The temptation of survival begins with fear in our hearts deceiving us that there are not enough jobs, resources, and food even though statistically we throw away half of our food every year. The spirits of fear and greed trick us into believing we are no longer safe, and we must protect and preserve all our goods against the “the strangers“ (Lev. 25:45) who appear different or as Fr. Gabriel Amorth (Vatican’s exorcist) explains,
“The demon’s ability to trick and introduce errors of the worst kind into entire groups is incredible. There are those who insist that it is easier to trick a crowd than a single individual. It is certain that the devil can strike very large groups; however, almost always it is clear that human assent is involved, the human sin of free acceptance of satanic actions. The motives of this acceptance are many: wealth, power, vice, and more.” (An Exorcist Tells His Story)
The temptation of survival withers the hearts and dreams of an entire nation, and it paralyzes with terror, panic, and anger leading us to build storage barns (Lk. 12:19) instead of sharing. The devil tricks us into thinking the end of our resources is inevitable, and it is either us, or “the stranger in a strange land” (Exodus 2:22) or as Pope Francis explains on Feb 2, 2017,
“The temptation of survival is an evil that can gradually take root within us and within our communities. The mentality of survival makes us reactionaries, fearful, slowly and silently shutting ourselves up in our houses and in our own preconceived notions. It makes us look back, to the glory days – days that are past… A survival mentality makes us want to protect spaces, buildings and structures, rather than to encourage new initiatives. The temptation of survival makes us forget grace. In a word, the temptation of survival turns what the Lord presents as an opportunity for mission into something dangerous, threatening, and potentially disastrous.”
Once the temptation of survival reaches its pinnacle, distrust and hate collects in our hearts like a virus towards the “strangers“ (Eph. 2:19) who are taking our provisions and jobs even though the latest research says otherwise. It now becomes a survival of the fittest mentality, and a blind frenzy ensues toward a road of isolation, banishment, and concentration camps. The evil spirits of fear, violence, and death grip the land and its people because this is not a normal wave of evil, but a great tsunami wave of “intrinsic evil [which are] violations of human dignity, such as acts of racism, and treating the poor as disposable,” (Forming Conscience for Faithful Citizenship paragraph #23) or as when God commands Moses, “There shall be one law for the native and for the stranger who sojourns among you.” (Exodus 12:49)
Historically, these spirits take over when we don’t pray and listen to the voice of the Church and our bishops (Bishops Along Northern Mexico And Texas Border Issue Statement On Immigration and Committee On Migration Chair Strongly Opposes Administration’s Announcement To Build A Wall At U.S.-Mexico Border, Increase Detention And Deportation Forces). This domino effect of evil occurs when we cooperate with fear, indifference, and most especially silence. Fr. Gabriel Amorth explains how listening to the wrong voice during grave times can have disastrous effects,
“It is possible for the demon to use one person to strike even a very large group—these groups can even take over or influence one or more nations. In our own times, I believe that this was the case of men such as Karl Marx, Hitler, and Stalin. The atrocities perpetrated by the Nazis, the horrors of communism, the slaughters of Stalin, for example, reached diabolic proportions.” (An Exorcist Tells His Story)
Photo of Martin Niemöller, a Protestant pastor
Martin Niemöller, a Protestant pastor jailed in a concentration camp, explains how evil takes over when Christians remain silent,
“First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist. Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did —not speak out — Because I was not a Trade Unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out — Because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.”
Are we there yet? Will “the practice of separating families through deportation,” (FC paragraph #52) unleash evil as happened in Germany? Will we create millions of orphans? Incidentally, immigrants have a much, much lower crime rate than the native born according to the latest research. Who will be next? Most probably the 3.3 million Muslims living in the U.S. since they too affect our survival as when Pharaoh felt threatened by the Hebrews and ordered the death of innocent children (Exodus 1:15-16).
Photo of 120,000 Japanese Americans in an internment (concentration camp) in California in 1942
Make no mistake Christians are next after these two groups! Throughout history, the devil’s most prized targets are the Christians beginning with Jesus, Mary, and Joseph fleeing as immigrants to Egypt since Herod was killing children sensing his survival in jeopardy. (Mt 2:13-15) The devil also hates Christians because we always speak out in defense of the weak and vulnerable, for Jesus will remind us when He returns, “I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me…” (Mt 25:35-36)
Flight Into Egypt – Artist Undetermined
We still have time as the great tsunami wave of “intrinsic evil,” has not fully hit since we are still divided as when Jesus says a father against son, mother-in-law against daughter in-law,…(Lk. 12:53). But, time is running out, so earnestly pray for the spiritual protection of our leaders, since they too, as any of us, can become victims, as, “The devil loves to take over business leaders and those who hold political office,” says Fr. Gabriel Amorth. (Maria Mensajera magazine, 2008) “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves,” (Proverbs 31:8) before it is too late, and there is no one left to speak for you.
St. John Paul II prophesied to America, “The ultimate test of your greatness is in the way you treat every human being, but especially the weakest and most defenseless ones.” Therefore, remind our governor, legislators, and the president what God declares, “You shall not wrong the stranger or oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt,” (Ex. 22:21) and “The stranger who sojourns with you shall be to you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself.” (Lev. 19:34)
Finally, remember that before our political party, patriotism, and citizenship, we are first Christian, and that as Christians, “An unjust immigration policy is a serious moral issue that challenges our consciences and requires us to act.” (FC paragraph #29)
Scriptures taken from Revised Standard Version Second Catholic Edition.
Thanks, Deacon, my own people were immigrants when it was “Irish Need Not Apply”. As a bakery foreman, I wanted immigrant workers because those nearest at hand came from a culture with the highest work-ethic I’ve ever seen. And another group is people of recent immigrant heritage who have worked hard and have been blessed with prosperity, the excess of which they owe after taking out the means of a decent, but not extravagant living.
Now those are the very people, whether or recent or more remote immigrant heritage, who are the very target of extremely wealthy elites which seek to render the populations of stable countries pliable and easy to govern. These elites employ extremely effective technicians of opinion persuasion, so adept at leaving no tracks that many of well-meaning people are responding to current moral challenges with a common reaction which has been pre-engineered.
A century ago, all our forbears underwent a challenge to the issue of private property and self-employment, which as Chesterton showed, is the most secure basis for maintaining a decent living which allows us to enjoy the exercise of charity, according to God’s challenge in Malachi 3:10
‘Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.’
Those elites which are so adept at opinion formation have not the slightest interest in accepting the Lord’s challenge.
And they are no friends of the Church.
While I agree with the good Deacon that we must treat everyone with the respect and dignity they deserve as a child of Christ, even foreigners here illegally, I do not think that our immigration policy is unjust. I’m not sure how you can say that is unjust considering we have one of the most liberal immigration policies worldwide. All the US asks is that people wishing to come to the US follow our entry laws, as does every other country around the world. We cannot just have open borders that people can cross willy nilly. Chaos would ensue. There has to be some semblance of order. The big question is: What is the best way to encourage legal immigration and discourage illegal immigration? If we don’t enforce the laws, we are tacitly encouraging illegal immigration. If there is no fear of the law, then there is no respect for the law and then no one adheres to the law and we are back to chaos. Another difficult question is how best to maintain respect and adherence to our immigration laws yet compassionately handle those who have entered illegally without incurring further disregard for the rules by others. By allowing some to break the law with no consequences, concern for those consequences is eroded. This is a very difficult question and one which I feel I am not qualified to answer but also feel an answer needs to be found. If the issue at hand is the ban on immigration from Muslim nations, then that is such a sticky issue. I do feel national security is important. I also look at the European nations and see how their identities are dissolving in the face of Muslim population growth. In 30 years or so a majority will be Muslim and Christianity, a long with all its historical sites and churches will be in danger of fading into historical memory. I see this also as a religious challenge as well as a national one. All one needs do is look to Europe to see our future. Honestly, that isn’t a picture I am comfortable with. Again, how do we address this as Christians? That will take much discernment, but in the meantime, I think caution is not a sin but a virtue.
The Crusades were a reaction to Moslem aggression and ruthless takeover of Europe. Why repeat that mistake? Why destroy our culture and civilization?
I am not sure what your response is implying. Are you for or against my points?
Oh I loved your post and was agreeing with you!👍
Only God knows the answer to all your concerns but we should interpret the sign of the times via the teachings from our Popes who are the Vicars of Christ here on earth and who have the ability to see with the eyes of Jesus as Pope Benedict XVI explains. “One of the recognizable signs of the times today is undoubtedly migration, a phenomenon which during the century just ended can be said to have taken on structural characteristics, becoming an important factor of the labour market worldwide, a consequence among other things of the enormous drive of globalization. Naturally in this “sign of the times” various factors play a part. They include both national and international migration, forced and voluntary migration, legal and illegal migration, subject also to the scourge of trafficking in human beings… Speaking of the other category of migrants – asylum seekers and refugees – I wish to underline how the tendency is to stop at the question of their arrival while disregarding the reasons for which they left their native land. The Church sees this entire world of suffering and violence through the eyes of Jesus, who was moved with pity at the sight of the crowds wandering as sheep without a shepherd (cf. Mt 9: 36). Hope, courage, love and “”creativity’ in charity” (Apostolic Letter Novo Millennio Ineunte, n. 50) must inspire the necessary human and Christian efforts made to help these brothers and
sisters in their suffering.” Oct. 18, 2005
Hypothetically, following this logic to its most radical extent…we should just ship all peoples from all nations that are suffering for whatever reason (persecution, famine, poor living conditions, civil war, desire for a better life, etc.) and let them all into the US in an effort to alleviate their suffering. This doesn’t seem like a logical answer. At some point we have to realize we cannot solve all the problems of the world. We cannot just move peoples from place to place and think that will solve the problems. Sure it might for a select few but for the most part we are all casualties of our sinful human nature. There is no amount of immigration that will solve this dilemma. Do I have compassion for asylum seekers? Yes absolutely! Do I think the US should be responsible for taking them ALL in? Not necessarily. Who would be left anywhere else with the condition of humanity being as it is? If everyone from a 2nd or 3rd world country moved to a 1st world country seeking a better life, or for whatever reason, what would the world then look like? These are simply rhetorical questions for pondering not necessarily answering but feel free if you feel the need.
These are great hypothetically questions in which one can look at the “radical extent” you mention. The Church does not advocate that the people from the third world move to the first world countries. I am not an expert in this complex world issue affecting everyone plus it has many variables depending on the region, but I know what the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches, “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.” (2241)
I think the key word here are “to the extent they are able”. Your post implies that we are fearful here in the US of foreigners using up all our resources, so who decides “to the extent we are able”? We have an overtaxed welfare system, and educational system that cannot keep up with the ESL students much less give a good education to our own citizens, Medicare that can’t keep up with demand, etc. Our social service sector of government cannot keep up with all the peoples needing services. We cannot even provide adequate services to our own poorer citizens much less to those from other countries. I am not implying that there isn’t adequate monies in the US to fund those services, simply that those who have that money are not willing to part with their excess to support it without being taxed (aka: forced). I don’t think forcing people to part with their money by taxation to help the poor is the answer. The upper echelons have always been greedy (thats how they got there) and throughout history have always been there but I think in the past have been more generous with their gifts. With more and more people losing the faith they dont see why the should be charitable. They don’t see what they have as coming from God so why give back. This is the perpetual problem with humanity.
I agree. Well stated!
Why is it that the bleeding hearts never focus on the needy within our own country but choose to be the champions of illegal immigrants?
Another potent argument I have see is this: How is it fair that we who work all our lives, paying taxes and paying into social security have to sit by and watch as immigrants who haven’t paid into the system can come here and immediately reap the benefits?
I am all for charity, but I never appointed the government as the arbiter of my charity.
….And the celebrities and mega-rich who seem to come down on the side of the illegal immigrants, muslims, and whatever the cause of the day may be, can very easily solve all of the related problems with their own wallets if they were so inclined.
There is a lot of misinformation out there, but this is what the Catholic Church teaches on the value they bring, “297. Immigration can be a resource for development rather than an obstacle to it. In the modern world, where there are still grave inequalities between rich countries and poor countries, and where advances in communications quickly reduce distances, the immigration of people looking for a better life is on the increase. These people come from less privileged areas of the earth and their arrival in developed countries is often perceived as a threat to the high levels of well-being achieved thanks to decades of economic growth. In most cases, however, immigrants fill a labour need which would otherwise remain unfilled in sectors and territories where the local workforce is insufficient or unwilling to engage in the work in question.” Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church.
You are absolutely right and no one has disputed these facts. But notice the use of the word “immigration”. Most people are not against immigration. They are against illegal immigration. I am against people breaking the law, taking it upon themselves to enter the country without permission ahead of those who have done the work to come here legally. Any other country would kick you out no matter how long you have been there. No other country has amnesty or ignores peoples in their country that are not there lawfully.
The Church does not promote illegal immigration; however, the Church does understand some circumstances in which a person is forced to flee to another country for the sake of saving his life or as Pope Benedict XVI explains, “Certainly every state has the right to regulate migration and to enact policies dictated by the general requirements of the common good, albeit always in safeguarding respect for the dignity of each human person. The right of persons to migrate – as the Council’s Constitution Gaudium et Spes, No. 65, recalled – is numbered among the fundamental human rights, allowing persons to settle wherever they consider best for the realization of their abilities, aspirations and plans. In the current social and political context, however, even before the right to migrate, there is need to reaffirm the right not to emigrate, that is, to remain in one’s homeland; as Blessed John Paul II stated: “It is a basic human right to live in one’s own country. However this rights become effective only if the factors that urge people to emigrate are constantly kept under control” (Address to the Fourth World Congress on the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Refugees, 9 October 1998). Today in fact we can see that many migrations are the result of economic instability, the lack of essential goods, natural disasters, wars and social unrest. Instead of a pilgrimage filled with trust, faith and hope, migration then becomes an ordeal undertaken for the sake of survival, where men and women appear more as victims than as agents responsible for the decision to migrate.” October 12, 2012
I have also seen video interviews of muslim immigrants who want sharia law here in the US.
We have racist groups like La Raza who think they will claim part of the US for Mexico once they outnumber the “gringos”.
Brutal, evil, gangs like MS-13 have their claws in every metropolitan area of the country.
That’s the reality of illegal immigration.
Again, we have enough of our own poor in this country. Helping them is every bit as Christian as helping immigrants.
The whole argument of them doing work nobody wants to do is a tired old argument. So they’re only good for crappy jobs nobody wants??
That’s the ultimate deciding factor for letting them in? Sounds like you don’t think very highly of them if that’s your go-to answer.
The reality is that they come here and the majority of them just add to the numbers of the unemployed, benefit-taking poor.
Do I have to drive around a few of their neighborhoods with a video camera to show you how hard-working they are?
May this church document that St. John Paul II approved help with your concerns.
“15. In the foreigner a Christian sees not simply a neighbour, but the face of Christ Himself, who was born in a manger and fled into Egypt, where he was a foreigner, summing up and repeating in His own life the basic experience of His people (cf. Mt 2:13ff). Born away from home and coming from another land (cf. Lk 2:4-7), “he came to dwell among us” (cf. Jn 1:11,14) and spent His public life on the move, going through towns and villages (cf. Lk 13:22; Mt 9:35). After His resurrection, still a foreigner and unknown, He appeared on the way to Emmaus to two of His disciples, who only recognised Him at the breaking of the bread (cf. Lk 24:35). So Christians are followers of a man on the move “who has nowhere to lay his head (Mt 8:20; Lk 9:58)”8.
In the same way Mary, the Mother of Jesus, can be equally well contemplated as a living symbol of the woman emigrant.She gave birth to her Son away from home (cf. Lk 2:1-7) and was compelled to flee to Egypt (cf. Mt 2:13-14). Popular devotion is right to consider Mary as the Madonna of the Way.”
http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/migrants/documents/rc_pc_migrants_doc_20040514_erga-migrantes-caritas-christi_en.html
Maybe the church can focus on lecturing the leaders of those countries that our illegal immigrants are running from on the Christian ways of treating people.
I’m sure there are plenty of low paying, low skill jobs they can do in their own countries if only the government there could be told to be nicer to them.
“Maybe the church can focus on lecturing the leaders of those countries that our illegal immigrants are running from on the Christian ways of treating people.”
You craft your assumptions in ways so intentionally vague they are impossible for reality to dispute…. What countries? What Leaders? The reality is Catholics leaders try to reform governments all over the world and get martyred all over the world. But your implied argument is that you need not perform charity as long as suffering is the result of someone else’s sin. I won’t convince you today but clearly the Church disagrees.
Mexico, The entirety of South and Central America. You know, where most ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS are coming from.
Sorry for not naming them all. I foolishly assumed that
most people wouldn’t require the names of the countries for the point to be considered valid.
http://www.crs.org/our-work-overseas/where-we-work
Good News! You were concerned Catholic leaders were not working with the leaders of those country …but… funny thing, The CRS works in all of the areas you have named. AND HERES HOW YOU CAN HELP
http://www.crs.org/ways-to-give
How about YOU go help. I’m content with the charitable work I already do and I am happy with the actions of our president in trying to get control back over our borders.
I never said I was looking to help.
True enough. Google “Aquinas on immigrants” and see how brilliantly he balances the duty to charity to the stranger with the duty to preserve a nation’s unity and security. I am annoyed that more Church leaders do not talk about St Thomas Aquinas’ logic in dealing with these conflicting duties. I suppose they are ignorant of him ! Thanks goodness for the internet to look up what Aquinas says. He also says that any person should have the right to leave one country; but that they do not automatically have the right to enter another.
While you’re at it, look up “Aquinas on Islam”. Inspired good sense.
I love St. Thomas Aquinas and I often pass on his teachings. He is a great doctor of the church, but he is far from infallible. He got it wrong on many issues like the Immaculate Conception and when human life begins. His comments are good for his time but they are not more relevant than our present popes who are the Vicars of Christ here on earth. Please see what Pope Francis says, “Migration today is not a phenomenon limited to some areas of the planet. It affects all continents and is growing into a tragic situation of global proportions. Not only does this concern those looking for dignified work or better living conditions, but also men and women, the elderly and children, who are forced to leave their homes in the hope of finding safety, peace and security. Children are the first among those to pay the heavy toll of emigration, almost always caused by violence, poverty, environmental conditions, as well as the negative aspects of globalization. The unrestrained competition for quick and easy profit brings with it the cultivation of perverse scourges such as child trafficking, the exploitation and abuse of minors and, generally, the depriving of rights intrinsic to childhood as sanctioned by the International Convention on the Rights of the Child… And yet among migrants, children constitute the most vulnerable group, because as they face the life ahead of them, they are invisible and voiceless: their precarious situation deprives them of documentation, hiding them from the world’s eyes; the absence of adults to accompany them prevents their voices from being raised and heard. In this way, migrant children easily end up at the lowest levels of human degradation, where illegality and violence destroy the future of too many innocents, while the network of child abuse is difficult to break up.
How should we respond to this reality?
Firstly, we need to become aware that the phenomenon of migration is not unrelated to salvation history, but rather a part of that history. One of God’s commandments is connected to it: “You shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt” (Ex 22:21); “Love the sojourner therefore; for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt” (Deut 10:19). This phenomenon constitutes a sign of the times, a sign which speaks of the providential work of God in history and in the human community, with a view to universal communion. While appreciating the issues, and often the suffering and tragedy of migration, as too the difficulties connected with the demands of offering a dignified welcome to these persons, the Church nevertheless encourages us to recognize God’s plan. She invites us to do this precisely amidst this phenomenon, with the certainty that no one is a stranger in the Christian community, which embraces “every nation, tribe, people and tongue” (Rev 7:9). Each person is precious; persons are more important than things, and the worth of an institution is measured by the way it treats the life and dignity of human beings, particularly when they are vulnerable, as in the case of child migrants.” Sept. 8, 2016
“He is a great doctor of the church, but he is far from infallible. He got it wrong on many issues like the Immaculate Conception and when
human life begins. His comments are good for his time but they are not more relevant than our present popes who are the Vicars of Christ here
on earth.”
“…as sanctioned by the International Convention on the Rights of the Child…
These statements, and others you make, trouble me. Your initial premise seemed OK and had some elements of truth. But it is not the full truth. These statements smack of the “social justice” dogma. No where in your article did you address the primary goal of the Church is to help get souls to heaven. And to do this requires a change of heart of that soul, repentance, amendment of life, availability and partaking of the sacraments and trying to live a holy life. No where in the Church is “social justice” listed as a sacrament. Social justice is trying to build a heaven on earth and this is not what Christ was teaching.
The hearts of souls have to be converted to the one true Faith. Your disregarding St. Thomas Aquinas as ‘only for his times’ is deeply disturbing and tells me you did not receive a full traditional education. In fact, your words hint of a disregard for the traditional teachings of the Faith, those teachings, especially of St. Thomas. It was St. Thomas’ philosophy which the Church relies on for the substance of Her teachings.
NOT Teilhard de Chardin, who sullied the Church with his New Age philosophy. (and who Pope Francis loves….)
I fear your “education” is that of the modernist thinking, which is to think that our times are so different to warrant a new way of thinking…a new philosophy and ‘doctrine’, hence a new Faith.
This is dangerous thinking leads many souls to hell. I’m sorry, but Pope Francis doesn’t quantify his statements with teachings of the Church. He is ambiguous and leaves his “teachings” hanging on personal opinion and innuendo…..the “who am I to judge” kind.
Please re-read Ecclesiates Chp 1 vs 1-15
“…there is nothing new under the sun.’
The title of this article seemed interesting. I first thought it might be about the temptations of people to hang on to material things, to hoard, overly “prep”, as if some catastrophe is coming. And that we should focus on the eternal life, our eternal soul and not worry so much about the temporal things which might hinder our spiritual life. But as I read, it became apparent that your focus is on the temporal life.
One last thing. The Holy Family were not
immigrants. They only stayed in Egypt until the danger to the Infant was passed, and they then returned to their native land. They did work and contribute in their host country, and probably assimilated as much as they could. But they did not riot, protest, demand welfare, and the myriad of other things current illegal immigrants are encouraged to do. So if you are using the Holy Family as models, then please get the story correct.
There are of course opportunities for spreading and living the gospel of Christ and the teachings of the Church by helping those people who are escaping from dangers, persecution and death in their own lands. But this article never addresses the development of our SOUL, that part of us which lives forever. And only through the valid teachings and sacraments of the Church will that ever happen. We can’t help others if we can’t help ourselves.
Hear, Hear !
My charity donations go to “Aid to the Church in Need,” not CAFOD, which is problematic inasmuch as it allies with agencies on the ground who do not respect Catholic teaching on birth control and abortion. The Bishops have said before that they “fixed it” (but didn’t) so I don’t trust them nor the on-the-ground agencies they are too ready to ally with. [Disclaimer: I am an American living in England]
CAFOD are very cagy about letting you find out who administers your money– this lack of transparency itself is suspect.
The prudent thing to do is support refugees in the nearest safe place to their country so that when stability is restored, they can more easily and speedily return. That’s a strategy I think Aquinas would approve, so that’s what I do.
Aquinas I trust. There are too many modernist bishops around telling me what to do; but I have done my homework, so I am not misled by them.
As for the Pope, I obey him when he accords with unchanging Dogma; and I don’t, when he talks rubbish. AND, (as retired teachers tend to) I warn my neighbours who may not be as well informed as I am. This makes me enemies of the “papolators”; but one of the spiritual works of mercy is to enlighten the ignorant and counsel the doubtful, which I do even if it wins me no popularity contests.
OK so you follow Pope Francis sometimes, but will you follow St. John Paul II “all the time” in this church document he personally approved?
“14. We can therefore consider the present-day phenomenon of migration a significant “sign of the times”, a challenge to be discovered and utilised in our work to renew humanity and proclaim the gospel of peace. The Holy Scriptures show us clearly what all this means. Israel traced its origins back to Abraham, who in obedience to God’s call left his home and went to a foreign land, taking with him the divine Promise that he would become the father “of a great nation” (Gn 12:1-2). Jacob, a wandering Aramaen, “went down into Egypt with a small household and lived there as an alien. But there he became a nation, great, strong and numerous” (Dt 26:5). After its long servitude in Egypt Israel received its solemn investiture as the “People of God” during its forty-year “Exodus” through the desert. The hard test of migration and deportation is therefore fundamental to the story of the chosen people in view of the salvation of all peoples: Israel knew the return from exile (cf. Is 42:6-7; 49:5). With these memories it could take new heart in its trust in God, even in the darkest moments of its history (Ps 105 [104]: 12-15; Ps 106 [105]: 45-47).With regard to the foreigner living in the country, the Law enjoins the same commandment on Israel as applies to “the children of your people” (Lv 19:18), that is, “you must … love him as yourself” (Lv 19:34).
http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/migrants/documents/rc_pc_migrants_doc_20040514_erga-migrantes-caritas-christi_en.html
I see nothing in my rationale for charity to the stranger which is in conflict withJohn Paul’s document. . I do indeed love the stranger as I love myself. And how do I love myself? I obey the laws of the place where I live, and equally expect the same of others.
I am an American living in a foreign country. I obey the laws of the country I live in (UK). 5 years ago there was an unfortunate accident about a lapse in renewing my temporary “right to remain certificate” ( I forgot to renew it by the deadline) and immigration officers came to my house and held me for 48 hours.
I was upset of course, but I never said the immigration officers were wrong in arresting me. I was about to be deported to the last place I had lived in the USA, to the distress of me and my family; however I never presumed that I was here under any terms than the country I was living in. The matter was straightened out at the last minute, fortunately because I had done some volunteer work here, and this showed the judge that I really cared about my community, not just myself and my family. But even if they had deported me, I never complained that I had no “rights” here– except according to the laws of the country I asked to live in. There was no “requirement” for them to take me permanently. [As it happened, eventually they did– I have permanent leave to remain, and to apply for citizenship]
I have no problem with this, even if it is not in my favour. A country has the right to decide if an immigrant is desirable or undesirable.
St. John Paul II explains how Jesus would respond to the illegal immigrant, “Man, particularly if he is weak, defenceless, driven to the margins of society, is a sacrament of Christ’s presence (cf. Mt 25:40, 45). ‘But this crowd, who do not know the law, are accursed’ (Jn 7:49), was how the Pharisees judged those whom Jesus had helped even beyond the limits established by their precepts. Indeed, he came to seek and to save the lost (cf. Lk 19:10), to bring back the excluded, the abandoned, those rejected by society. ‘I was a stranger and you welcomed me’ (Mt 25:35). It is the Church’s task not only to present constantly the Lord’s teaching of faith but also to indicate its appropriate application to the various situations which the changing times continue to create. Today the illegal migrant comes before us like that ‘stranger’ in whom Jesus asks to be recognized. To welcome him and to show him solidarity is a duty of hospitality and fidelity to Christian identity itself.” July 25 1995
I ‘m pleased to see that you agree with me.
STUDIORUM DUCEM (On St. Thomas Aquinas)
Pope Pius XI
Encyclical promulgated on 29 June 1923
“…He also composed a substantial moral theology, capable of directing all human acts in accordance with the supernatural last end of man. And as he is, as We have said, the perfect theologian, so he gives infallible rules and precepts of life not only for individuals, but also for civil and domestic society which is the object also of moral science, both economic and politic.
Hence those superb chapters in the second part of the Summa Theologica on paternal or domestic government, the lawful power of the State or the nation, natural and international law, peace and war, justice and property, laws and the obedience they command, the duty of helping individual citizens in their need and co-operating with all to secure the prosperity of the State, both in the natural and the supernatural order.
If these precepts were religiously and inviolably observed in private life and public affairs, and in the duties of mutual obligation between nations, nothing else would be required to secure mankind that “peace of Christ in the Kingdom of Christ” which the world so ardently longs for.
It is therefore to be wished that the teachings of Aquinas, more particularly his exposition of international law and the laws governing the mutual relations of peoples, became more and more studied, for it contains the foundations of a genuine “League of Nations.”…”
********************
It’s quite clear that Pope Pius XI envisaged during his Magisterium the Church playing a critical role in what he called “the pacification of society” by means of greatly enhanced evangelism and a resurrection of Christian morals in private and public life, that would result in a “genuine League of Nations” when the Kingship of Christ was eventually recognised by all.
That Aquinas was incorrect on the Immaculate Conception etc is immaterial as Those questions had not yet been defined, and at the time he wrote it was not a heresy to speculate–and be wrong– on them. St Thomas made it quite clear that 1) he deferred always to the judgment of the Church on his writings and 2) he was using the best science of his day to support some of his positions; but it is unarguable that St Thomas would endorse the best modern science to correct his erroneous speculations on the time at which the soul entered the foetus, etc.
The Pope who in this encyclical endorses the teaching of Aquinas for sure and infallible guidance on matters of migration, nationalism, etc was not ignorant of the doubts you had raised (concerning the immaculate conception & when the soul enters a foetus) about the prudence of Taking Aquinas as a sure “Social Justice” guide to determine how any individual or state should deal with the vexed questions arising from our current phenemon of mass migration (most of it Muslim) to Europe etc.
Since you have issues with Pope Francis, here is a quote from a church document that St. John Paul II approved.
“101. The “foreigner” is God’s messenger who surprises us and interrupts the regularity and logic of daily life, bringing near those who are far away. In “foreigners” the Church sees Christ who “pitches His tent among us” (cf. Jn 1:14) and who “knocks at our door” (cf. Ap 3:20)… May the Virgin Mother, who together with her Blessed Son knew the pain of emigration and exile, help us to understand the experience, and very often the drama, of those who are compelled to live far from their homeland, and teach us to serve them in their necessities, truly accepting them as brothers and sisters, so that today’s migrations may be considered a call, albeit a mysterious one, to the Kingdom of God, which is already present in His Church, its beginning (cf. LG 9), and an instrument of Providence to further the unity of the human family and peace.
http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/migrants/documents/rc_pc_migrants_doc_20040514_erga-migrantes-caritas-christi_en.html
I’m wondering at this point if you have an affinity for Father Jim Carney.
I must admit that I had to look him up to know whom you were speaking about. All I can do is repeat the Church’s teaching via St. John Paul II, “In the light of this Revelation, the Church, Mother and Teacher, works so that every person’s dignity is respected, the immigrant is welcomed as a brother or sister, and all humanity forms a united family which knows how to appreciate with discernment the different cultures which comprise it. In Jesus, God came seeking human hospitality. This is why he makes the willingness to welcome others in love a characteristic virtue of believers. He chose to be born into a family that found no lodging in Bethlehem (cf. Lk 2: 7) and experienced exile in Egypt (cf. Mt 2: 14). Jesus, who “had nowhere to lay his head” (Mt 8: 20), asked those he met for hospitality. To Zacchaeus he said: “I must stay at your house today” (Lk 19: 5). He even compared himself to a foreigner in need of shelter: “I was a stranger and you welcomed me” (Mt 25: 35). In sending his disciples out on mission, Jesus makes the hospitality they will enjoy an act that concerns him personally: “He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives him who sent me” (Mt 10: 40). November 21,1999.
“Why is it that the bleeding hearts never focus on the needy within our own country but choose to be the champions of illegal immigrants? Another potent argument”
…I no one going to say it…. ok fine even in Charity call a snake is a snake. You made an irrational ad hominem attack on a straw man. I don’t know of whom to ascribe this strawman too but you will note that Catholic Charities does in fact serve the needy in this country. So your attack on the Catholic Bishops, Catholic Charities and Catholics whom support them is factually inaccurate. If it were factually accurate it wouldn’t make a difference about the argument at hand. Weather something is right and just has nothing to do with the sin or perfection of the person you are arguing with. You talk as if you are waiting for some perfect sinless Son of God to speak to you of how to treat the stranger before you feel bound to act… You are only fooling yourself…
“How is it fair that we who work all our lives, paying taxes and paying into social security have to sit by and watch as immigrants who haven’t paid into the system can come here and immediately reap the benefits?”
It’s a tough teaching sometimes but nothing in our morality is based on fairness. We start from the conception that we are all sinners in need of grace. You start from the supposition that the system owes you something for your payment to Cesar. We wish to construct a immigration system based on what is just and true (and have the audacity to use a Biblical standard to build it on)… We also wish to construct a system of welfare bases on what is just and true… This will require a contribution from you. Are you saying asking your contribution makes it invalid?
“I am all for charity,”
I hate when people start that way. I am not your judge. But you are not your own judge either. Take no false authority from this.
“….And the celebrities and mega-rich who seem to come down on the side of the illegal immigrants, muslims, and whatever the cause of the day may be, can very easily solve all of the related problems with their own wallets if they were so inclined.”
That’s debatable. But when Jesus asked for Charity he accepted it from the begger who gave two pence. There is no income bracket which is exempt from what Jesus asked of us.
“I hate when people start that way”
I know what you mean. I hate when people parse an entire post so they can show off their spelling and grammar prowess.
nevermind
This is an answer to the first comment made by Kirry. These are good questions to a complex issue. Pope Benedict XVI sheds much light on how to view this issue, “Looking at the Holy Family of Nazareth, icon of all families, I would like to invite you to reflect on the condition of the migrant family. The evangelist Matthew narrates that shortly after the birth of Jesus, Joseph was forced to leave for Egypt by night, taking the child and his mother with him, in order to flee the persecution of king Herod (cf. Mt 2:13-15). Making a comment on this page of the Gospel, my venerable Predecessor, the Servant of God Pope Pius XII, wrote in 1952: “The family of Nazareth in exile, Jesus, Mary and Joseph, emigrants and taking refuge in Egypt to escape the fury of an evil king, are the model, the example and the support of all emigrants and pilgrims of every age and every country, of all refugees of any condition who, compelled by persecution and need, are forced to abandon their homeland, their beloved relatives, their neighbors, their dear friends, and move to a foreign land” (Exsul familia, AAS 44, 1952, 649). In this misfortune experienced by the Family of Nazareth, obliged to take refuge in Egypt, we can catch a glimpse of the painful condition in which all migrants live, especially, refugees, exiles, evacuees, internally displaced persons, those who are persecuted. We can take a quick look at the difficulties that every migrant family lives through, the hardships and humiliations, the deprivation and fragility of millions and millions of migrants, refugees and internally displaced people. The Family of Nazareth reflects the image of God safeguarded in the heart of every human family, even if disfigured and weakened by emigration.” Oct. 18, 2006
Nonsense. They did not emigrate illegally to Egypt permanently.
And the Holy Family went back to their native home, once the danger had passed. They didn’t stay in Egypt permanently. And one could argue, they weren’t immigrants at all, but only visitors for a time.
Since you consider yourself a traditionalist will you accept what Pope Pius XII said in 1952 about the status of holy family in Egypt?
“The family of Nazareth in exile, Jesus, Mary and Joseph, emigrants and taking refuge in Egypt to escape the fury of an evil king, are the model, the example and the support of all emigrants and pilgrims of every age and every country, of all refugees of any condition who, compelled by persecution and need, are forced to abandon their homeland, their beloved relatives, their neighbors, their dear friends, and move to a foreign land” (Pope Pius XII Exsul familia, AAS 44, 1952, 649).
read more:
http://www.papalencyclicals.net/Pius12/p12exsul.htm
Great!!! But why did you leave out the rest?
You only quoted the first paragraph and left out the most important parts. And, this encyclical is addressing the migrants and emigrants of the Catholic religion. The primary goal of Church is to take care of the SOUL of the person, then the temporal needs.
Throughout Pope Pius XII comments on the pastoral requirements of the Church: to tend to the spiritual needs of the person, in which he goes into great detail. The sacraments are to be made available, the Mass be made available (the the persons’/groups’ language and rite) and priests are to accompany and console the people. They are to help with a myriad of charity and in most cases organize the charitable services. But the primary goal of the Church is to save the person’s soul.
And lets not forget that the goal of Catholic priests and missionaries in their work with emigrants and migrants–local or foreign-was to convert souls to the Catholic Faith.
2nd paragraph on:
“For the almighty and most merciful
God decreed that His only Son, “being made like unto men and appearing in the
form of a man,” should, together with His Immaculate Virgin Mother and His holy
guardian Joseph, be in this type too of hardship and grief, the firstborn among
many brethren, and precede them in it.
“In order that this example and these
consoling thoughts would not grow dim but rather offer refugees and migrants a
comfort in their trials, and foster Christian hope, the Church had to look after
them with special care and unremitting aid. She sought to preserve intact in
them the Faith of their fathers and a way of life that conformed to the moral
law. She also had to contend strenuously with numerous difficulties, previously
unknown and unforeseeable, which were encountered abroad. Above all, it was
necessary to combat the evil work of those perverse men who, alas, associated
with migrants under the pretext of bringing material aid, but with the intent of
damaging their souls.
How serious and grave would be the
reasons for anxiety and anguish had the Church’s spiritual care been lacking or
found wanting in the past or the present! The disasters would have been more
lamentable than those of the tragic days of St Augustine! Then, the Bishop of
Hippo insistently urged his priests not to leave their flocks without pastors
during the oppressive catastrophes. He reminded them what benefits their
presence would bring and what havoc would inevitably follow if their flocks were
abandoned.
When the priests are absent, what
ruin for those who must leave this world either unbaptized or still chained by
sin! What sadness for their friends, who will not have them as companions in the
repose of eternal life! What grief for all, and whet blasphemy by some, due to
the absence of the priest and of his ministry.
One can readily understand what the
dread of passing evils can do, and what great eternal evil follows! On the other
hand, when the priests are at their posts they help everyone with all the
strength the Lord has given them. Some are baptized, others make their peace
with God. None is deprived of receiving the Body of Christ in Communion; all are
consoled, edified and urged to pray to God, Who can wand off all dangers!”
Throughout the whole encyclical, Pope Pius XII emphasizes the care of the person’s soul and the availability of the Mass and Sacraments.
From your article:
“But, time is running out, so earnestly
pray for the spiritual protection of our leaders, since they too, as any
of us, can become victims, as, “The devil loves to take over business leaders and those who hold political office,” says Fr. Gabriel Amorth.
Do you believe President Trump has been taken over by the devil? Do you believe that leaders of the Catholic Church have been as well?
Our bishops are the apostles here on earth, or St. Ignatius of Antioch said, “Wherever the bishop appears, there let the people be; as wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church.” Here is Archbishop Charles Chaput a day ago, “For immigrants and refugees now in the United States, or who hope to come here in the near future, recent weeks have been a steady diet of anxiety and confusion. The legal struggle over travel bans on immigrants from various nations has disrupted the plans of thousands who seek to come here for all sorts of reasons, including escape from persecution and reunion with family members already here.
Stepped up detention and deportation efforts against undocumented persons have the potential of tearing families apart and traumatizing children caught in the middle. Parents have resorted to diversionary measures, taking different routes to work or school each day, avoiding any stores where police are often present, even changing their appearance or swapping cars to avoid being easily noticed.
We’ve seen both mass demonstrations of support for those adversely affected, and strengthened resolve by those who want tighter immigration restrictions. Good people — a lot of them — exist on both sides, and we need to resist the temptation to demonize the motives of those with whom we disagree.
The ensuing polarization among the general populace has uncovered deep divisions among Catholics who find themselves at odds with family, friends, colleagues and fellow parishioners.
Immigration policy is complex. It involves many competing values, among them the duty of government to ensure the security of U.S. citizens and legal residents.
That responsibility must be balanced with our country’s long history of welcoming newcomers, especially those fleeing persecution. The U.S. bishops have repeatedly called for deep immigration reform aimed at meeting both goals. We need to pray that our leaders exercise the good judgment needed to come to a reasonable solution to the current impasse, and soon.” March 17, 2017
Don’t know about Trump, but I’m sure Hillary is under demonic influence if not possession which is why I voted against her. Trump said he was anti-Planned Parenthood,
Hillary was all for throwing tons of money at it. For a good Catholic, this election, however bizarre, was a no-brainer: vote for the lesser of two evils.
I agree with you Deacon. I have watched documentaries on illegal immigrants and their plight and have cried imagining it to be my family. They have my sympathies believe me but we need to have laws on the ways to regulate the people wanting to move here. This issue cannot be ignored at the expense of other issues at hand. We cannot just let everyone in without order. Bureaucracy is the enemy, not me, or others that think like me. Its the system that’s broken but that doesn’t mean people can disregard order or the rule of law. Render unto Caesar what is Caesars. Even Jesus tells us we must pay our dues, even if we think them unfair, if that is the law.
Your comment of “Render to Caesar what is Caesars,” bring to mind Pope France words on resources and migrants, “The courage born of faith, hope and love enables us to reduce the distances that separate us from human misery. Jesus Christ is always waiting to be recognized in migrants and refugees, in displaced persons and in exiles, and through them he calls us to share our resources, and occasionally to give up something of our acquired riches. Pope Paul VI spoke of this when he said that ‘the more fortunate should renounce some of their rights so as to place their goods more generously at the service of others'” Sept. 3, 2014
well said.
Justice really can’t be measured by measuring our behavior against the behavior of other countries. This is a quick way to get trapped in worldly values. Ultimately our goal is to measure our justice in relation to how far we fall short in the kingdom of heaven. But a more simple pragmatic approach is to take a compassionate look at the out comes of people effected most by our institutions. I held a two year old girl fleeing from South America with a burn on her back the size of strawberry our immigration system gave her no certain path to a stable future. That is what injustice looks like… pure and simple. It has NOTHING to do with what I am willing to give. It has NOTHING to do with what I can give. It is something that could only exist in a fallen sin filled world. That should be recognized as what it is before we evaluate ways to fix it. I am curious from your comments just what your knowledge is of the immigration system in this country and how you believe it works. I think you would be hard pressed to find a immigration attorney that believes the immigration system in our country isn’t broken. Sometimes our “system” can be unjust even when our laws might seem compassionate. Take again the 2 year old child. She got into this country by turning herself (well her mother) directly over to boarder patrol and pleading asylumn. Border patrol ruled she has a perfectly legal basis to plead “asylumn” but a judge would have to hear her case. The problem is… we don’t have any judges to hear her case. The state of TX will not set asside funds for that. So she hasn’t broken the spirit of the law, but Texas did. And now she is undocumented. Or as you call her “illegal” The Bishops call for “Comprehensive” immigration reform. Read make a sensible path to citizenship and then enforce immigration law. You seem to disagree with the Bishops in that you seem to suggest the just sensible path already exists. In practice it does not.
The Muslime question is secondary but I think this goes to the heart of what Deacon was talking about and what I agree with. Its a hard teaching but as Christians we are asked to be hopeful because God has won. Not because of what we hear (or don’t hear) on TV. And God asks us to act out our hope. So do you really believe Christianity will almost fall in 30 years? Then you have already lost hope. Fear wont lead you in the right direction. The Church isn’t on the verge of eminent defeat. Not in our generation or the next!
Personally I note that the vast majority of immigrants to Our Country… are Catholic. So what is happening in Europe is a poor comparison. They are an ocean away. That is a very different population. God grants some the grace of Hope. And some the grace of Prophecy. Don’t be pulled in by the talking heads who have been given neither grace.
Unfortunately your post that alerted my e-mail in response to another comment didn’t show up but I will address those issues here. If you had read any of my other posts you would know that I agree that the system is broken but that doesn’t mean that the law can be disregarded. I am not sure what the solution to this issue is except a reformed immigration policy which is what I am hopeful our new president will accomplish. I want those whose need is greatest to get the asylum they need but I am not a politician or expert of any kind or in a position to make a solution possible. If you feel so passionately about it, get on board trying to be part of the solution, if you aren’t already. I am a full time home schooling mom with a special needs child. I don’t have time at this juncture in my life to give time for anything besides my family. Although, at times, I really wish that were not the case but I have resigned myself to the fact that this is my vocation for the time being and as the seasons of my life change so will my ability to be an advocate of change. I feel the best I can do at this point is pray and fast for the ills of the world hope for God to intervene. I have not lost hope.
Census figures confirm that Under Obama, 100,000 Muslims a year were allowed to immigrate to the USA. They are entitled to become citizens, and claim benefits. I think Obama has let in 23 or so Christians.
There are several closed, militarised Muslim enclaves (“training camps”) around the USA. St Thomas Aquinas would have said this was imprudent and negligent to let in people who are not properly vetted and have not demonstrated loyalty to the American Constitution and respect for its culture.
Prudence requires one to make a accurate assessment of risks. I’m going to drop some knowledge on you and teach you how to sight a source! ->
http://bigthink.com/paul-ratner/what-are-the-chances-of-being-killed-by-a-terrorist-attack-on-us-soil
http://www.snopes.com/toddlers-killed-americans-terrorists/
BAN TODDLERS!!!
In all of your replies, you are only dropping spelling and grammar bombs, not knowledge.
Arguing with you seems to be a losing battle because you don’t even know or understand the language you are arguing in.
…and since when has CITING snopes.com been considered “knowledge” or, at laughable best, a source?
Snopes is a notorious left-wing sympathy site.
Kirry, may this church document that St. John Paul II approved help with the concerns you mention:
“15. In the foreigner a Christian sees not simply a neighbour, but the face of Christ Himself, who was born in a manger and fled into Egypt, where he was a foreigner, summing up and repeating in His own life the basic experience of His people (cf. Mt 2:13ff). Born away from home and coming from another land (cf. Lk 2:4-7), “he came to dwell among us” (cf. Jn 1:11,14) and spent His public life on the move, going through towns and villages (cf. Lk 13:22; Mt 9:35). After His resurrection, still a foreigner and unknown, He appeared on the way to Emmaus to two of His disciples, who only recognised Him at the breaking of the bread (cf. Lk 24:35). So Christians are followers of a man on the move “who has nowhere to lay his head (Mt 8:20; Lk 9:58)”8.
In the same way Mary, the Mother of Jesus, can be equally well contemplated as a living symbol of the woman emigrant.She gave birth to her Son away from home (cf. Lk 2:1-7) and was compelled to flee to Egypt (cf. Mt 2:13-14). Popular devotion is right to consider Mary as the Madonna of the Way.”
http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/migrants/documents/rc_pc_migrants_doc_20040514_erga-migrantes-caritas-christi_en.html
Well said Kirry:
America has the most generous immigration policy on the history of
the planet. Instead of demanding we let in lots more in the name of
charity why doesn’t the Catholic Church praise America and its
perpetually generous taxpayers. Charity joined to unfettered
immigration is not love but irresponsibility.
You must see the bigger picture as St. John Paul II did in this church document that he approved that mentions the Apocalypse.
17. “Foreigners are also a visible sign and an effective reminder of that universality which is a constituent element of the Catholic Church. A vision of Isaiah announced this: “In the days to come the mountain of the temple of Yahweh shall tower above the mountains… All the nations will stream to it” (Is 2:2). In the gospel our Lord Himself prophesied that “people from east and west, from north and south, will come to take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God” (Lk 13:29), and the Apocalypse sees “a huge number… from every nation, race, tribe and language” (Ap 7:9). The Church is now toiling on its way to this final goal; today’s migrations can remind us of this “huge number” and be seen as a call and prefiguration of the final meeting of all humanity with God and in God.”
http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/migrants/documents/rc_pc_migrants_doc_20040514_erga-migrantes-caritas-christi_en.html
I am afraid there appears to be subversive, anti free market thought through Neo Marxism combined with old anti Anglo Saxon prejudice from the Latin Catholic countries and beyond, and the deep thought globalists who want to destroy our country, which is more religious than Europe.
You mention “prejudice” and so does Pope Francis, “In considering the situation of migrants and refugees, I would point to yet another element in building a better world, namely, the elimination of prejudices and presuppositions in the approach to migration. Not infrequently, the arrival of migrants, displaced persons, asylum-seekers and refugees gives rise to suspicion and hostility. There is a fear that society will become less secure, that identity and culture will be lost, that competition for jobs will become stiffer and even that criminal activity will increase. The communications media have a role of great responsibility in this regard: it is up to them, in fact, to break down stereotypes and to offer correct information in reporting the errors of a few as well as the honesty, rectitude and goodness of the majority. A change of attitude towards migrants and refugees is needed on the part of everyone, moving away from attitudes of defensiveness and fear, indifference and marginalization – all typical of a throwaway culture – towards attitudes based on a culture of encounter, the only culture capable of building a better, more just and fraternal world.” August 5, 2013
I am already there in your response. I also greatly benefited from the article as well.
But what I am getting at is people are coming here for economic reasons. And many who come here are for the most part previous members of agrarian economic societies.
The issue is contributing and sustaining our economic infrastructure and future.
Finally, I read how one crosses the border illegally into Mexico, that person will get 10 years in prison, but Mexico is cleared of all responsibility to care for their own, and aid them to enter illegally.
Plus there are those who have come here legally and are waiting.
Finally the US Bishops statement on immigration is that illegals must follow the law and learn English and get to the back of the bus.
There are school districts who have multi lingual number of students that is causing a real drain on education.
Another issue is the potential to balkanize our country. I left a parish that was divided up into 3 parts, the Anglo, the Vietnamese and the Hispanics. The Hispanics came across as being insensitive to us, not smiling, indifferent, separate.
I worked with missionary priests many years ago. We did not speak a common language. But when I or others would enter a room, the conversation would stop and a new one started to include everyone.
Finally it is the indifference of those who are promoting illegal immigration under the guise of compassion and the Gospel.
The people who are suffering genocide are the Middle East Christians. Hardly anyone in the Church says much about them. I have followed the atrocities ever since, and likewise began to study the interaction between certain Muslimsl and Christians.
An Iraqi priest said under Saddam Hussein, who gave protection to minorities, the Christians lived under ongoing harrassment, being told to leave, that the Muslims wanted their properties and livelihood.
Muhammed wanted to kill all infidels, the Jews, but had no interest in Jerusalem. That was started by the Umayyids that took over Jerusalem. Instead, Muhammed wanted to overtake Constantinople, and eventually Rome.
Finally, there are many Americans who are the common every day people who complain of the attitude of foreigners who have a sense of entitlement, and are abusive and rude and cheat.
The pope does not understand America.
I prefer Pope John Paul II who said that a democracy with a free market and a strong moral voice was the best.
Living the Gospel is to be lived out by both sides.
It is the rich and powerful who make such sweeping decrees and ignore the plight of those who are uprooted.
Finally, through the Mindzenty Report of the 1990’s, it stated that South American Marxists were preparing gangs to come into America and cause all sorts of crimes, and by 2005, the crimes and problem would be apparent to the American public.
Muslims also told me that they are aware of the hatred South Americans have for our country.
We are about the most hated country in the world, but it seems everyone wants to come here.
We cannot separate the dollar bill, the benefits from ordinary Americans.
Pope Francis does not live an ordinary life and is treated very well.
I pray for him, but he is unbalanced.
Julie, you have it all wrong concerning the children. I taught for seven years in public schools, and the children of illegal immigrants were never a burden on the system, but actually the opposite. They were hard working and very dedicated to learning because they had seen suffering and had experienced suffering first hand, and they didn’t want to end up like their parents. Those that did bog down the system were those that had not experienced suffering and everything had been given to them because their parents were native born…these children many times had no strong drive, desire, or motive to learn. You say you prefer St. John Paul II well here is some more of his wisdom, “For her part, the Church, like the Good Samaritan, feels it her duty to be close to the illegal immigrant and refugee, contemporary icon of the despoiled traveler, beaten and abandoned on side of the road to Jericho (cf. Lk 10:30). She goes towards him, pouring ‘on his wounds the oil of consolation and the wine of hope’ (Roman Missal, Common Preface VII), feeling herself called to be a living sign of Christ, who came that all might have life in abundance (cf. Jn 10:10)….The Church’s commitment to migrants and refugees cannot be reduced merely to organizing structures of hospitality and solidarity. This attitude would impoverish the riches of the ecclesial vocation, called in the first place to transmit the faith, which ‘is strengthened when it is given to others’ (Redemptoris missio, n. 2). At the end of our life we will be judged on love, on the acts of charity we have done to the “least” of our brothers and sisters (cf. Mt 25:31-45), but also on the courage and fidelity with which we have witnessed to Christ. In the Gospel he said: ‘So every one who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven'” (Mt 10:32-33).” August 21, 1996
Yes, I know they are very hard working, but you are demonstrating bias to favor illegal immigration for people south of the border.
Think of what moral value those parents have to allow their daughters to anchor themselves here who have been raped and lost their virginity, which traditionally we Catholics have had great value going back to the age of the early martyrs, and then using them to gain entry for materialistic end.
Mexico and other countries do not allow illegal entry nor does any other country.
Why is America and Europe the only ones that do not have value for their boundaries?
No, it is wrong, it is the breaking of our federal laws, our national unity and identity.
We are in tremendous debt, over 20 trillion, and we are opposing now this burden be passed on to our children.
Mexico needs to return to its Catholic past. And this is the same for other former Catholic countries.
The value of Christianity in the hearts of its people and its government is the only solution, not America.
Likewise, we cannot ignore the innocent Americans, many of them children who were raped or murdered, or killed by those illegals who had no insurance.
As a Catholic, I value all people, not just certain ones and ignoring those who lost their lives to invasion.
I am simply repeating what St. John Paul II teaches, “6. The presence of migrants challenges the responsibility of believers as individuals and as a community. Moreover, the parish is a privileged expression of community. As the Second Vatican Council recalls, the parish ‘offers an outstanding example of community apostolate, for it gathers into a unity all the human diversities that are found there and inserts them into the universality of the Church’ (Apostolicam actuositatem, n. 10). The parish is the place where all the members of the community come together and interact. It makes visible and sociologically identifiable God’s plan to call all people to the covenant established in Christ, without any exception or exclusion.
The parish, which etymologically means a house where the guest feels at ease, welcomes all and discriminates against none, for no one there is an outsider. It combines the stability and security people feel in their own home with the movement or transience of those who are passing through. Wherever there is a living sense of parish, differences between locals and strangers fade or disappear in the overriding awareness that all belong to God the one Father.
The importance of the parish in welcoming the stranger, in integrating baptized persons from different cultures and in dialoguing with believers of other religions stems from the mission of every parish community and its significance within society. This is not an optional, supplementary role for the parish community, but a duty inherent in its task as an institution.
Catholicity is not only expressed in the fraternal communion of the baptized, but also in the hospitality extended to the stranger, whatever his religious belief, in the rejection of all racial exclusion or discrimination, in the recognition of the personal dignity of every man and woman and, consequently, in the commitment to furthering their inalienable rights.” February 2, 1999.
You are not admitting to any of the concerns Americans experience day to day, who are ignored and being set aside.
A mother took her son to a state center for help after her pay was cut.
She was seeking $60 a month.
In the meantime, there were many foreigners in the room who had no social security numbers and were getting aid.
She was refused…$60
You are taking sides and not recognizing the suffering of our people.
The vast numbers of minorities voted for Obama and its vote implies the dependence on the federal government supporting them, irregardless of the tremendous debt our country is facing, and — what will be there for our children, yours and mine.
My parents and other people who once represented the majority, would do anything they could do avoid welfare.
For us it is a shame to seek pay outs, and this shame in relation to our own citizens, irrelevant to illegals or foreign born.
We were raised NOT to be dependent on government.
Our government needs to turn to God and listen to the Church so that the things you are describing don’t happen, but blaming the “stranger” for our government’s actions is not the answer. St. John Paul II offers some good advise, “4. Being ever more deeply rooted in Christ, Christians must struggle to overcome any tendency to turn in on themselves, and learn to discern in people of other cultures the handiwork of God. Only genuine evangelical love will be strong enough to help communities pass from mere tolerance of others to real respect for their differences. Only Christ’s redeeming grace can make us victorious in the daily challenge of turning from egoism to altruism, from fear to openness, from rejection to solidarity.
Understandably, as I urge Catholics to excel in the spirit of solidarity towards newcomers among them, I also invite the immigrants to recognize the duty to honour the countries which receive them and to respect the laws, culture and traditions of the people who have welcomed them. Only in this way will social harmony prevail.
The path to true acceptance of immigrants in their cultural diversity is actually a difficult one, in some cases a real Way of the Cross. That must not discourage us from pursuing the will of God, who wishes to draw all peoples to himself in Christ, through the instrumentality of his Church, the sacrament of the unity of all mankind (cf. Lumen Gentium, 1).
At times that path needs a prophetic word that points out what is wrong and encourages what is right. When tensions arise, the credibility of the Church in her doctrine on the fundamental respect due to each person rests on the moral courage of pastors and faithful to “stake everything on love” (cf. Novo Millennio Ineunte, 47).
5. It hardly needs to be said that mixed cultural communities offer unique opportunities to deepen the gift of unity with other Christian Churches and ecclesial communities. Many of them in fact have worked within their own communities and with the Catholic Church to form societies in which the cultures of migrants and their special gifts are sincerely appreciated, and in which manifestations of racism, xenophobia and exaggerated nationalism are prophetically opposed.” October 24, 2002
Again you use the word, ‘stranger’ and that is alien to me.
Over and over you provide JPII Encyclicals.
I studied over 5 years under my archbishop, the formation to correct errors taught by lay professionals.
The first degree of truth…possible by carnate, infallible human beings, is the Church Council, and for our time, this is Vatican II. It is the Church that interprets the Gospel for our times.
The second degree of truth is found in the Catholic Catechism of the Catholic Church. In the area of Social Justice, it states that a nation has a right to defend itself and its borders, its way of life.
The third degree of truth are papal encyclicals, letters by the pope to the Church. And not all encyclicals carry the same degree of truth.
So the defined truth of the Catechism that supports a nation’s right to defend itself trumps any pastoral letter providing us the position in how we see those outside our country and calling us to live out compassion.
We have to all earn a living, we all have the Cross in this life to provide for our own, and of course we provide that with integrity of work and duty in fulfilling God’s will, and we also abide by the laws of our nation.
I remember Cardinal Ratzinger made a definitive statement on behalf of John Paul II that stated women cannot enter into ordained ministry.
Your sharings of encyclicals must be made in the context of Christian morality found in our Catechism, that acknowledges the value of all human beings, — that means American lives are just as important as any other human beings and we cannot write off their losses and lives as mere objects.
Your insistence to turn the other way when I speak of the damage done to our country, refusing to admit those crossing our borders were encouraged for some time by Marxists, your understanding of globalism misapplied from a Catholic perspective into one of George Soros is disappointing.
I am not fooled.
I worked with Italian priests in one of the most poor countries in the world and the one thing we would not do to them was to give them handouts and make them dependent, but to work with them to give them self esteem and develop their own specialized economic system within their own.
I was there when the country went Marxist. Instead of celebrating their nation’s new independence, the newspapers now taken over by the communists now stated, ‘AMERICA IS THE ENEMY OF THE WORLD’ in bold black ink.
And Marxism has been spreading this hatred for some time.
Now we have Islam and we will be on Islam’s radar for the next 2000 years unless God intervenes.
I do not draw at all on Soros globalism that seeks to transfer the wealth from America into elsewhere places that do not have the infrastructure to develop or the leadership.
Catholic globalism is based on a deep faith based on one’s vocation as a Catholic. That is, it is non political, non bias, realizes the right to life for all people, including white Americans, the right to sustain and protect one’s life…
A Catholic’s globalism, a Catholic’c vocation that enables him or her to see common value and reflection in all human beings is the entrance into the communion of the Holy Trinity, not Soros, not Marxism….which has infiltrated deep into the Church.
I am not fooled.
We know communism entered into American and Canadian seminaries in the 1930’s.
Go watch the video, ‘Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing’. It is most powerful and brilliant and in absolute truth, my life’s experience had been touched by all the errors and sedition in various schools of Marxism.
Your practice comes across as even racist, Marxist.
This terminates our exchange.
St. John Paul II states, “3. As regards immigrants and refugees, building conditions of peace means in practice being seriously committed to safeguarding first of all the right not to emigrate, that is, the right to live in peace and dignity in one’s own country. By means of a farsighted local and national administration, more equitable trade and supportive international cooperation, it is possible for every country to guarantee its own population, in addition to freedom of expression and movement, the possibility to satisfy basic needs such as food, health care, work, housing and education; the frustration of these needs forces many into a position where their only option is to emigrate.
Equally, the right to emigrate exists. This right, Bl. John XXIII recalls in the Encyclical Mater et Magistra, is based on the universal destination of the goods of this world (cf. nn. 30 and 33). It is obviously the task of Governments to regulate the migratory flows with full respect for the dignity of the persons and for their families’ needs, mindful of the requirements of the host societies. In this regard, international Agreements already exist to protect would-be emigrants, as well as those who seek refuge or political asylum in another country. There is always room to improve these agreements.
4. No one should be indifferent to the conditions of multitudes of immigrants! They are at the mercy of events, often with dramatic situations behind them. The mass media broadcast moving and sometimes horrifying images of these people. They are children, young people, adults and elderly persons with emaciated faces and sad, lonely eyes. The camps that take them in often impose on them serious restrictions. Yet it is only right, in this regard, to recognize the praiseworthy endeavours of numerous public and private organizations to alleviate the disturbing situations that have come into existence in many parts of the world.
Nor is it possible not to denounce the trafficking practised by unscrupulous exploiters who abandon at sea, on precarious crafts, people desperately seeking a more certain future. Anyone in critical conditions needs prompt and concrete assistance.
5. Despite the problems I have mentioned, the world of immigrants can make a valid contribution to the consolidation of peace. Migration can in fact facilitate encounter and understanding between civilizations as well as between individuals and communities. The enriching dialogue between cultures, as I wrote in my Message for World Day of Peace 2001, is an “obligatory path to the building of a reconciled world” (n. 3). This happens when immigrants are treated with the proper respect for the dignity of each one; when every possible means is used to promote the culture of acceptance and the culture of peace that smoothes out differences and seeks dialogue, but without letting forms of indifferentism creep in when values are at stake. This openness in solidarity becomes a gift and condition of peace.
If the gradual integration of all immigrants is fostered with respect for their identity and, at the same time, safeguarding the cultural patrimony of the peoples who receive them, there is less of a risk that they will come together to form real “ghettos” in which they remain isolated from the social context and sometimes even end by harbouring a desire to take over the territory gradually.
When “diversities” converge and are integrated they start a “friendly coexistence of differences”. Values are rediscovered that are common to every culture, which unite rather than divide and have put down roots in the same human soil. This encourages the development of a fruitful dialogue in order to prepare a path to reciprocal tolerance, realistic and respectful of the particularities of each one. Under these conditions, the phenomenon of migration helps foster the “dream” of a future of peace for all humanity.” December 15, 2003
You are blocked because you are political and accusing me of seeing others as strangers when I see them as innocent pawns set up by evil forces in this world.
“Our government needs to turn to God and listen to the Church ” –Wake up Deacon ! Not going to happen! — We laity need realistic strategies to deal with the problem of illegal immigrants, not platitudes. That’s why the principles of Thomas Aquinas are so practical for laity dealing with today’s “shades of grey” challenges in dealing with immigrants many of whom are our unrecognised enemies taking advantage of our generosity as individuals and in community.
The Church in the USA and Europe is in bad trouble, for we are living in the era of Apostasy: the churches are no longer full, our grandchildren “don’t do God” and many parishes are closing down for lock of practicing Catholics.– and thanks to the American principle of “separation of church and state” expecting the the American (or the EU) governments– who endorse the Politically correct culture of death: pro euthanasia, pro abortion, anti marriage and family –, to listen to listen to a discredited Catholic Church despised for its paedophile scandals and its “bishops contradicting bishops, cardinals against cardinals “is ridiculously naive.
The reality is that lay Catholics have to pray to the Holy Spirit every day for guidance applying Gospel values wisely, not foolishly. We live in confusing times because we continually struggle to find the wise balance between frequently conflicting duties to gospel, family, state, and illegal immigrants.
Self-preservation is no vice; suicide is not a Christian virtue. Martyrdom is a different thing altogether. We need to preserve Western Christian Civilization.
We have to speak for those who have no voice…for the least of these. Trying to preserve ourselves while others are dying and suffering is not Christian as Pope Francis explains, “Indifference and silence lead to complicity whenever we stand by as people are dying of suffocation, starvation, violence and shipwreck. Whether large or small in scale, these are always tragedies, even when a single human life is lost. Migrants are our brothers and sisters in search of a better life, far away from poverty, hunger, exploitation and the unjust distribution of the planet’s resources which are meant to be equitably shared by all. Don’t we all want a better, more decent and prosperous life to share with our loved ones?” Sept. 12, 2015
We could invite all of China into America too but then would that really help? How can you ignore a billion Chinese people?
The Church is not promoting open borders. Every country has a right to protect and secure its borders. The issue at hand is, “We are a nation of immigrants, struggling to address the challenges of many new immigrants in our midst.” (Forming Conscience for Faithful Citizenship paragraph # 2) We have a duty to love them and treat them humanely as, “Solidarity also includes the scriptural call to welcome the stranger among us—including immigrants seeking work—by ensuring that they have opportunities for a safe home, education for their children, and a decent life for their families and by ending the practice of separating families through deportation.” (Forming Conscience for Faithful Citizenship paragraph # 52)
All countries were populated at SOME point by immigration of people into their territory. So calling us a nation of immigrants is just meaningless.
I don’t expect Mexico to let me just walk across the border and make myself at home by stealing welfare and jobs from Mexicans!
How much immigration is “enough”? You can’t answer that.
No one knows the future or the answer to “enough.” Maybe one day you and I or our children will be fleeing Christian persecution as has happened in our own times. We live in a pagan world so it is not a total impossibility that Christian persecution is around the corner so we should treat others as we want to be treated if we were fleeing.
Pope Francis exhorts us, “Migrants and refugees are not pawns on the chessboard of humanity. They are children, women and men who leave or who are forced to leave their homes for various reasons, who share a legitimate desire for knowing and having, but above all for being more. The sheer number of people migrating from one continent to another, or shifting places within their own countries and geographical areas, is striking. Contemporary movements of migration represent the largest movement of individuals, if not of peoples, in history. As the Church accompanies migrants and refugees on their journey, she seeks to understand the causes of migration, but she also works to overcome its negative effects, and to maximize its positive influence on the communities of origin, transit and destination…
Finally, in considering the situation of migrants and refugees, I would point to yet another element in building a better world, namely, the elimination of prejudices and presuppositions in the approach to migration. Not infrequently, the arrival of migrants, displaced persons, asylum-seekers and refugees gives rise to suspicion and hostility. There is a fear that society will become less secure, that identity and culture will be lost, that competition for jobs will become stiffer and even that criminal activity will increase. The communications media have a role of great responsibility in this regard: it is up to them, in fact, to break down stereotypes and to offer correct information in reporting the errors of a few as well as the honesty, rectitude and goodness of the majority. A change of attitude towards migrants and refugees is needed on the part of everyone, moving away from attitudes of defensiveness and fear, indifference and marginalization – all typical of a throwaway culture – towards attitudes based on a culture of encounter, the only culture capable of building a better, more just and fraternal world. The communications media are themselves called to embrace this “conversion of attitudes” and to promote this change in the way migrants and refugees are treated.
I think of how even the Holy Family of Nazareth experienced initial rejection: Mary “gave birth to her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn” (Lk 2:7). Jesus, Mary and Joseph knew what it meant to leave their own country and become migrants: threatened by Herod’s lust for power, they were forced to take flight and seek refuge in Egypt (cf. Mt 2:13-14). But the maternal heart of Mary and the compassionate heart of Joseph, the Protector of the Holy Family, never doubted that God would always be with them. Through their intercession, may that same firm certainty dwell in the heart of every migrant and refugee.” Aug. 5, 2013
Assimilation won’t happen and Christian civilization will be crushed. Enjoy the anarchy and murderous mayhem! It’s already happening.
We are living in the time of Apostasy prophecied in the Apocalypse. On 23 September 2017 we shall be at Rev. 12:1-2, when we see the “Great Sign” occur in the constellations over Jerusalem at twilight. We can expect increased persecution afterward. We must preserve our lives as we can, but pray to be ready for martyrdom should it be required of us.
You speak of the Apocalypse well I hope you read and take to heart the church document that St. John Paul II approved which speaks of THE prophecy.
“22. Welcoming the stranger, a characteristic of the early Church, thus remains a permanent feature of the Church of God. It is practically marked by the vocation to be in exile, in diaspora, dispersed among cultures and ethnic groups without ever identifying itself completely with any of these. Otherwise it would cease to be the first-fruit and sign, the leaven and prophecy of the universal Kingdom and community that welcomes every human being without preference for persons or peoples. Welcoming the stranger is thus intrinsic to the nature of the Church itself and bears witness to its fidelity to the gospel.”
http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/migrants/documents/rc_pc_migrants_doc_20040514_erga-migrantes-caritas-christi_en.html
I welcome strangers who come in good faith. I don’t welcome strangers who want to take over my country, my culture, and force me to abjure my true faith and convert to their false one.
That’s just dumb. And not what –to use the Russian phrase, “to be a fool for Christ” implies.
We are required to love our enemies; not pretend that all strangers are our friends and foolishly allow them to harm us.
Another excellent response.
1 Corinthians 4:10
We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are prudent in Christ; we are weak, but you are strong; you are distinguished, but we are without honor.
1 Corinthians 3:18
Do not deceive yourselves. If any of you think you are wise by the standards of this age, you should become “fools” so that you may become wise.
So I take it you want me to invite migrant Muslims into my house, and risk letting them rape my children. Thanks but no thanks.
I’ll let you be the “fool for Christ” and set me a good example by doing this yourself.–go for it.
Pope Francis says, “Each of us is responsible for his or her neighbour: we are our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers, WHEREVER THEY LIVE. Concern for fostering good relationships with others and the ability to overcome prejudice and fear are essential ingredients for promoting the culture of encounter, in which we are not only prepared to give, but also to receive from others. Hospitality, in fact, grows from both giving and receiving.” Sept. 12, 2015
St. John Paul II has different vision than yours when he approved this church document.
“18. Migrants’ journeying can thus become a living sign of an eternal vocation, a constant stimulus to that hope which points to a future beyond this present world, inspiring the transformation of the world in love and eschatological victory. The peculiarities of migrants is an appeal for us to live again the fraternity of Pentecost, when differences are harmonised by the Spirit and charity becomes authentic in accepting one another. So the experience of migration can be the announcement of the paschal mystery, in which death and resurrection make for the creation of a new humanity in which there is no longer slave or foreigner (cf. Gal 3:28).”
http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/migrants/documents/rc_pc_migrants_doc_20040514_erga-migrantes-caritas-christi_en.html
I stand by my assessment.
I assume you are speaking of Muslim immigrants. TheCatholic Bishops are so politically correct they are afraid to prioritise the suffering Christian Immigrants over the Muslim Immigrants who ALSO PERSECUTE THEM — so much that they fear to go to the Muslim dominated immigrant camps run by the UNHCR; and only camp members are eligible to be brought to the West legally. This injustice cries to heaven; the Christian Migrants are far worse off than the Muslims (a huge proportion of which are only economic migrants) but it is a great injustice for Catholic Churches to sponsor Muslim families over Christian families, probably for fear of being accused of “discriminating against Muslims” by the secular press. (Is it any wonder that with some holy and inspiring exceptions, I do not respect the majority of American and British bishops?)
I very much believe in and trust the intelligent and focused charity of “Aid to the Church in Need.” Closer to home, contributions to my local food bank make more sense than giving to CAFOD. At least I can be sure where my money goes, and that none of it will be spent on Birth control in 3rd world countries.
We are all children of God. Pope Francis speaks of the rejection of neighbor that you are feeling and sensing, “‘Rejection is an attitude we all share; it makes us see our neighbour not as a brother or sister to be accepted, but as unworthy of our attention, a rival, or someone to be bent to our will’ (Address to the Diplomatic Corps, 12 January 2015). Faced with this kind of rejection, rooted ultimately in self-centredness and amplified by populist rhetoric, what is needed is a change of attitude, to overcome indifference and to counter fears with a generous approach of welcoming those who knock at our doors. For those who flee conflicts and terrible persecutions, often trapped within the grip of criminal organisations who have no scruples, we need to open accessible and secure humanitarian channels. A responsible and dignified welcome of our brothers and sisters begins by offering them decent and appropriate shelter. The enormous gathering together of persons seeking asylum and of refugees has not produced positive results. Instead these gatherings have created new situations of vulnerability and hardship. More widespread programmes of welcome, already initiated in different places, seem to favour a personal encounter and allow for greater quality of service and increased guarantees of success.” Feb. 21, 2017
God loves all his creatures. BUT only the sacrament of baptism makes us “Children of God”. If this is not so, then that means the sacrament of Baptism is unnecessary because we are all born “Children of God” –we aren’t.
I am not “rejecting” anyone; I am prioritising Christian refugees because I cannot help everyone; and money I might give to Muslim refugees is money I deny the Christian refugees.
I am not indifferent to Muslim migrants; but I am housebound in a small village as full-time carer for my invalid spouse and it is ridiculous to think I can do more than I am.
Unlike the Pope, who said “don’t proselytise”, I take seriously the command of Jesus who said, “”Go therefore and baptise all nations. . .” I pray for the conversion of the Muslims to the true Faith; and am not afraid to speak to them if I meet them singly while riding the bus. (more than one together, & I find they will not speak to a non-muslim about religion, understandably because of peer pressure never to question anything about Islam. )
I don’t see that your quoting an address by a Pope to an audience of diplomats applies to me. Maybe you are have generously allowed a Muslim family to live in your house with you; I haven’t and won’t. (Disclaimer: we have sheltered a refugee stranger in our house when we still lived in the USA; it was after Hurricane Katrina, and the refugee was a good old Baptist from New Orleans who had no family; we still recall him fondly)
Prejudice is to “pre-judge” without carefully considering the facts and learning as much I can about other’s belief systems before trusting them under my roof. This is only prudent–. I am not prejudiced against individual Muslims. However–
I have read the Koran (Penguin English edition was recommended me by the Jordanian consul general in Houston as the best study edition) and parts of the Hadith, so as to educate myself as to what they believe. After a great deal of reading commentaries on the unholy Koran, and indeed I have occasionally watched two english-language Muslim TV stations here in Britain that help Muslims with call-in questions about Sharia-compliant solutions to questions of daily life,
So if I come to the conclusion that my charity should go to Christian Refugees, it is not as if I am “rejecting” the Muslim refugees. I am simply putting them in second place to the Christian refugees. I don’t hate Muslims; I am polite and tolerate them when I meet them in the marketplace.
I DO hate their their filthy religion,–without prejudice, (because I have educated myself about it) and refuse to say it is as good as mine in the name of a false ecumenism.
Your quotation of Pope Francis’ words are of no practical help addressing the specific situation I pointed out.
Talk to me about the Church’s strange reluctance to prioritise the “poorest of the poor”–the Christian refugees doubly victimised by their “fellow Muslim migrants.” who terrorise them in the UNHCR official camps; and who threw them overboard when they could while crossing the Mediterranean.
What I’m trying to get you to reconsider is the idea that all migrants should be welcomed equally. Some are more deserving than others. Yes or No?
“Jesus died for ALL” (2 Corinthians 5:15) While on earth he did many, many miracles outside of the Jewish circles like the exorcism of the Syrophoenician Woman daughter (Matthew 15:21-28), the healing of the centurion’s servant ( Lk. 7:1-10), and many others that were not Jews… Jesus did not discriminate if they were Jews. Yes, Jesus had a preferential love for the poor no matter what faith and so does the church. This preferential love for the poor is in the Catechism of the Catholic Church,2448 “In its various forms – material deprivation, unjust oppression, physical and psychological illness and death – human misery is the obvious sign of the inherited condition of frailty and need for salvation in which man finds himself as a consequence of original sin. This misery elicited the compassion of Christ the Savior, who willingly took it upon himself and identified himself with the least of his brethren. Hence, those who are oppressed by poverty are the object of a preferential love on the part of the Church which, since her origin and in spite of the failings of many of her members, has not ceased to work for their relief, defense, and liberation through numerous works of charity which remain indispensable always and everywhere.” Interestingly, we don’t hear of many healings occurring among the scribes Pharisees, scribes, and Sadducees because their hearts were rich with themselves, and they have no humility for their sins. They look at the poor with disdain…they have no love for the poor, oppressed, or strangers in fact they often complain and are angry when Jesus heals or helps someone instead of rejoicing.
The USCCB Bishops recently explained why the Church does not discriminate: “The United States has long provided leadership in resettling refugees. We believe in assisting ALL those who are vulnerable and fleeing persecution, regardless of their religion, including Christians, Muslims, and all others. We believe that by helping to resettle the most vulnerable, we are living out our Christian faith and “welcoming the stranger” as Jesus has challenged us to do.” March 6, 2017
The USCCB has just contradicted itself. In the last paragraph it says “The Church does not discriminate.” Then it says “. . . we resettle the most vulnerable”. They are contradicting themselves because:
As soon as the Bishops use the word “most,” that means they are already “discriminating”– in other words, they are saying that there are 1) the “vulnerable”, and 2) the “more vulnerable” and 3) the “most vulnerable”. To “discriminate” means to “preferentially consider.” The word “discriminate” is not a dirty word — (think of the word “discriminating” meaning ‘able to tell the difference between good, better, and best. ) The Bishops say to resettle the “most vulnerable” and to give preference to them over the merely “vulnerable.”
This is discriminating in favour of the “poorest of the poor.” Positive discrimination, if you will. It means not treating “all refugees the same.”
Can you see that it means some refugees are more deserving of our charity than others?
Once, again, I ask you: yes, or no?
–And please don’t quote me any more quotes of either the gospel or the catechism, which I have read.
I want you tell me what YOU, deacon think: Are not the persecuted Christian refugees far, far, worse off than the the Muslim refugees ? Are not the Christian refugees THE MOST vulnerable? And if they are THE MOST vulnerable, ought we not GIVE PREFERENTIAL OPTION (to use the social justice catch-phrase) to the poorest of the poor, –The Christian migrants ?
These Muslims fleeing the war zones will likely not assimilate and their Quran supposedly revealed by their allah god (AKA Satan) to the false prophet Muhammad exhorts them to fight slay and subjugate us…and that is already happening in Europe. Too bad Jesus did not come at a time when Islam/Muslims were killing and beheading and raping his followers so we could have an example from him. The Good Samaritan was an individual example and the victim was not trying to kill or rape anyone.
We are also a nation of laws. Why isn’t the Church emphasizing that immigrants legally come into this country? Is the Church addressing their spiritual needs?
Pope Francis and the Church do not encourage illegal immigration, “The Church stands at the side of all who work to defend each person’s right to live with dignity, first and foremost by exercising the right not to emigrate and to contribute to the development of one’s country of origin. This process should include, from the outset, the need to assist the countries which migrants and refugees leave. This will demonstrate that solidarity, cooperation, international interdependence and the equitable distribution of the earth’s goods are essential for more decisive efforts, especially in areas where migration movements begin, to eliminate those imbalances which lead people, individually or collectively, to abandon their own natural and cultural environment. In any case, it is necessary to avert, if possible at the earliest stages, the flight of refugees and departures as a result of poverty, violence and persecution.” Sept. 12, 2015
This is an answer to first comment made by by Kirry, These are good questions to a complex issue. The Church does not advocate for open borders, but in times of crisis we must not think like men but like God. Pope Benedict XVI sheds much light on this issue, “Looking at the Holy Family of Nazareth, icon of all families, I would like to invite you to reflect on the condition of the migrant family. The evangelist Matthew narrates that shortly after the birth of Jesus, Joseph was forced to leave for Egypt by night, taking the child and his mother with him, in order to flee the persecution of king Herod (cf. Mt 2:13-15). Making a comment on this page of the Gospel, my venerable Predecessor, the Servant of God Pope Pius XII, wrote in 1952: “The family of Nazareth in exile, Jesus, Mary and Joseph, emigrants and taking refuge in Egypt to escape the fury of an evil king, are the model, the example and the support of all emigrants and pilgrims of every age and every country, of all refugees of any condition who, compelled by persecution and need, are forced to abandon their homeland, their beloved relatives, their neighbors, their dear friends, and move to a foreign land” (Exsul familia, AAS 44, 1952, 649). In this misfortune experienced by the Family of Nazareth, obliged to take refuge in Egypt, we can catch a glimpse of the painful condition in which all migrants live, especially, refugees, exiles, evacuees, internally displaced persons, those who are persecuted. We can take a quick look at the difficulties that every migrant family lives through, the hardships and humiliations, the deprivation and fragility of millions and millions of migrants, refugees and internally displaced people. The Family of Nazareth reflects the image of God safeguarded in the heart of every human family, even if disfigured and weakened by emigration.” Oct. 18, 2006
I wonder how far it goes for “hoarding”? Is it too much to go to the grocery store and purchase a week’s worth of food . . . a month, two months? How far in advance CAN we purchase without stepping over our “bounds”? SAMS, Costco, Walmart were enormous discount chains specializing in LARGE QUANTITIES long before Obama ever took office. Is it “sinful” to purchase from these companies? It sounds simply absurd to think that planning ahead is committing some sinful act of “survival”.
Dear Deacon, while you point the finger at Americans who have worked and sacrificed to care for themselves and their family members, don’t forget the poor still stuck in failing countries, like Mexico with its corrupt officials, gangs, sex slave traders and “wolves” prowling for the next victim. When are YOU going to speak out against THAT cabal??? Will you simply IGNORE it, pretend it doesn’t exist, look the other way, blame the fortunate for the ills of the ill-fortunate?? Please. Where IS the condemnation of corrupt countries like Mexico, El Salvador, Ecuador? I’ve heard way too much about blaming the innocent and not nearly enough about blaming the culpable.
Excellent.
Yes, we need to make this a better world. Pope Benedict XVI brings to mind the same questions about the third world countries, and he poses the question of how can we remain silent, “Next, looking more closely at the sector of forced migrants, refugees and the victims of human trafficking, we unhappily find many children and adolescents too. On this subject it is impossible to remain silent before the distressing images of the great refugee camps present in different parts of the world. How can we not think that these little beings have come into the world with the same legitimate expectations of happiness as the others? And, at the same time, how can we not remember that childhood and adolescence are fundamentally important stages for the development of a man and a woman that require stability, serenity and security? These children and adolescents have only had as their life experience the permanent, compulsory “camps” where they are segregated, far from inhabited towns, with no possibility normally to attend school. How can they look to the future with confidence? While it is true that much is being done for them, even greater commitment is still needed to help them by creating suitable hospitality and formative structures…[to the refugees] The Church needs you too and is counting on your contribution. You can play a very providential role in the current context of evangelization. Coming from different cultures, but all united by belonging to the one Church of Christ, you can show that the Gospel is alive and suited to every situation; it is an old and ever new message. It is a word of hope and salvation for the people of all races and cultures, of all ages and eras. To Mary, the Mother of all humanity, and to Joseph, her most chaste spouse, who were both refugees together with Jesus in Egypt, I entrust each one of you, your families, those who take care of the vast world of young migrants in various ways, the volunteers and pastoral workers that are by your side with their willingness and friendly support.” Oct. 18, 2007
The reason they demand things like this from us is that they have no worries that we will dismember them and hang what’s left of their bodies from an overpass…..like they do in Mexico to anyone who gets in the way.
God save us from another pudding-headed post Vatican II permanent married(?) “Deacon” (there was no such animal prior to the novelties of that council), as he twists the words of Scripture and of Father Amorth to come in line with the goals of the Satanic One World Government and One World Religion, which seeks to break down all natural and previously accepted traditions in order to prepare the world for the government of the Anti-Christ. Good Catholics, do not listen to this man. We are to hold to the Faith as handed down to us and not give way to heresies and half-truths.
Please read Act 21:6-10 where it shows that from the beginning Philip the deacon was married, “And when we had bid one another farewell, we took ship; and they returned home. But we having finished the voyage by sea, from Tyre came down to Ptolemais: and saluting the brethren, we abode one day with them. And the next day departing, we came to Caesarea. And entering into the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the seven, we abode with him. 9And he had four daughters, virgins, who did prophesy. 10And as we tarried there for some days, there came from Judea a certain prophet, named Agabus.” I purposely used your favorite Douay-Rheims Bible
You slick modernists have an answer for everything. The Church is burning and you stand there singing protestant hymns on Sunday surrounded by the flames of chastisement. Catholic men do not write and speak as you write. You twist the scriptures to your own destruction.
We shouldn’t worry about survival and fully trust god. How many thousands of children were killed in Aleppo alone last year? If god doesn’t give a shit about those innocent children then what fucking hope does anyone have believing in this garbage? Think about reality before writing another article Guadalupe.
This the Catechism of the Catholic Church’s response to why evil exists:
“Providence and the scandal of evil.
309 If God the Father almighty, the Creator of the ordered and good world, cares for all his creatures, why does evil exist? To this question, as pressing as it is unavoidable and as painful as it is mysterious, no quick answer will suffice. Only Christian faith as a whole constitutes the answer to this question: the goodness of creation, the drama of sin and the patient love of God who comes to meet man by his covenants, the redemptive Incarnation of his Son, his gift of the Spirit, his gathering of the Church, the power of the sacraments and his call to a blessed life to which free creatures are invited to consent in advance, but from which, by a terrible mystery, they can also turn away in advance. There is not a single aspect of the Christian message that is not in part an answer to the question of evil.
310 But why did God not create a world so perfect that no evil could exist in it? With infinite power God could always create something better.174 But with infinite wisdom and goodness God freely willed to create a world “in a state of journeying” towards its ultimate perfection. In God’s plan this process of becoming involves the appearance of certain beings and the disappearance of others, the existence of the more perfect alongside the less perfect, both constructive and destructive forces of nature. With physical good there exists also physical evil as long as creation has not reached perfection.175
311 Angels and men, as intelligent and free creatures, have to journey toward their ultimate destinies by their free choice and preferential love. They can therefore go astray. Indeed, they have sinned. Thus has moral evil, incommensurably more harmful than physical evil, entered the world. God is in no way, directly or indirectly, the cause of moral evil.176 He permits it, however, because he respects the freedom of his creatures and, mysteriously, knows how to derive good from it:
For almighty God. . ., because he is supremely good, would never allow any evil whatsoever to exist in his works if he were not so all-powerful and good as to cause good to emerge from evil itself.177
312 In time we can discover that God in his almighty providence can bring a good from the consequences of an evil, even a moral evil, caused by his creatures: “It was not you”, said Joseph to his brothers, “who sent me here, but God. . . You meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive.”178 From the greatest moral evil ever committed – the rejection and murder of God’s only Son, caused by the sins of all men – God, by his grace that “abounded all the more”,179 brought the greatest of goods: the glorification of Christ and our redemption. But for all that, evil never becomes a good.
313 “We know that in everything God works for good for those who love him.”180 The constant witness of the saints confirms this truth:
St. Catherine of Siena said to “those who are scandalized and rebel against what happens to them”: “Everything comes from love, all is ordained for the salvation of man, God does nothing without this goal in mind.”181
St. Thomas More, shortly before his martyrdom, consoled his daughter: “Nothing can come but that that God wills. And I make me very sure that whatsoever that be, seem it never so bad in sight, it shall indeed be the best.”182
Dame Julian of Norwich: “Here I was taught by the grace of God that I should steadfastly keep me in the faith. . . and that at the same time I should take my stand on and earnestly believe in what our Lord shewed in this time – that ‘all manner [of] thing shall be well.'”183
314 We firmly believe that God is master of the world and of its history. But the ways of his providence are often unknown to us. Only at the end, when our partial knowledge ceases, when we see God “face to face”,184 will we fully know the ways by which – even through the dramas of evil and sin – God has guided his creation to that definitive sabbath rest185 for which he created heaven and earth.”
I try to take the attitude when something hideously and tragically unfair happens to me (and it has, in my long life) not to say, “Why me?” but rather “Why not me?” . I have had many blessings in life I didn’t deserve; and definitely wasn’t sufficiently thankful for. When bad stuff happens, I shouldn’t complain– after all, I am a sinner deserving of punishment for my sins, and though I regularly go to confession, say the daily rosary, and try not “to covet my neighbour’s ass” etc, I have many faults (my family have a hilarious list of them they would relish telling you) and know that am a sinner in constant need of God’s mercy.
When I was a child, considering my inability to “be good” despite my best efforts– I concluded that I would be in Purgatory to the end of the world. So, as one of my wise teachers, a Dominican nun, recommended, I pragmatically asked God to let me suffer my purgatory on earth, so I could not be delayed after death getting to the Beatific Vision. I think realising this was an incredible grace for a child: and even as an adult, I have never had occasion to withdraw this request of God, for I know that the worst sufferings in this life are as nothing compared to 5 minutes in Purgatory– nothing impure can be in the presence of God. If we could see Christ and the Holy Trinity “as they are” we would die of shock, fear, joy and love. If we could see sin as it is, we would die of shock, fear, grief, and horror.
So: as St Teresa of Avila said, “This life if a brief night in a bad inn.” It is also “an evolving project of loss management” as I personally find it difficult not to be too attached to earthly goods; so God helps me do this by periodically allowing evil to take from me from me people , places, and things “I can’t do without.” It hurts; but teaches me that the only thing needful is God himself.
Evil in the world concerns me, and I should in justice do what I can to fight it, according to my circumstances; but I’m not, taking the long view, really upset about evils that happen to me personally, however upset or in pain or outraged I may feel when they happen (and I have had a lot bad happen to me in my long, occasionally dangerous, and sometimes “rough” life) God brings good out of the evil and the repented sin in my life, and I know it. I consider my life blessed despite all the bad stuff, even if I die alone and in pain “like a dog in a ditch”. My life and my death are in God’s hands and I trust him no matter how bad things appear.
“The Mystery of Evil” will only be understood in the next life. I am patient and don’t mind that I can’t understand it in this life–like Winnie-the-Pooh, “I am a bear of very little brain” when it comes to the great Mysteries; though I have spent my life reading theology and indeed getting a degree in it; not because I am “holy” but because from an early age as a bookish little nerd, I found God and the study of God and his ways the single most fascinating thing in this world or any other.
Thank you for this beautiful, deep sharing of yourself and your family situation. You are a very special soul!
Michael, I am sorry for your anger. God does care about all those children killed in Aleppo just as much as He cares for us all. It’s the sins of man that brought that about, not God. Its amazing what people will blame God for. Death is inevitable for all the young and old alike. God does not see death the way we do. Its is not an end to all but to Him, just the beginning. He can also see how events affect the future which we cannot. We can only resign ourselves to our current circumstances, place our trust in Him, pray for His will to be done and try to do the best we can to help others. We cannot do anything about the effects of the sins of others but we can try to alleviate the effects of that sin by intervening in places like Aleppo. I appreciate your engagement in the discussion but please keep it PG. There is no need for profanity to express your opinions or to disparage the opinions/beliefs of others.
God certainly does care about children. The question then is why do you not care about them?
Your posts all seem to follow the exact same meme I see here, you are frightened of death and often mention children. I can see why you are frightened of death considering your mortal sin, but what of the children?
You certainly strike me as someone with the mind of a child, so that has something to do with it.
Maybe, something traumatic happened to you when you were young that caused you to stop maturing mentally and get stuck in a state of arrested development.
Maybe you have hurt children and this is how you express your guilt.
I think it is both. You mention sexual abuse in the post immediately below this one.
So is it that you were molested as a child and then you became a molestor yourself? The immense amount of shame that causes would explain why you are so mentally ill.
Watch it asshole. You might think you’re funny but the truth about the destruction of children on this planet is more real than your phony god.
The destruction of children is real because of pedophiles like yourself trying to corrupt the young like you were corrupted. The utter banality of evil.
Just like hell is real (and you know it too) and you are on your way if you don’t repent before it is too late.
I would encourage you all to read this article by the USCCB on the Catholic Social Teaching on Immigration…It is based on 3 principles; 1) People have the right to migrate to sustain their lives and the lives of their families. 2) A country has the right to regulate its borders and to control immigration. 3) A country must regulate its borders with justice and mercy. Please read the article before making comments on the three principles because they are well explained in the article…http://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/human-life-and-dignity/immigration/catholic-teaching-on-immigration-and-the-movement-of-peoples.cfm
More! More! More! Send in More!
I think another concern is how well people can adopt to our own unique culture to continue it and enrich it.
Likewise, there is no confrontation by America towards Mexico that has its own share of billionaires and millionaires, to take care of their own people and develop them.
Mexico was the center of learning in the New World, surpassing the Americas, giving women and girls a right to an education hundreds of years before ours, as well as cultivating the native Indian peoples to also seek higher education, Indian teachers instructing at their universities back then as well.
America is not the solution to the world’s problems by any means.
It is too bad the cronies running these governments can’t redeem themselves to change their way of governing to instead serve their people.
Dear Albee and Julie…here is a better solution from St. John Paul II,
“2. Today the phenomenon of illegal migrants has assumed considerable proportions, both because the supply of foreign labour is becoming excessive in comparison to the needs of the economy, which already has difficulty in absorbing its domestic workers, and because of the spread of forced migration. The necessary prudence required to deal with so delicate a matter cannot become one of reticence or exclusivity, because thousands would suffer the consequences as victims of situations that seem destined to deteriorate instead of being resolved. His irregular legal status cannot allow the migrant to lose his dignity, since he is endowed with inalienable rights, which can neither be violated nor ignored.
Illegal immigration should be prevented, but it is also essential to combat vigorously the criminal activities which exploit illegal immigrants. The most appropriate choice, which will yield consistent and long-lasting results is that of international co-operation which aims to foster political stability and to eliminate underdevelopment. The present economic and social imbalance, which to a large extent encourages the migratory flow, should not be seen as something inevitable, but as a challenge to the human race’s sense of responsibility.
3. The Church considers the problem of illegal migrants from the standpoint of Christ, who died to gather together the dispersed children of God (cf. Jn 11:52), to rehabilitate the marginalized and to bring close those who are distant, in order to integrate all within a communion that is not based on ethnic, cultural or social membership, but on the common desire to accept God’s word and to seek justice. “God shows no partiality, but in every nation any one who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him” (Acts 10:34-35).
The Church acts in continuity with Christ’s mission. In particular, she asks herself how to meet the needs, while respecting the law of those persons who are not allowed to remain in a national territory. She also asks what the right to emigrate is worth without the corresponding right to immigrate. She tackles the problem of how to involve in this work of solidarity those Christian communities frequently infected by a public opinion that is often hostile to immigrants.
The first way to help these people is to listen to them in order to become acquainted with their situation, and, whatever their legal status with regard to State law, to provide them with the necessary means of subsistence.
Thus it is important to help illegal migrants to complete the necessary administrative papers to obtain a residence permit. Social and charitable institutions can make contact with the authorities in order to seek appropriate, lawful solutions to various cases. This kind of effort should be made especially on behalf of those who, after a long stay, are so deeply rooted in the local society that returning to their country of origin would be tantamount to a form of reverse emigration, with serious consequences particularly for the children.
4. When no solution is foreseen, these same institutions should direct those they are helping, perhaps also providing them with material assistance, either to seek acceptance in other countries, or to return to their own country
In the search for a solution to the problem of migration in general and illegal migrants in particular, the attitude of the host society has an important role to play. In this perspective, it is very important that public opinion be properly informed about the true situation in the migrants’ country of origin, about the tragedies involving them and the possible risks of returning. The poverty and misfortune with which immigrants are stricken are yet another reason for coming generously to their aid.
It is necessary to guard against the rise of new forms of racism or xenophobic behaviour, which attempt to make these brothers and sisters of ours scapegoats for what may be difficult local situations.” July 25 1995
Thank you and that is beautiful and can follow that.
The bigger picture, however in our country is poverty for our children. They will not have what we have. We are trillions in debt that will be passed on to them, while there is a movement to replace human beings with robots.
Again, we cannot detract from the first responsibility of the countries of these peoples’ origin.
The criticism needs to be directed at these countries that actively engages in assisting them to illegally come to our country, and even though, such as Mexico, has its wealthy, they do nothing to help their own people.
I read American Hispanics commenting the same as mine….that all the activist voices are ignoring the great wrong Mexico does toward its own.
Guatemala, Nicaragua are not the same countries as before, and are not suffering like before.
We actually are preparing for a financial collapse. We are ready to share our homes to our extended families and those in need.
The only correction i can see is more a return to God, to the Cross through the Blessed Virgin rather than putting so much faith in a economic system that is about to collapse.
The winters here are cold and we cannot grow food here year around like warmer, sunny climates. We have to work all the time, save, stock and prepare…..
We are in need of a great correction that goes beyond all these endless disputes…and it can only come from God and not from invading our country, that is in the process of loosing its own national identity.
Not fair.
You may want to listen to Oregon Public Broadcasting, February 25, 2017, Irish Catholic novelist Collum McCann who says it is all about grace…it is rather all about grace and so I have disengaged with all the partisan and insensitive sound bites out there because that is all that it is.
Julie here is St. John Paul II addressing your concerns mentioned above, “The host community fears the loss of its own identity because of the rapid increase of these “strangers” through their demographic growth, the legal mechanisms for reuniting families and clandestine enlistment in the so-called underground economy. When there is no prospect of harmonious and peaceful integration, withdrawal into self, tension with one’s surroundings, dispersal and the waste of energies become real risks, with negative and sometimes tragic results. People find themselves “more scattered than before, divided in speech, divided among themselves, incapable of consensus and agreement” (Apostolic Exhortation Reconciliatio et Paenitentia, n.13).
The mass media can play an important role, both positive and negative. Their activity can foster a proper evaluation and better understanding of the problems of the “new arrivals”, dispelling prejudices and emotional reactions, or instead, it can breed rejection and hostility, impeding and jeopardizing proper integration…
Morever, the fact that apostolic action for migrants is sometimes carried out in the midst of suspicion and even hostility can never become a reason for abandoning the commitment to solidarity and human advancement. Jesus’ demanding assertion: “I was a stranger and you welcomed me” (Mt 25:35) retains its power in all circumstances and challenges the conscience of those who intend to follow in his footsteps. For the believer, accepting others is not only philanthropy or a natural concern for his fellow man. It is far more, because in every human being he knows he is meeting Christ, who expects to be loved and served in our brothers and sisters, especially in the poorest and neediest…
Bishop John Baptist Scalabrini, whom I had the joy of beatifying today, was deeply moved by the dramatic exodus of migrants who, in the final decades of the last century, left Europe in large numbers for the countries of the New World, and he clearly saw the need to provide pastoral care for them through an appropriate network of social assistance…
The phenomenon of human mobility calls to mind the very image of the Church, a pilgrim people on earth, but constantly on her way to the heavenly homeland. Even in the innumerable hardships it involves, this path reminds us of the future world whose prospective image spurs us to transform the present, which must be freed from injustice and oppression in view of the encounter with God, the ultimate goal of all men…
I entrust the Christian community’s apostolic commitment to migrants and refugees to “Mary, who conceived the Incarnate Word by the power of the Holy Spirit and then in the whole of her life allowed herself to be guided by his interior activity…. May she accompany with motherly concern all those who work for migrants and refugees; may she dry the tears and console all who have had to leave their own land and loved ones.” November 9,1997
You are demonstrating your own bias when you project on me that I consider them ‘strangers’.
America is not the solution. The solution is for Mexico to return to its Catholic roots, that had hundreds of years before America, a stellar educational system.
No….we are to uphold our law to protect our boundaries.
These people are not escaping genocide, which you fail to recognize in our Christian brothers and sisters in the Middle East.
Please see what St. John Paul II says about your comment on “escaping,” 8. When speaking of migrants, we must take into account the social conditions in their countries of origin. They are nations where people generally live in conditions of great poverty, which the external debt tends to aggravate. In my Apostolic Letter Tertio millennio adveniente, I recalled that ‘in the spirit of the Book of Leviticus (25:8-12), Christians will have to raise their voice on behalf of all the poor of the world, proposing the Jubilee as an appropriate time to give thought, among other things, to reducing substantially, if not canceling outright, the international debt which seriously threatens the future of many nations’ (n. 51). This is one of the aspects which most directly link migration with the Jubilee, not only because migration is more intense in these countries, but especially because the Jubilee, in offering a vision of the earth’s goods that condemns the exclusive possession of them (cf. Lv 25:23), leads the believer to open himself to the poor and the stranger.
In the past, the growing gap between rich and poor, which makes social harmony impossible, required that the balance be periodically restored to allow for an orderly renewal of social life. Thus a new form of equality was established by abolishing the mortgage on persons reduced to slavery because of their debts. The ordinances of the biblical Jubilee are one of the many remedies for the social imbalance caused by the perverse spiral ensnaring those who are forced into indebtedness for their own survival.
This phenomenon, which once cocerned relations between citizens of the same nation, is made more critical by the current globalization of trade and the economy, involving relations between the world’s States and regions. Lest the imbalance between rich and poor nations become irreversible, with tragic consequences for all humanity, the biblical precept must be translated today into concrete and effective forms leading to an appropriate review of the poor countries’ indebtedness to wealthy nations.
I hope that the forthcoming Jubilee, as many people wish, will be a fitting occasion to find appropriate solutions and to offer the poor countries new conditions of dignity and orderly development.
9. ‘The Jubilee can also offer an opportunity for reflecting on other challenges …, such as the difficulties of dialogue between different cultures’ (Tertio millennio adveniente, n. 51).
The Christian is called to evangelize by reaching out to people wherever they may be, to meet them with warmth and love, to shoulder their problems, to know and appreciate their culture, to help them overcome prejudices. This concrete form of outreach to so many of our needy brothers and sisters will prepare them to encounter the light of the Gospel and, by forging bonds of sincere esteem and friendship, will lead them to ask: ‘we wish to see Jesus’ (Jn 12:21). Dialogue is essential for a peaceful and productive society.
In view of the ever more pressing challenges of indifferentism and secularization, the Jubilee requires that this dialogue be intensified. In their everyday relationships, believers are called to show the face of a Church which is open to everyone, attentive to social realities and to whatever enables the human person to affirm his dignity. In particular, Christians, conscious of the heavenly Father’s love, will heighten their concern for migrants, in order to develop a sincere and respectful dialogue aimed at building the ‘civilization of love’.” Feb. 2, 1999
We are already there.
But you continue to ignore the plight of native citizens. You refuse to admit the deaths of those who were killed by illegals, and how the former administration ordered ICE to release criminal aliens back into our society. You can do a search online and see.
Likewise our GDP is not even yet at 2%. When we are at 3%, we can pay our bills and get a little ahead.
But when we are within the 1% GDP, what that means is that we are not able to pay on our debts.
Over twenty trillion dollars in debt…we leave that to our children?
And many who come here do not want to integrate but keep separate.
We are over 20 trillion in debt, an amount our own children will not be freed from, we just haven’t seen the consequences yet.
We balance compassion and care along with the welfare of our people, our country’s identity and way of life, and — natural law. Even God obeys His own laws.
I trust saints like Pope John Paul II rather than all the numbers you mention. This is what St. John Paul II says as is related to your topic, “On the one hand, globalization accelerates flows of capital and exchanges of goods and services between people and inevitably influences human movement. Every important event that occurs in a specific part of the world tends to have repercussions on the entire planet, while the sense that all nations share a common destiny is increasing. The new generations have a growing conviction that the planet is now a “global village”, and they make friendships that transcend the differences of language or culture. Living side by side is becoming an everyday reality for many people.
At the same time, however, globalization produces new ruptures. Within the framework of a liberalism without adequate controls, the gap between the “emerging” and the “losing” countries is widening. The former have capital and technologies that allow them to enjoy the world’s resources at will, a possibility that they do not always use with a spirit of solidarity and sharing. The latter, instead, do not have easy access to the resources needed for adequate human development, and sometimes even lack the means of subsistence; crushed by debt and torn by internal divisions, they often end up wasting their meagre wealth on war (cf. Encyclical Centesimus annus, n. 33). As I recalled in my Message for the 1998 World Day of Peace, the challenge of our time is to assure a globalization in solidarity, a globalization without marginalization (cf. n. 3).
4. In many regions of the world today people live in tragic situations of instability and uncertainty. It does not come as a surprise that in such contexts the poor and the destitute make plans to escape, to seek a new land that can offer them bread, dignity and peace. This is the migration of the desperate: men and women, often young, who have no alternative than to leave their own country to venture into the unknown. Every day thousands of people take even critical risks in their attempts to escape from a life with no future. Unfortunately, the reality they find in host nations is frequently a source of further disappointment.
At the same time, States with a relative abundance tend to tighten their borders under pressure from a public opinion disturbed by the inconveniences that accompany the phenomenon of immigration. Society finds itself having to deal with the “clandestine”, men and women in illegal situations, without any rights in a country that refuses to welcome them, victims of organized crime or of unscrupulous entrepreneurs.
On the threshold of the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000, as the Church acquires a renewed awareness of her mission at the service of the human family, this situation also raises some serious questions. The globalization process can be an opportunity, if cultural differences are accepted as an opportunity for meeting and dialogue, and if the unequal distribution of the world’s resources leads to a new awareness of the necessary solidarity which must unite the human family. If, on the contrary, inequalities increase, poorer populations are forced into the exile of desperation, while the wealthy countries find they are prisoners of an insatiable craving to concentrate the available resources in their own hands.
5. Aware of the dramas but also of the opportunities inherent in the migration phenomenon and “contemplating the mystery of the Incarnation of the Son of God, the Church prepares to cross the threshold of the third millennium” (Incarnationis mysterium, n. 1). In the Incarnation the Church recognizes God’s initiative in making “known to us in all wisdom and insight the mystery of his will, according to his purpose which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth” (Eph 1: 9-10). Christian commitment draws strength from Christ’s love, which is Good News for all human beings.” November 21,1999.
You can also state that the modern current economic system is out of sync with the common people.
John Paul II also stated we are to hold to the best of our cultures, but to let the rest go.
People who are humane recognize the reality of commonality of one another.
It is a problem when you deny the reality of suffering of one for political reasons.
That is what many Catholics and other Christians are seeing now the fault of the Catholic Church in America, that there is so much peer pressure within social justice meetings and get togethers — where it is at the point America has no right to voice grievance.
That is not good position for foreign illegals to have when entering our country.
It is within Marxism this sense of globalism, but it is not based on the Christian sense of the universality of mankind but of political factors, where one must go along with the crowd, and too bad if you are a minority voice.
Secular globalism is in essence totalitarianism and the destruction of one’s culture.
And there are Church prophets who state some day we will return to make our living off the land…the very place these immigrants have left, to enter into an untenable and dying economic system, and it will be seen who will survive.
I feel sorry for those who come here, and do not realize the great debt we are in with so much foreign welfare, neglecting our own people, and then see the political secular compassion generosity disappear when the economic crash comes.
I would tend to believe it more realistic one could survive in an agrarian society than a northern city one….
Well said, Julie.
See my answer to him this am.
The Catholic Catechism trumps all pastoral letters unless they are definitive.
JP was giving us the attitude and approach but we live in a different situation now.
The massive immigration was set up by Marxists and Muslims some time ago.
Read up on Bat Ye’Or, ‘Oil for Immigration’, how President Charles DeGaul allowed the exchange of oil to allow Muslim immigration into Europe.
Look at what is happening in Turkey…they are the biggest military, and Ergodan is preparing to become caliph and resurrect the Ottoman Empire.
What we are seeing south of the border comes from South American Marxists who planned this out in the 1990s. Some one gave me a source to the old Mindzenty reports and will see if I can find them to use as reference.
What I find so painful and hurtful is the profound disconnect by Catholic Hispanic leadership towards our situation. Hispanics online also comment how no one is challenging Mexico for dumping them. Mexico is the one who should have its conscience approached…How many volunteers work in the world for the poor who come out of mexico but the priests and sisters.
Social Justice is rife with neo Marxism.
I read in the Catholic Register about 10 years ago or so the reference to those hard core capitalists condemned by the catechism who seek to transfer wealth from one country to another…aka George Soros…and his concept of globalism which is totalitarianism which means that my comments my reflections and drawing up injuries done to our people, is responded with no acknowledgement.
I remember Obama caught off guard speaking to George the Plumber…and how it was all about transferring the wealth…like the billions sent to Iran without Congress permission and his advisor Valerie, an Iranian…it goes on and on.
This is inhumane response.
I had to block…………………
St. John Paul II states, “The mass media broadcast to homes images of suffering, violence and armed conflict. These are tragedies that sweep over countries and continents, and it is often the poorest areas that are the hardest hit. In this way tragedy is added to tragedy.
We are unfortunately becoming used to seeing dejected, displaced evacuees, the desperate flight of refugees, the arrival in the richest countries of immigrants in search of solutions to their many personal and family needs by whatever means. Thus, the question arises: how can we speak of peace when situations of tension are reported in so many of the earth’s regions? And how can the phenomenon of migration help build peace among peoples?
2. No one can deny that the aspiration to peace is rooted in the heart of a large part of humanity. That is exactly the ardent desire that spurs people to seek every possible path to a better future for one and all. We are ever more convinced that we must fight the evil of war at its roots, for peace is not only the absence of conflict; it is also a long-term dynamic and participatory process that involves every social class, from families to schools and the various institutions and national and international bodies. We can and must build a culture of peace together that will prevent recourse to arms and all forms of violence. To this end, gestures and efforts for forgiveness and reconciliation must be encouraged; it is essential to overcome disagreement and division that would otherwise be perpetuated with no prospect of a solution. Then it is necessary to reaffirm vigorously that there can be no true peace without justice and respect for human rights. Indeed, there is a very close connection between justice and peace, as the Prophet pointed out in the Old Testament: “Opus iustitiae pax” (Is 32: 17).”December 15, 2003
Also our present pope sometimes gives the impression he is in the Seamless Garment thought that came from Chicago….Cardinal Bernadin….
Get a video on ‘Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing’. I finished high school in 1967, was in a diocese where it was pondered our new bishop a Marxist…who went to odds with JPII and JPII’s teachings were always being re interpreted by Fr McBrien at Notre Dame…..it is all in the video.
Social Justice groups have intense peer pressure…was also put into a sensitivity training session when I was 18….on and on and on…a lone voice in the wilderness…………………………..
Bernardin’s toxic legacy is still causing trouble. I personally can no longer abide the term “social justice” — I say, what’s wrong with plain old Justice? I’m taking your advice and getting “Wolf in sheep clothing”.
The vanguard of Modernism taking over the culture of the contemporary Church was the Jesuits.
Please, please find a 2nd-hand copy of ex-Jesuit Fr Malachi Martin’s old but frighteningly timely “The Jesuits” to explain how they betrayed their founder’s charism–and along with it, their honourable status as loyal servants of the Pope; this also explains the loss of Catholicity of Jesuit universities, and the influence they had on the intellectuals trained with them. .
Martin’s book prophetically explains the disturbing teachings of Pope Francis. Dead 17 years now, Malachi Martin has been considered “controversial” because of the vicious and convincing slanders on his personal life, in order to discredit his writings.
However — predictions he made (he would never have called them prophetic) have proved prophetic indeed, have come true time after time. I shudder to consider the predictions about the NWO and the church as yet to be fulfilled, I think in the near future.
Look on You-tube for His radio interviews with Canadian Catholic Bernard Janzen. Google “malachi martin last pope” and listen to the description he gives of the last pope of our age– it is a prophetic description of Pope Francis.
God and Our Lady Help us.
Yes…my former diocese was under investigation where in time the archbishop finally resigned and Cardinal Bernadin was on the investigative commission along with Cardinal Law and the popular cardinal of New York City, can’t remember his name.
I grew up on the liberal west coast and my family lived in the innercity. When the Black Panthers and drugs came in, race relations were bad. My high school was multi racial and we all got along very well. It was sad to see. My dad’s next door neighbor had just left Pennsylvania after setting up the miners’ riots there and the FBI was watching the house. My father spent time dialoguing with him and his wife and my mother cared for their baby girl.
So I grew up in dialogue.
I served in the foreign missions representing my archdiocese and was there when the country went Marxist. Their troubles only got much worse, much worse, and the Marxists began persecuting the Church. Even priests were getting into Marxist methods of labelling and defining other classes of people, and of course, America always the one to blame. I was throwing up almost every day from the spiritual and psychological stress, and Pope Paul VI sent a papal nuncio to investigate.
But I kept in contact with my pastor with whom I worked with, and he kept me up to date for many years on what was happening there. I some times still dream of him and the native people, and recognize faces of those who survived Marxism and then the war against foreign supported factions, the two of them destroying so much of the native people’s livelihood.
Yes I know of Martin Malachi. I grew up with the Jesuits and was not exposed to that other. We would go to the nearby Italian Jesuit mission church and the Italian priest very devout and Marian.
‘Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing’ is electrifying and names all the basic schools. If you take each one separately, you can see this false, totalitarian globalism that deliberately breaks down walls of former or remaining Christian countries, and how we when trying to speak about our rights and concerns…bypassing the Church Council and the Catechism…we end up being the strangers.
We are ‘the strangers’ to those who want to impose no borders, and have no regard for our $20 plus trillion debit…or the future of our children.
Julie — google “Coudenhove-Kalergi Plan”. Most Europeans are not aware of it. It is significant that Angela Merkel got the Coudenhove-Kalergi Award in 2015, even thought about 3 years earlier I heard her say in a speech that “Multiculturalism is an experiment that has failed.”
The “Deep State” has a similar agenda in the USA, –but obviously suited to American circumstances. What do you think?
I will take a look at it.
In the meantime, I was thinking today of the parish I left that was divided up into 3 cultures, Anglo, Vietnamese, and Hispanic.
The deacon for the Hispanics is foreign born Hispanic. I didn’t say too much, but he said his response to a parishioner who was looking at all the financial loss in our country and taking so much in with such tremendous debt in trillions, in response to his loss of his pension, the Hispanic deacon told me, “I responded to him, so what?!”
I never saw this kind of attitude of immigrants so many years ago.
Something is very very wrong and it is not of Christ.
Greed for American dollars and all the entitlements and such disrespect shown our native people.
Even Pope Francis has told the migrants to respect the people of their host countries and to obey the laws.
Something is very very wrong.
I am never going back to these kinds of group meetings again, but be with all people who have a sincere Christian spirit irregardless of their culture and you know of the good I speak of.
I will take a look at it.
Thank you. And get hold of ‘A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing’.
I just finished reading it and wonder where George Soros fits in….these part of the hard core capitalists who care nothing about the transfer of wealth, the destruction of the family and one’s native culture, where we have our own identity, our own selves.
Totalitarianism….another form of it.
I think of John Paul II describing the Triumvariate of Marx, Hegel, Niezche.
The counter point to the forces of evil is in one person, the Blessed Mother who will crush the head of the serpent.
When it looks like all will fall, she will come.
We can only hope for her coming triumph of her Immaculate Heart.
I was pleased to see the bishop of our diocese teaching us to live out our Lady of Fatima’s requests, the solution to all we encounter.
The Coudenhove Kalergi Plan was set up by “the Father of the EU” before Soros was around.
Soros et al are just tools of Satan to destroy society & good culture by destroying the family through manipulating economies, commodities, and destabilising mechanisms via banking. Satan attempts to destroy the Church by corrupting a proportion of the clergy with Freemasonry and the Heresy of Modernism, “the synthesis of all heresies”.
There are similar cabals within Marxism…I am thinking of the Frankfurt school…the cabal that came to New York and its derivative speaks of a material globalism.
Ours is a globalism that is based on God not on race or a particular culture.
And people by nature prefer to open up the most with people of their own language and culture, nothing wrong with that.
On a purely personal note, several years ago I went on pilgrimage to Rome and it was the only place where I *felt* a sense of organic, unforced brotherhood with multitudes of Catholics beside me at Mass at St Peter’s Basilica who were of all races, wearing their colourful national dress proudly before God.
I grinned at them happily and they returned the smile to me that needed no common language. We were one in Christ, worshiping God, and we knew it:
Joy !
Yes, our source of communion is not found in Marxist perception of globalism but that based on the Holy Trinity, as I shared with the Deacon who I realized is in Texas.
Texas alone has suffered over 642,000 crimes committed by illegals, and I now I read again they have had over 3,000 homicides and these crimes mean nothing because we are really the strangers who have no voice, no rights as well as the victims of these multitude of crimes.
Adrian, found out illegals have committed 642,000 crimes in Texas, 3,000 murders.
John Paul would never accept this. Christ came to liberate us from sin and death…..
Just heard tonight on Hannity, over 642,000 plus crimes committed in Texas by illegals…they were flashing stats tonight….1,000 plus homicides?….32% plus in prison there are illegals….again, the numbers flashing by….
The “strangers” should not be made the SCAPEGOATS for the $20 plus trillion debt. We went into debt for other reasons like bailing out the banks, building up our defense, etc. St. John Paul II cautions, “In the search for a solution to the problem of migration in general and illegal migrants in particular, the attitude of the host society has an important role to play. In this perspective, it is very important that public opinion be properly informed about the true situation in the migrants’ country of origin, about the tragedies involving them and the possible risks of returning. The poverty and misfortune with which immigrants are stricken are yet another reason for coming generously to their aid.
It is necessary to guard against the rise of new forms of racism or xenophobic behaviour, which attempt to make these brothers and sisters of ours as SCAPEGOATS for what may be difficult local situations.” July 25 1995
I quit the social justice program in our diocese. A leader came to our parish to collect money during Lent.
He avoided any political nuance in his talk.
At end, he asked for any questions. One man said they are fleeing corruption.
I finally raised my hand and asked if there is any platform or voice on behalf of the Middle East Christians who are suffering very much. And they are experiencing genocide. The bishops were holding up our borders a few years ago, and saying the illegals have to get to the back of the bus.
Now with all the Marxist based peer pressure and foreign born Hispanics leading meetings providing ‘Christian’ justification for all of this, the bishops have backed down. The speaker said the Bishops now identify these illegals as allowed entry because they are ‘under duress’.
‘Under duress’ is one thing…yes leaving your home and crossing illegally and Guatemala and El Salvador or not at war; there is the drug cartels in northern Mexico that are as bad as ISIS, and also embedded in the Mexican government as well, but Mexico has its share of billionaires and great health care and provides education for its people.
So I cannot put illegals’ in duress’ in the same class as ‘genocide’.
It is also a racist movement to overlay the white population as well, this all done under the prior administration with its position of transferring the wealth and appeasing blacks and other minorities victimized by white oppression.
As I shared with the deacon, my family had it hard living in the inner city, but we all got educated without their help. My parents and other whites and blacks are ashamed to get benefits and be on welfare when they are working to avoid being a strain on our livelihood.
They come here to avoid poverty and get many benefits, not realizing they are pawns by these dark powers in our world, and if we do have the economic crash they could be experiencing a worse poverty because this is not their home, we live mostly in a 4 season year, and it is pretty cold 6 months out of the year.
Sad because the power people use the innocent poor to promote their agenda.
Pope Benedict XVI explains on September 27, 2010 the rights of the immigrant and the country’s rights to protect its borders, “Venerable John Paul II, on the occasion of this same Day celebrated in 2001, emphasized that “[the universal common good] includes the whole family of peoples, beyond every NATIONALISTIC EGOISM. The right to emigrate must be considered in this context. The Church recognizes this right in every human person, in its dual aspect of the possibility to leave one’s country and the possibility to enter another country to look for better conditions of life” (Message for World Day of Migration 2001, 3; cf. John XXIII, Encyclical Mater et Magistra, 30; Paul VI, Encyclical Octogesima adveniens, 17). At the same time, States have the right to regulate migration flows and to defend their own frontiers, always guaranteeing the respect due to the dignity of each and every human person. Immigrants, moreover, have the duty to integrate into the host Country, respecting its laws and its national identity. “The challenge is to combine the welcome due to every human being, especially when in need, with a reckoning of what is necessary for both the local inhabitants and the new arrivals to live a dignified and peaceful life” (World Day of Peace 2001, 13).”
You mention the teaching of Pope Francis, but it was St. John Paul II encyclical letter called Centesimus Annus that defined “preferential option for the poor,” as a primacy of charity.
“11. Re-reading the Encyclical in the light of contemporary realities enables us to appreciate the Church’s constant concern for and dedication to categories of people who are especially beloved to the Lord Jesus. The content of the text is an excellent testimony to the continuity within the Church of the so-called “preferential option for the poor”, an option which I defined as a “special form of primacy in the exercise of Christian charity”.36 Pope Leo’s Encyclical on the “condition of the workers” is thus an Encyclical on the poor and on the terrible conditions to which the new and often violent process of industrialization had reduced great multitudes of people. Today, in many parts of the world, similar processes of economic, social and political transformation are creating the same evils.
If Pope Leo XIII calls upon the State to remedy the condition of the poor in accordance with justice, he does so because of his timely awareness that the State has the duty of watching over the common good and of ensuring that every sector of social life, not excluding the economic one, contributes to achieving that good, while respecting the rightful autonomy of each sector. This should not however lead us to think that Pope Leo expected the State to solve every social problem. On the contrary, he frequently insists on necessary limits to the State’s intervention and on its instrumental character, inasmuch as the individual, the family and society are prior to the State, and inasmuch as the State exists in order to protect their rights and not stifle them.”
“57. Today more than ever, the Church is aware that her social message will gain credibility more immediately from the witness of actions than as a result of its internal logic and consistency. This awareness is also a source of her preferential option for the poor, which is never exclusive or discriminatory towards other groups. This option is not limited to material poverty, since it is well known that there are many other forms of poverty, especially in modern society—not only economic but cultural and spiritual poverty as well. The Church’s love for the poor, which is essential for her and a part of her constant tradition, impels her to give attention to a world in which poverty is threatening to assume massive proportions in spite of technological and economic progress. In the countries of the West, different forms of poverty are being experienced by groups which live on the margins of society, by the elderly and the sick, by the victims of consumerism, and even more immediately by so many refugees and migrants. In the developing countries, tragic crises loom on the horizon unless internationally coordinated measures are taken before it is too late.”
May 1, 1991
This is what Pope Benedict XVI says on how we should be responding, “Pastoral workers – priests, religious and LAY PEOPLE – play a crucial role in the demanding itinerary of the new evangelization in the context of migration. They work increasingly in a pluralist context: in communion with their Ordinaries, drawing on the Church’s Magisterium. I INVITE them to seek ways of fraternal sharing and RESPECTFUL proclamation, overcoming OPPOSITION AND NATIONALISM. For their part, the Churches of origin, of transit and those that welcome the migration flows should find ways to increase their cooperation for the benefit both of those who depart and those who arrive, and, in any case, of those who, on their journey, stand in need of encountering the merciful face of Christ in the welcome given to one’s neighbour. To achieve a fruitful pastoral service of communion, it may be useful to update the traditional structures of care for migrants and refugees, by setting beside them models that respond better to the new situations in which different peoples and cultures interact with one another.
Asylum seekers, who fled from persecution, violence and situations that put their life at risk, stand in need of our understanding and welcome, of respect for their human dignity and rights, as well as awareness of their duties. Their suffering pleads with individual states and the international community to ADOPT ATTITUDES of RECIPROCAL ACCEPTANCE, OVERCOMING FEARS AND AVOIDING FOMRS OF DISCRIMINATION, and to make provisions for concrete solidarity also through appropriate structures for hospitality and resettlement programmes. All this entails mutual help between the suffering regions and those which, already for years, have accepted a large number of fleeing people, as well as a greater sharing of responsibilities among States.
The press and the other media have an important role in making known, correctly, objectively and honestly, the situation of those who have been forced to leave their homeland and their loved ones and want to start building a new life.” September 21, 2011
Here is an interesting article by Rev. Michael Orsi, from 2010, on Catholic social teaching regarding immigration. The whole article is worth reading.
Below is just an excerpt. **Note #7 near the end.
http://www.cnsnews.com/blog/rev-michael-p-orsi/catholic-teaching-immigration
…” “There are those who believe, like Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony, that the Arizona law is “the country’s most retrogressive, mean-spirited and useless anti-immigration law.” They contend that, especially in the case of those illegal aliens who have resided in the U.S. for a number of years that it “could lead to separation of family members.”
They hold that deportation would place an undue burden on them and their children, who in many cases were born here, and therefore, are
“allegedly” U.S. citizens. More often than not, they prescribe amnesty
as the solution. But, amnesty condones delinquency.
It sends the wrong message to our citizens, to some potentially new citizens, and encourages others to take the same route.
Therefore, I propose the following suggestions which are in the
mainstream of traditional Catholic social thinking. They are sensitive
to both charity and justice.
1. The 14th Amendment (1866) which confers the rights of citizenship
on those born in this country must be interpreted according to its
original intent which was to guarantee citizen’s rights for the newly
freed slaves. It was not meant to confer citizenship on children born
here to illegal immigrants. Congress should pass a law stating that
babies born here to foreign nationals do not have a birth right to U.S.
citizenship. This will stop the use of so-called “anchor babies” from
enabling their relatives to enter the country in conjunction with the
Family Reunification Act (1965).
2. The entire Family Reunification Act should be revoked.
3. A quota system should be established for those wishing to enter
the country. This will help America to control assimilation and choose
among those persons who will help the nation prosper.
4. State and local police should be able to question the immigration
status of a person if there is “reasonable suspicion” to believe they
are in the country illegally. This merely extends the “stop and
question” rule created by the Supreme Court. Police may not consider
race, color, or national origin in carrying out their duty. This will
prevent racial profiling.
5. Illegal immigrants are law breakers. They should be subject to deportation.
6. For illegal immigrants who can establish that undue hardship will
be caused by deportation, state courts similar to federal immigration
courts dealing with political or religious refugees and other hardship
cases should be established. If their case bears merit this does not
preclude a fine since it is necessary that illegal aliens recognize that
they broke the law and must make retribution for their crime.
7. Immigrants must be treated with dignity and respect throughout the
entire process. These measures capture the essence of Catholic social
teaching. They recognize that justice without love may be inhumane and
that charity without justice is destructive to society.”
People should get hold of EWTN’s ‘Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing’, and the derivatives brought forth in Marxism.
Globalism is in the end the force to destroy Christianity and belief in God.
What I am referring to is the ongoing and continual indifference to what atheistic liberalism and progressives are doing to destroy our national identity.
Our rights, our concerns, our needs, our worries and those innocent citizens whose lives are injured or murdered, are continually being ignored, as well as the burden put on our country.
Our country has a right to defend and uphold itself.
As Catholics we cannot turn our backs on those who have entered illegally to commit crimes, steal, molest and rape, or kill. There are many Americans who have suffered such and to ignore their victimization is not demonstrating the response of the Gospel.
You illegally enter Mexico or any other country that is not American or European, you go to prison. It is allowed in our countries because our foundation is humane and Christian.
And that is the solution for the world’s problems, that they turn to Christ and develop Christ based governments.
For the past 40 to 50 years, Americans have lost the sense of neighborhoods because of the Far Left’s infiltration into government and the media that contradict general Christian and Catholic faith and morals, that inherently. Americans cannot even speak freely to each other because of opposing values about human life itself,– this silence from the people is already a sign that we are a totalitarian people.
We are a totalitarian people and as thus we cannot live our conscience?
Every country has a right to defend itself.
Before the American bishops stated our borders are to be protected. Now because of mass migration promoted and sustained by countries south of the border, their hands are tied and now say they can be admitted because of duress.
Yet the Church is practically silent in regards to our fellow Christians suffering genocide in the Middle East…and Turkey and others are planning to make Europe Islam through mass migration…and yet no Muslim countries will take them. Go figure.
You are entitled to your opinion but this is what St. John Paul II says we should be doing, ” 2. By her nature, the Church is in solidarity with the world of migrants who, with their variety of languages, races, cultures and customs, remind her of her own condition as a people on pilgrimage from every part of the earth to their final homeland. This vision helps Christians to reject all nationalistic thinking and to avoid narrow ideological categories. It reminds them that the Gospel should be incarnated in life in order to become its leaven and soul, also through a constant effort to free it from the cultural incrustations that inhibit its inner dynamism.
3. God reveals himself in the Old Testament as the One who takes the side of the stranger, the side, that is, of the people of Israel enslaved in Egypt. In the New Law he reveals himself in Jesus, born in a stable on the outskirts of town, ‘because there was no place for them in the inn’ (Lk 2:7), and who had nowhere to lay his head throughout his public ministry (cf. Mt 8:20; Lk 9:58). The Cross, the centre of Christian Revelation, is the culminating moment of this radical condition as a stranger: Christ dies ‘outside the gate’ (Heb 13:12), rejected by his own people. However, John the Evangelist recalls Jesus’ prophetic words: ‘And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself’ (12:32), and stresses that precisely by his death he will begin to ‘gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad’ (Jn 11:52). In following the Master’s example, the Church too lives as he did in the world with the attitude of a pilgrim, working to create communion, a welcoming home where the dignity conferred by the Creator is recognized in each human being.
4. The ethnic and cultural differences found within the Church could be a source of division or disunity, if she did not have the cohesive strength of charity, a virtue all Christians are invited to practise, particularly during this final year of immediate preparation for the Jubilee. In the Apostolic Letter Tertio millennio adveniente, I wrote: “It will therefore be necessary, especially during this year, to emphasize the theological virtue of charity, recalling the significant lapidary words of the First Letter of John: ‘God is love’ (4:8, 16). Charity, in its twofold reality as love of God and neighbour, is the summing up of the moral life of the believer. It has in God its source and its goal” (n. 50).
‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself’ (Lv 19:18). In the Book of Leviticus this commandment occurs in a series of precepts which forbid injustice. One of them warns: ‘When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. The stranger who sojourns with you shall be to you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God’ (19:33-44).
The reason, ‘for you were strangers in the land of Egypt’ which constantly accompanies the command to respect and love the migrant, is not only meant to remind the chosen people of their former condition; it also calls their attention to God’s action: on his own initiative he generously delivered them from slavery and freely gave them a land. ‘You were a slave and God intervened to set you free; you have seen, then, how God treated migrants; you must treat them in the same way’: this is the implicit thought underlying the precept.” February 2, 1999
It is the residual cultural legacy of the heresy of Modernism that “Nationalism” and “Patriotism” are considered dirty words by those endorsing NWO geopolitical globalism.
What we must remember is that there is a great difference between say, German nationalism / patriotism in the 1930’s, and British nationalism / Patriotism own the 1940s and American nationalism / patriotism in the 1950’s and 1960s.
There is good and bad nationalism, but patriotism, love for the culture and geography of the land of our birth are good and wholesome virtues and no modernist whatever office they hold–not even the papacy — is going to deceive me into thinking otherwise.
St. John Paul II encyclical letter called Centesimus Annus explains “exaggerated nationalism” much better:
“17. Reading the Encyclical within the context of Pope Leo’s whole magisterium,47 we see how it points essentially to the socio-economic consequences of an error which has even greater implications. As has been mentioned, this error consists in an understanding of human freedom which detaches it from obedience to the truth, and consequently from the duty to respect the rights of others. The essence of freedom then becomes self-love carried to the point of contempt for God and neighbour, a self-love which leads to an unbridled affirmation of self-interest and which refuses to be limited by any demand of justice.48
This very error had extreme consequences in the tragic series of wars which ravaged Europe and the world between 1914 and 1945. Some of these resulted from militarism and EXAGGERATED NATIONALISM, and from related forms of totalitarianism; some derived from the class struggle; still others were civil wars or wars of an ideological nature. Without the terrible burden of hatred and resentment which had built up as a result of so many injustices both on the international level and within individual States, such cruel wars would not have been possible, in which great nations invested their energies and in which there was no hesitation to violate the most sacred human rights, with the extermination of entire peoples and social groups being planned and carried out. Here we recall the Jewish people in particular, whose terrible fate has become a symbol of the aberration of which man is capable when he turns against God.
However, it is only when hatred and injustice are sanctioned and organized by the ideologies based on them, rather than on the truth about man, that they take possession of entire nations and drive them to act.49 Rerum novarum opposed ideologies of hatred and showed how violence and resentment could be overcome by justice. May the memory of those terrible events guide the actions of everyone, particularly the leaders of nations in our own time, when other forms of injustice are fuelling new hatreds and when new ideologies which exalt violence are appearing on the horizon.