faith and conscience cannot look away from the fact that these actions are done by government employees in our name," Anna Gallagher, CLINIC executive director, said in a July 20 statement to OSV News. "Either we believe that all people bear untouchable dignity, or we don't. Permitting this despicable behavior denies that truth and rejects the deepest principles of our Catholic faith and our nation's values."

In a July 18 joint statement with Texas Border Czar Mike Banks, Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw, and Texas Adjutant General Major General Thomas Suelzer, Abbott's office said, "No orders or directions have been given under Operation Lone Star that would compromise the lives of those attempting to cross the border illegally."

The statement said Texas's Department of Public Safety and Military Department take steps to "monitor migrants in distress, provide appropriate medical attention when needed, and encourage them to use one of the 29 international bridges along the Texas–Mexico Border where they can safely and legally cross."

However, the statement also argued that the "absence of these tools and strategies" in Texas' approach to the border "including concertina wire that snags clothing — encourages migrants to make potentially life-threatening and illegal crossings."

Abbott's office stated all personnel "assigned to Operation Lone Star are prepared to detect and respond to any individuals who may need water or medical attention."

[…]

In a press statement, Domingo Garcia, national president of the League of United Latin American Citizens, said the group "condemns the inhumane treatment of innocent people and denounces the use of razor wire, buoys, and any other barriers that jeopardize the safety of women and children seeking asylum."

"These are Christian refugees, and they deserve to be treated with dignity and respect," he said, adding, "What would Jesus say about such treatment of the most vulnerable in society?"

[Wosbald]

+JMJ+

Title: The Moral Right to Immigrate [In-Depth, Explainer]
Source: Where Peter Is
Link: wherepeteris DOT com/the-moral-right-to-immigrate/

The Money-Quote:

Any traditional natural-law analysis of this controversial issue must begin by admitting that here we have a fundamental collision of rights: the individual right of a person or family to immigrate, versus the right of a nation to secure its border and enforce immigration laws. The principles for resolving a collision of rights must be used in each case to decide whether a person’s right (or a family’s right) to immigrate should prevail over a nation’s right to exclude a person (or a family) for a good reason.

[…]

As Catholics, we must always morally oppose border closures which use inhumane means of enforcement, but we can be either for or against a humane border closure and thus argue either for or against its prudence, so long as we are also supporting immigration reform and respecting the natural moral right of law-abiding individuals and families to immigrate in order to escape from harm and find work. Conservatives who maintain that as a nation we have the right to forbid immigration in general and thus protect our personal comfort and affluent lifestyle are morally wrong from the perspective of natural-law theory and Catholic social teaching. The basic human need of migrants to escape from harm and find work morally trumps our desire to protect our personal comfort and affluent lifestyle. Migrants have a moral claim on the surplus wealth of the host nation because that surplus wealth ought to be used to create jobs and provide a family wage for everyone, according to the Catholic doctrine of the universal destination and distribution of goods. Surplus wealth is defined as wealth over and above that which is needed to meet the possessor’s basic human needs.

[…]

In the case where a wealthy nation refuses to recognize its moral duty to provide for the legal immigration of families who have a manifest urgent need to immigrate, it becomes morally permissible for such families to immigrate illegally in order to escape from serious harm or to find a means to secure their basic human needs. St. Thomas Aquinas, among others, explains the basic moral principle which would be applicable in such a dire circumstance:

[…]

Given that this moral argument is sound, the corollary immediately follows that it would in fact be immoral to close the borders of our nation without also reforming the immigration system and thus providing for the legal immigration of people who have a manifest and urgent need to reside in the US. Closing the borders by humane means in order to keep out those who have no right to immigrate is morally permissible and necessary, but natural law also requires that legal provision be made for those who do have a manifest and urgent need to immigrate, in accord with a reasonable estimation of the number of immigrants which our nation could handle, and then some reasonable and efficient legal process must be offered to them. From the Catholic natural-law perspective, the urgency in the need to change the US immigration laws comes from the fact that they are currently unjust and are harming people in need and denying them the natural moral right to immigrate. The fact that political opportunists and socialists are invoking that human right for their own political ends must not distract us from the moral issue and the truth of the moral claim which economic immigrants have on the use of US surplus wealth for their employment.

[Wosbald]

+JMJ+

Source: Crux
Link: cruxnow DOT com/church-in-the-usa/2023/08/us-bishops-blast-including-abortion-in-law-intended-to-support-pregnant-women

US bishops blast including abortion in law intended to support pregnant women

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NEW YORK — Proposed regulations from the Biden administration to implement a piece of legislation designed to enhance workplace protections for pregnant women has drawn the ire of the U.S. bishops, as they charge the regulations could contain language to advance abortion.

Passed by the Senate late last year and by the House in 2021, the bipartisan “Pregnant Workers Fairness Act” requires employers to provide accommodations to qualified workers for pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions. Examples of accommodations include: Receiving closer parking, flexible hours, additional break time and excusals from strenuous activities.

As passed, the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act doesn’t include anything related to abortion. However, on Aug. 7, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) released proposed regulations for implementing the legislation that adds abortion as a reasonable accommodation.

“We supported the bipartisan Pregnant Workers Fairness Act because it enhanced the protection of pregnant mothers and their preborn children, which is something that we have encouraged Congress to prioritize,” Bishop Michael Burbidge of Arlington said in an Aug. 8 statement.

“The Act is pro-worker, pro-family, and pro-life,” added Burbidge, who is chair of the U.S. Bishops Conference Committee on Pro-Life Activities. “It is a total distortion to use this law as a means for advancing abortion, and the complete opposite of needed assistance for pregnant mothers.”

As for how abortion was added, the procedure is incorporated as part of the definition of a “related medical condition” which must be covered by employers. In essence, the EEOC didn’t change the basic requirements of the legislation, but rather expanded the measures it entails.

[…]

In a statement to Crux, a spokesperson for the EEOC defended the language, highlighting that the agency has “consistently interpreted the term ‘pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions’ in Title VII to include the decision to have or not to have an abortion.”

[…]

Burbidge argued that adding the abortion accommodations goes against the purpose of the legislation.

“The [EEOC’s] proposed interpretation of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act to include accommodations for obtaining an abortion is wrong and contrary to the text, legislative history, and purpose of the Act, which is to help make it possible for working mothers to remain gainfully employed, if desired, while protecting their health and that of their preborn children,” Burbidge said.

“We are hopeful that the EEOC will be forced to abandon its untenable position when public comments submitted on this regulation demonstrate that its interpretation would be struck down in court,” he added.

The legislation’s sponsor, Senator Robert Casey, a Pennsylvania Democrat, declined a Crux request for comment, as did the White House.

Senator Bill Casidy, a Louisiana Republican and lead Republican sponsor of the bill, said in an Aug. 8 statement that the “Biden administration has gone rogue” with the proposal, adding that the regulations “completely disregard legislative intent and attempt to rewrite the law by regulation.”

“The Biden administration has to enforce the law as passed by Congress, not how they wish it was passed,” Cassidy said. “The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act is aimed at assisting pregnant mothers who remain in the workforce by choice or necessity as they bring their child to term and recover after childbirth. The decision to disregard the legislative process to inject a political abortion agenda is illegal and deeply concerning.”

[Wosbald]

+JMJ+

Source: NewsNation
Link: newsnationnow DOT com/religion/incredible-miracle-maui-church-unscathed-fire/

‘Incredible miracle’: Maui church unscathed by fire

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• Maria Lanakila Catholic Church in Lahaina survived the Hawaiian fires.
• Reverend: An 'incredible miracle' the church survived.
• Most of the destroyed city of Lahaina remains inaccessible.

LAHAINA, Hawaii (NewsNation)— The wildfires that have killed at least 99 people in Maui County, Hawaii, spared Maria Lanakila Catholic Church in Lahaina while it destroyed thousands of structures around it.

The church, built in 1846, remains standing tall, untouched by the flames as a sign of hope for the people of Maui.

Reverend Monsignor Terrence Watanabe says it was an “incredible miracle” the church survived even as nearby buildings were destroyed.

Watanabe said he believes everyone was shocked to see it still standing. He explained that spiritually, people always try to look for the presence of God in the world, whether it be a rainbow or people’s love for one another; but this was a whole other level of God’s presence.

Right behind the church once stood a convent, preschool and two classrooms that all burned down in the fire. But the church itself and the rectory right next door survived.

The astor at the church returned to it two days after the blaze, and found that nothing was touched or damaged, Watanabe said.

[…]

[W]atanabe said it’s important for people to understand it’s OK to be angry at God, but the worst thing to do would be to give God the silent treatment and not talk to Him.

“The Lord’s calling us to walk on water and do the impossible,” Watanabe said. “But at the same time, to trust in Him. And yes, there are doing to be times of doubt and fear because this is a long range of work ahead of us.”