Beatus Vir

Immigration: Gospel helps us to apply decisions of daily life

By Bishop John M. D'Arcy

‘I was a stranger and you
welcomed me’ — Mt 25

As Catholics who receive the Eucharist every Sunday, we have no choice but to welcome the stranger, for the stranger is Christ among us. The voices against this position are loud. They echo with a kind of demagoguery on our televisions every evening. They say things that are true, like that a country has a right to have sound borders, and that we cannot approve the breaking of the law. The person of faith accepts this, but also looks into the face of the immigrant and sees a brother and a sister.One of the things Pope Benedict XVI shared with Catholics in this country when he met with the bishops in the beautiful crypt of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception Shrine in Washington, D.C., was the fact that the Sunday Eucharist must influence our decisions in the way we look at questions of the age. The predominant culture sometimes clouds our vision. How can it not? It is with us all the time. It is so dominant. That is why we go to the Eucharist on Sundays, and why we should do spiritual reading. It is why Pope Benedict XVI came — to encourage us and to confirm our faith and help us to see these issues more clearly. The immigrant is our brother and sister. So is the refugee. The conflict arises in the question of the immigrants because some of them are here illegally.

So what is a believer in Christ to do? First of all, the believer should look to the church, which presents to us the Gospel and helps us to apply it to the decisions of daily life. For us, the ultimate principle is the dignity of every person. A person has the right to move. The church has always taught that a person has the right to move, and this right is rooted in the dignity of the human person. For example, if a man and woman cannot feed their family, they have a right and maybe an obligation to move. Men and women even have the right to cross borders when they move. In the terrible aftermath of World War II, when refugees were streaming across Europe, Pope Pius XII linked this huge migration to the experience of the Holy Family who were exiles in Egypt and said that they always remained the archetype of the migrant.He said that, “Jesus, Mary and Joseph, are, for all times and all places, the models and protectors of every migrant, alien and refugee of whatever kind who, whether compelled by fear of persecution or by want, is forced to leave his native land, his beloved parents and relatives, his close friends, and to seek a foreign soil.” (“Exsul Familia Nazarethena,” apostolic exhortation, Pius XII, August 1952)

When I read this, of course, I think of my own dear parents who came across the great ocean seeking opportunity and political freedom in this great land. This teaching is also rooted in the Book of Leviticus in the Old Testament.“When an alien resides with you in your land, do not molest him. You shall treat the alien who resides with you no differently than the natives born among you, have the same love for him as you yourself; for you too were once aliens in the land of Egypt. I, the Lord, am your God.” — Lv 19:33-34.Whatever we hear in the demagoguery that comes from a certain pundit every night, we must look at the immigrant and see the face of Jesus Christ. Our attendance at the Sunday Eucharist requires this of us. The same Christ we meet in the Eucharist, we meet in the face of the immigrant and the refugee. This is why we are involved in the work of welcoming the refugee and the immigrant.

But what about the law? In no way does the Catholic Church support illegality. We are citizens of this world as well as citizens of the world to come. So we have a conflict here. The right of people to move and seek and find a decent life and the fact that some among us are here
illegally. When there are conflicting rights, one seeks a solution. As members of the church, we must be faithful to our responsibility of hospitality of aliens among us. As good citizens, we should seek a solution which is legal. We do not support the breaking of the law. This is why the United Sates Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Indiana bishops continue to seek legislation, especially on the federal level, which will reflect the dignity of every person. There are 12 million immigrants here, mostly from Latin America. Most of them came from poverty and misfortune. They preferred not to come but had no choice if they were to care for their children. We support legislation, which protects the rights and dignity of the immigrants and their families, and we support efforts to properly maintain our borders so as to secure the nation. Immigrants presently in the country without proper documentation should be provided, through law, opportunities to obtain legalization if they demonstrate good moral character. Earned legalization should be achievable and independently verifiable. (Catholic Bishops of Indiana)

Citizenship There should be a path to citizenship. I recall how much it meant to my dear parents to be American citizens. It was their great joy.

A personal note Almost 50 years ago a number of Cuban refugees came to this country. Msgr. Bill Lester acted as a kind of spiritual father to many of these young boys. Two became priests, and one is a bishop. Many others have become professional leaders in our community. They were refugees, and as such were here legally, and they found a warm welcome from the Catholic Church. It is a time to respect the great tradition of America, the land that has always welcomed the stranger. There are striking words on the Statute of Liberty to remind us. As Americans we should be faithful to this tradition. I am most grateful to the many priests, religious and laity among us for exercising spiritual ministry to those who have come to us from another land. Right now, we have one seminarian in Mexico studying Spanish; and another one who spent last summer in Mexico learning this beautiful language. We have three candidates who were born in Mexico. All this so that the word of God can be preached properly in our diocese. Future generations will wonder how we faced this pastoral problem. Let us face it with the spirit of Jesus Christ. Let us take seriously the words of Pope John Paul II.“The church in America must be a vigilant advocate, defending against any unjust restriction of the natural right of individual persons to move freely within their own nation and from one nation to another. Attention must be called to the rights of migrants and their families and to respect for their human dignity, even in cases of non-legal immigration.” — “Ecclesia in America,” apostolic letter, John Paul II, January 1999. Let us approach this deeply human problem with the eyes of faith. We can do no less.