Parishioner of St. Katharine Drexel in Chester slated for deportation

Zulma Villatoro was brought to the US from Guatemala in 1998 at the age of 14 by her mother and stepfather, who have obtained permanent residency. The St. Katharine Drexel parishioner is the mother of a 4-year-old Reina (from whom she'd be permanently separated by the deportation) and is expecting a second child.

Unfortunately, Zulma's lawyer made errors that caused her petition to be rejected. She has been engaged in a legal struggle for years and is facing deportation July 2.

Please sign this petition urging Senator Casey, Representative Brady, Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security, John Morton, and Secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano to stop the deportation.

There will be a vigil for Zulma at 5 p.m. Tuesday, June 7 in front of the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul in Philadelphia. Please join us there to pray and petition that this young family not be split up, and that Zulma not be deported to Guatemala -- a country where violence against women and girls has become epidemic according to recent U.N. Human Rights Council reports.

You can't kill a dream

On Dec. 4, 2000, the United Nations (UN) General Assembly proclaimed December 18 International Migrants Day. The day began as a commemoration of the 10-year anniversary of the adoption of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant workers and the Members of their Families.

On Dec. 18, 2010 the U.S. Senate voted no to cloture on the DREAM Act, which would have provided a path to citizenship for young persons who were brought to the United States by their parents as children or infants.

A terribly ironic coincidence of dates.

After the DREAM Act defeat, supporters of the bill said they would continue to push for it. Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey, one of the sponsors, said Latinos would remember in the elections in 2012 how senators had voted.

In a letter to senators before the vote, Archbishop Jose H. Gomez, coadjutor archbishop of Los Angeles and chairman of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee on Migration, said: "The DREAM Act would provide thousands of deserving young persons who desire to become Americans a fair opportunity to do so. This would not only benefit them, but our country as well. It is the right thing to do, for them and for our nation."

The U.S. Catholic Bishops have supported passage of the DREAM Act for years. The Church's National Migration Week -- which has as its theme Renewing Hope, Seeking Justice -- is slated to be held Jan. 2-8 in parishes and dioceses around the country. It seems like the ideal time for Catholics heeding Pope Benedict XVI's focus on migrant families in his 2011 World Day of Migrants and Refugees message to gather for prayer vigils and in solidarity with the young people whose dreams were delayed and deferred (but hopefully not destroyed) by Saturday's vote.

Many thanks, by the way, to both Senators Casey and Specter who voted yes to the DREAM Act.

***

Speaking of dreams that flower only after a long fallow season ....

In an appeal born of shameless self-promotion, and of support for a small but worthy Catholic literary magazine, I'd like to draw your attention to the latest issue of Dappled Things, which contains my "Poem with a line from the Desert Fathers." The issue includes fiction, essays, poetry and artwork with a Catholic focus and is quite handsomely produced. It is also -- perhaps fittingly -- a bit countercultural in that the issue cannot be ordered as an epub, only in print. The web site is www.dappledthings.org. Go, browse the back issues (some of those have online links, go figure) -- much of the material is engaging and speaks directly to the Catholic imagination. Hey, maybe you'll discover the next J.R.R. Tolkien among the pages ....

Life is a carnival

As we race toward the end of the year, we're racing also toward the end of the decade.

What were you doing when the calendar rolled over to 2000? How much has your life changed in the ensuing 10 years? (I'm really asking, by the way.)

I rang in the year 2000 with my husband, daughter, parents and Wally Reinhardt, a good family friend, on beaches of the Mexican Riviera - dancing on the sand to live music and watching a "torito" of fireworks burn the first few minutes of the 21st century away. There seemed nothing, nothing at all, that would make a better beginning.

A week or so later, my family would troop to Mexico City for my daughter's belated baptism and the subsequent party - notable for its food and the canary who picked my daughter's fortune from a basket. "You will be happy," my daughter's fortune read. "And although destiny has made you pretty, do not be conceited. Work to keep a noble heart." We were all happy. I remember it on our faces. And around the table, some very noble hearts.

My husband, daughter and I returned from Mexico to our snowy cabin in the woods outside of Hamilton, N.Y. It was - and still is - the little corner of the world best loved by my heart. Coy-dogs and wild turkeys and deer were our closest neighbors. We awaited the yearly crop morel mushrooms, gem-studded puffballs, mayapples and trout lilies on the ground; the crayfish, little jeweled frogs and brown trout in the stream; and the tiny hummingbird nests hidden halfway to the sky.

We settled back into our routines, the day-to-day lives that now, in retrospect, stand as the best of times. Then, little more than a month into 2000, my mother died.

It was the opening salvo of a decade that when it comes to an end on Dec. 31, will have included more sorrows than joys, more destruction than creation, more heartache than heart's ease.

I miscarried a child. And then another and another. We moved away from our beloved woods. My father got sick, suffered, died. Friends I thought I'd never lose, I did. My husband was unemployed for half the decade. We went from poor but solvent to poor and insolvent and worried about just making it from week to week. Depression, PTSD-like effects of childhood sexual abuse, health concerns, surgeries. It seems like the litany of darkness might go on until the end of time.

And yet.

My brothers both married in this decade, as did one of my brothers in law. I have six nieces and nephews now - all amazing little beings as distinct from one another as the leaves I see changing outside the window today. My daughter has grown from an amazing 5-year-old to an amazing 15-year-old and guess what? She's survived my parenting just fine. My husband is employed at a job he loves. Friends I never thought to seek have made their way into my life. I've discovered social media in this decade, and rediscovered every kind of writing I ever loved and had set aside - from journalism to poetry.I also rediscovered the peculiar joy of seeing my words paid, and in print.

Rediscovery has, in fact, been the hallmark of this decade for me.

The social justice activism I set aside after college has re-emerged in advocacy for immigrants. The religion I also wholly set aside is now part of my everyday life. The assimilated Latina gave way to something just a little different - a woman in community. A mucha honra.

I don't think my ups and downs are unique to my decade. We need only look at the highs and lows of the economy; the ways both the best of the American Dream and the worst have taken center stage in our collective lives; the ways we have lived, in Dickens' words, the best and worst of times.

Not too many months ago my family attended the carnival at St. Joe's Parish in Downingtown. Yes, the ferris wheel photo at the top of this post is from that outing. I have always been an adrenaline junkie - no person in news business can be otherwise - and have done my share of facing down fears. Scared of snakes? Then, let me drape myself in them while on a trip to Thailand. Scared of heights? Let me jump out of a plane at 10,000 feet with nothing but a thin tissue of nylon to stop my fall. And still, at the parish carnival, I refused to go on the ferris wheel.(My husband went on it with my daughter.) I had to be coerced, in fact, to go on a horrid pirate ship ride that pitched me forward and backward, with my eyes firmly shut. I'm told the child in the seat in front of me laughed through the whole ride. So, the question is, has this decade birthed fear in me?

The answer is undeniably, yes.

And yet.

I was working on my novel a few days ago (I'll post some other time about how this decade also swallowed whole my last novel). One of the characters is like I was before the calendar page turned in 2000 - seemingly fearless. She climbs as high as she can to get close as she can to the stars. Her explanation? The stars cast their light on us without regard for whether we deserve the illumination or not. Without regard for our fears, or our small, brave stands. Without regard for whether we have become what we imagined, oh say, a decade ago.

This decade has also birthed a sort of awareness of the significant synchronicities in life. The way, if you want (and I do), God sheds light on us. The way, for example, as I'm writing this, my eyes fall on the words of one of columnists in our Catholic newspaper this week:

You know the number of the stars and call each of them by name.

It is a line from the psalms intoned in Morning Prayer - the Divine Office prayed across the globe, every day. I like the rest of the psalm, too. The way it speaks, the way it illuminates the step that bridges closure and beginning:

Heal hearts that are broken, gather together those who have been scattered....

No canary could pick a better wish for a new decade than this. No person could pray for better.

You may say that we're DREAMers

But we're not the only ones ...

DREAM Act Panel Discussion
Wednesday, Nov. 17
7:30 - 8:30 p.m.
Barton Hall Classrooms, Room 109, at Temple University

The DREAM Act is bipartisan legislation that would legalize the status of thousands of undocumented youth in the United States. The bill would apply to students in both public and private schools, including Catholic schools. Young persons would become eligible for permanent legal status upon completion of two years of college or two years of honorable service in the military. Approximately 65,000 youth per year would benefit from the DREAM Act.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops supports the DREAM Act:

"On behalf of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), I write to express our support for S. 729, the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act (DREAM Act). This legislation would make a difference in the lives of undocumented youth who were brought to the United States by their parents and now, because of their lack of legal status, face obstacles to their future. By removing such barriers, the DREAM Act permits immigrant students to pursue a promising future through college education or military service."
-- USCCB letter to legislators, April 6, 2009

This is not an empty bowl

First, an apology. Looking all the way back to the year I started this blog, I've never had a month like this August - one post only, and a guest blog post at that. What can I say? It's been a tremendously busy summer at work (new bishops, departing bishops and as those of you who subscribe to the CS&T will see on Thursday, a big and gorgeous special supplement marking our cardinal's 25th year as a bishop). But, you'll be delighted to know, I'm not going to make up for lost time (days, weeks, month) all in one post.

I have always liked the Magritte painting of a pipe with its "this is not a pipe" text attached - therefore my post title and image of the bowl. And, yes, I will be directing you to an article with some surreal elements to it. Slate (which, I have to say, I often love reading) is publishing a series of articles about economic inequality in the United States. If that sounds like a snooze, think again. Here are a couple of snips from Timothy Noah's second installment, guaranteed to raise some hairs:

"All my life I've heard Latin America described as a failed society (or collection of failed societies) because of its grotesque maldistribution of wealth [...] But according to the Central Intelligence Agency (whose patriotism I hesitate to question), income distribution in the United States is more unequal than in Guyana, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, and roughly on par with Uruguay, Argentina, and Ecuador. Income inequality is actually declining in Latin America even as it continues to increase in the United States."

Not exactly the image we have of ourselves as a nation. But unless we want to end up as a pipe that insists it's not a pipe, or a bowl that insists it's full for everyone when it's not, we might want to take a hard look at how our experience of America is not everyone's experience of it.

One of the intriguing things about the whole article (click here to read it) is that you can enter your zip code and your income and see where you fall in the spectrum of things. I fall below the 50th percentile in mine. The first thing that came to mind when I saw this was: I've never fallen in the 50th percentile in anything - not even math (which, let me say, given my nonexistent math skills is scary in itself). The second was: wow, half the people around me are struggling even more than I am. It is a reality check and an incentive to move away from the pity party I've been throwing myself since - oh, forever.

But it is also an impetus to look to our safety net providers (Catholic Social Services, Catholic Human Services, Catholic Campaign for Human Development, Catholic Charities, or one of my favorites, Operation Rice Bowl) and realize that without them (and the equivalent organizations in other faiths) even more people would be facing that empty bowl that says it is not empty.

But income inequality does more than starve the body, it starves our dreams as well.

More about that in my next post.

This is not the moment for a ‘transeat’

Guest blogger: Msgr. Hugh Shields, Vicar for Hispanic Catholics of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia:

When we studied philosophy in the seminary, one of the phrases used in the argumentation of a point was the phrase “transeat.” Loosely translated it meant “I, in a gentlemanly fashion, will let what you just said pass for now.” In many debates that phrase allowed the speaker to come to his conclusion and then be responded to by the listener.

In our country’s immigration law reform debate we, as Catholics, seem to have fallen into the habit (hopefully, unconsciously) of symbolically using transeat in the heated, emotionally charged dialogue.

To allow speakers (elected or not) to imply that the approximately 12 million undocumented people in our country are all drug dealers, terrorists, “illegal” or here to undermine the values of our country — and we as Catholics say transeat?

To allow speakers to deny the right for people to immigrate seeking a better life for themselves and their families (a right, by the way, supported by the teaching of the Catholic Church) — and we as Catholics say transeat?

To allow the narrowing of “immigration law reform” to simply mean “border enforcement,” when our Catholic bishops are begging for a more comprehensive approach to a very difficult reality — and we as Catholics say transeat?

To allow directly or indirectly the “demonizing” of people as if they are not made in the image and likeness of God simply because they do not have documents — and we as Catholics say transeat?

To permit the “not connecting of the dots” between our commercial contracts with foreign nations and the conditions that drive people to seek a better life outside of those same foreign nations — and we say transeat?

To allow the “debate” and its significance to deteriorate into a shouting match in front of a cheesesteak establishment — and we say transeat?

I think we, as Catholics, are not being the leaven that our Church wants us to be when we withhold by our absence a much needed powerful presence of Christ in a debate on its way to violence.

Transeat or not? I would encourage that at this time, and in this discussion, not.

¿Transeat? No en este momento

Por Mons. Hugh Shields
Vicario para Hispanos Católicos de la Arquidiócesis de Filadelfia

Cuando nosotros estudiamos filosofía en el seminario, una de las frases que se utilizaba en la argumentación de un punto era la frase transeat. Traducido vagamente significaba, de modo caballeroso: dejaré que pase por ahora lo que usted acaba de decir. En muchos debates esa frase permitió al orador llegar a su conclusión y, a continuación, responder al que escuchaba.

En el debate de reforma de ley de inmigración de nuestro país, nosotros como católicos, parece que hemos caído en el hábito (espero, inconscientemente) de utilizar simbólicamente transeat en el acalorado, emocionalmente cargado diálogo.

Permitir a oradores (electos o no) implicar que los aproximadamente 12 millones de personas indocumentadas que están en nuestro país son todos traficantes de droga, terroristas, ‘ilegales’ o que están aquí para minar los valores de nuestro país - ¿y como católicos decimos transeat?

Permitir a oradores negar el derecho a las personas a inmigrar buscando una mejor vida para ellos y sus familias (un derecho, a propósito, apoyado por la enseñanza de la Iglesia católica) - ¿y, como católicos, decimos transeat?

Permitir el estrechamiento de la ley de inmigración a que simplemente signifique la imposición de la ley fronteriza, cuando nuestros obispos católicos piden un acercamiento más comprensivo a una realidad muy difícil -¿y nosotros, como católicos, decimos transeat?

Permitir directa o indirectamente el ‘satanizar’ de las personas como si ellos no son hechos a la imagen y semejanza de Dios simplemente porque ellos no tienen documentos - y, ¿como católicos, decimos transeat?

Permitir el no conectar los puntos entre nuestros contratos comerciales con las naciones extranjeras y las condiciones que impulsan a las personas a buscar una vida mejor fuera de esas mismas naciones extranjeras -¿y decimos transeat?

Permitir que el debate y su significancia se degeneren en un vociferar frente a un establecimiento de cheesteak –¿y decimos transeat?

Creo que nosotros, como católicos, no estamos siendo la levadura que nuestra Iglesia quiere que seamos cuando por nuestra ausencia retenemos una presencia poderosa de Cristo muy necesaria en un debate que se encamina a la violencia.

¿Transeat o no? Yo animaría a que sea no en este momento, y en este debate.

This column first appeared in English and Spanish in the Catholic Standard & Times, July 22 issue.

Prayers for immigrant taxi drivers in Philly

On Wed., June 30, 26 Philadelphia taxi drivers arrived at the Philadelphia Parking Authority's garage on Swanson Street expecting to be paid for credit card transactions still owed to them. When they got there, however, the majority of them were handcuffed and detained by Immigration and Customs enforcement agents for being in the United States without documentation. According to a report filed July 2 by the Philadelphia Daily News' Gloria Campisi, "all but four were released but their names were placed on a deportation list." She added "Two of the three cleared drivers identified themselves as American citizens and said that the experience had been harrowing and humiliating and that they, too, had been handcuffed and interrogated." According to Campisi, the ICE spokesperson said "those arrested were from the United Kingdom, Morocco, Ghana, Nigeria, Liberia, Senegal, Jamaica, Ivory Coast and India." Wed., July 7 at noon, the Unified Taxi Workers Alliance of Pennsylvania, members of the New Sanctuary Movement, Juntos-Philadelphia, the IWW, the Media Mobilizing Project and people of faith from throughout the city joined in a prayer vigil
in support of the drivers and their families. One of the apprehended taxi drivers slated for deportation attended the prayer vigil - wearing an ankle monitoring device. Photos by Sam Williams for the Catholic Standard & Times.

The life I live now, I live by faith

This musical video is lifted from Quantum Theology, where it was cross posted with RevGalsBlogPals, so you know it's good. Really good. They are the Nathaniel Dett Chorale, by the way.

Counting down to the World Cup

Very cool that the Bishops in South Africa have blessed the football stadiums, initiated an educational campaign about human trafficking, drafted a special World Cup prayer (and no, there are no petitions in it for the home team) and and set up this web site: www.churchontheball.com.

World Cup fever is everywhere.

Tomorrow, folks.

Church on the Ball from CatholicStudio on Vimeo.

I'm counting down to the March for America on Sunday

You know you want to join us. You know you want each step to be a prayer for love and justice. In the name of your parents or grandparents or great grandparents or great-great-grandparents and in the name of the dream that is America....

It is not too late -- go here to see how to join. And if you can't join us in person, join us in prayer on that day.

Here, the amazing Bishop Wester speaks on the need for comprehensive and humane immigration reform. He'll be part of the interfaith prayer service on Sunday afternoon in Washington D.C. as well.

Take four M&Ms, and call me in the morning

I don’t like asking for help.

In fact, I hate it.

I was trained early on to be the helper, not the helped, and any change in that order of things feels seismic.

So the past few years have been my own private Haiti. A personal quake that flattened what rose high, and shattered foundations – with aftershocks too numerous to count.

I have had to ask for the figurative analogues of emergency relief: shelter, sustenance, healing, hope.

I’ll tell you right now, asking hurts.

It can make you feel exposed – raw and tender as if you’ve spent too much time in a strong sun that scorches rather than warms. Or conversely, it can leave you frostbitten and lost in a blizzard, miles from home.

Because asking presumes an answer, right?

Wrong.

Sometimes petitions turn to lamentation in the long silence that follows them:

Why do you stand aside,
Why hide from us now the times are hard?

I asked a priest friend something akin to the psalmist’s question a few days ago. Not so beautifully put, of course, and probably even more despairing.

Sometimes, he said to me, it is the asking that matters. Putting a name to your need.

I’m kind of arrogant, I answered, ready to finish the sentence with something along the lines of not usually feeling like I need help and so not being at ease with it. You know – a spoken equivalent to the beginning of this blog post.

But as soon as the word arrogant came out of my mouth, he agreed without my having to finish the sentence.

I’m sure the look of shock on my face must have felt like a reprieve after my interminable sniffling and sniveling.

And then I had to laugh. This is one of the reasons he is my friend. I am deeply suspicious of pietistic bromides – religious or secular – but give it to me straight and I’ll sit up and pay attention.

This is the only part of our conversation you are going to remember, isn’t it? he asked a little sadly later, after I had referenced the arrogant comment several times.

But it isn’t.

We aren’t meant to carry our crosses alone. And sometimes God sends us straight to the people who’ll help us shoulder them for the crucial bit. Sometimes God even sends us to someone with a sense of humor.

It may not be the answer we imagined when we asked for help, but turns out to be just right.

On your way out, take four red M&Ms. For your arrogance, my priest friend said. Smiling.

I kept them lined up on my desk for the rest of the day. Every time I caught sight of them I was reminded of how no one gets through the journey without help. We all have to learn to ask, no matter how vulnerable it makes us feel or how the heaviness of the need drives us to our knees in anguish rather than praise.

We learn to ask even when we think God’s not listening.

Four M&Ms, four little red dots -- like blood shed.

My priest friend is very canny. It is Lent, a time of preparation. A time leading, our faith tells us, to an answer to all the petitions, an answer to all the pleas that have turned to lamentation. It doesn’t happen bloodlessly. It doesn’t happen easily. It is a bitter via crucis that leads at long last to a day in which we get to taste the sweet.

Today I placed four red M&Ms on my desk. Tomorrow I will do the same, and every day through the end of Lent.

I look forward to the promise of sweetness.

I look forward in faith.

I look forward.

Catholic bishops announce nationwide action alert, postcard campaign in support of comprehensive immigration reform

Yesterday afternoon:

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- As the Catholic Church observed National
Migration Week Jan. 3-9, support for legislative efforts took the
forefront amid various other steps to bring attention to the concerns
of migrants and refugees.

In a teleconference Jan. 6, Bishop John C. Wester of Salt Lake
City, chairman of the bishops' Committee on Migration, described
severalsteps being undertaken by the U.S. bishops, including a new Web site,
a nationwide action alert and a previously announced postcard campaign
toencourage members of Congress to support comprehensive reform. The Web
site is a revamped version of www.justiceforimmigrants.org.

"The American public, including the Catholic and other faith
communities, want a humane and comprehensive solution to the problems
which beset our immigration system, and they want Congress to address
this issue," Bishop Wester said.

(...)

Read the full story by Patricia Zapor of Catholic News Service: http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1000047.htm

A new look... and another look

A new look for the newspaper:

We've just completed the redesign of our newspaper -- from flag to folios. Let us know what you think! Of course, you have to pick up the print edition to see just how extensive the redesign really is....

And another look at an issue I write about often: the Catholic Church's commitment to bettering the plight of immigrants and reforming broken immigration policies:

The photos I've included in this post are by freelancer Kevin Cook. They were taken at a Philadelphia Catholic leadership meeting on immigration reform that took place at Our Lady of Ransom School's gymnasium Sept. 11.

Msgr. Hugh Shields, vicar for Hispanic Catholics of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, and other Hispanic apostolate leaders addressed approximately 90 people who gathered -- to formulate a genuinely Catholic response to the challenges posed by current immigration policies. An article about the event, written by freelancer Denise Peterson, will appear in the Sept. 24 issue of the Catholic Standard & Times (in English and in Spanish), but here's a teaser:

Sister Pat Madden, S.S.J., who works at the Sisters of St. Joseph Welcome Center in North Philadelphia, attended the meeting at Our Lady of Ransom. “I’m glad to see the energy is back. A couple of years ago we were going to rallies and all, and then it just died. I can feel that the energy is coming back, that the time is now, and that hope is here. The plight of the immigrant is very important to us. Jesus welcomes everyone — lepers, Samaritans, the woman at the well — so we should too.”

On Sept. 17, the Hispanic Bishops of the U.S. met with legislators in Washington D.C. about policy issues most affecting Hispanics in the U.S. This is from a USCCB report on the meeting:

At a series of meetings at Capitol Hill, a delegation of Hispanic Bishops discussed with Democratic and Republican legislators of both houses, four areas of deep concern and offered principles of Catholic social teaching to help in the current debates.

Archbishop José Gomez of San Antonio, Texas, led the September 17 delegation, representing the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

“The bishops are keenly aware of the substantial contributions Hispanic communities make to the prosperity and well-being of the United States,” said Archbishop Gomez. “Yet those same communities suffer under the weight of a broken immigration policy, as well as lack of access to quality education, adequate medical care and economic opportunities.”


“We met with our political leaders of both parties to re-affirm the principles of Catholic social teaching about the dignity of all human beings from conception to natural death and the centrality of the common good. We offered these principles grounded in social ethics and our religious heritage as constructive guidelines for achieving a just and equitable resolution of the public policy debates around these key issues,” he said.

The U. S. Church and our Bishops continue to remind Catholics about the moral implications of current immigration policies, and a debate about the issue that has turned increasingly vitriolic. From Catholic News Service:

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Outside the Capitol Sept. 15 bishops of three denominations led a brief prayer service for an end to hate, particularly hatred toward immigrants.
[...]
"The current environment dehumanizes our fellow human beings and diminishes us as a nation," said Bishop John C. Wester of Salt Lake City, chairman of the migration committee of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
[...]
Meanwhile, elsewhere on Capitol Hill, 47 radio talk show hosts held a two-day broadcast capping a lobbying effort aimed at cracking down on illegal immigration and derailing efforts to approve comprehensive immigration reform.

Read the CNS brief here (scroll to second brief).

Archbishop Wuerl, of Washington, included the following in an op-ed piece about another fractious issue -- health care reform:

The United Stated Conference of Catholic Bishops, following the Gospel mandate to care for the "least of these," urges us to look at health care from the bottom up. A particular gauge against which to measure true universal coverage would be how reform treats the immigrants in our midst who contribute their labor and taxes to our nation, but are at risk of being left out of health care reform.

Read the full op-ed here (and note comments on the post, if you have the stomach for them).

And Our Sunday Visitor, in an editorial about health care reform and the Bishops' call to cover immigrants in it, notes that:

It may be that what America needs right now is a conscience prick about what society is supposed to be all about: serving the common good, as Pope Benedict XVI so forcefully underscored in his latest encyclical, Caritas in Veritate.

Read the full editorial here.


Comprehensive immigration reform and the treatment of immigrants in our country is as fractious an issue for the Catholic laity as it is for the rest of the population. Working at a Catholic newspaper I get to see letters to the editor and to field calls from readers who are upset at our priests and religious for their ongoing work to minister to the undocumented.

I get to track poll results from our own newspaper web site that indicate that a substantial number of our readers think the Bishops shouldn't involve themselves in immigration because it is a "political" issue.

But it isn't be the first time we've needed the priests and religious -- and our Bishops -- to remind us that issues of shared humanity and human dignity go beyond the merely political; and that they aren't predicated on race, or ethnicity, or status in society.

Some time ago I fielded an unrelated call that took me into the newspaper's archives. I rooted around in the CS&T issues from the 1960s. By chance I ended up looking at a number of editorial pages. There were lots of letters to the editor in those old issues very similar to ones I'd been seeing about immigration. Catholics were taking the Bishops to task for what the letter-writers saw as meddling in politics. You see, the Bishops had issued statements and were advocating for desegregation... and the readers didn't like it one bit.

Today it is hard to imagine that any Catholic could have wanted the Bishops to stay mute about segregation.

And years from now, I believe, it will be equally inconceivable for us to imagine that any would call for our Bishops to be silent while immigration policies tear families, lives and communities apart.

Prophetic voices are desperately needed (I'm shamelessly stealing this line from one of my favorite CS&T columnists, Msgr. Francis Meehan).

On this issue and in this debate, I'm proud that some of the strongest prophetic voices belong to our Bishops.

Sen. Edward Kennedy: A clear voice in the immigration debate

In the following days there will, no doubt, be many articles and commentaries in the Catholic blogosphere and press about Sen. Edward Kennedy -- and how his years of public service reflected or defied Catholic values and teachings. Some will admire his commitment to the Church's social justice teachings, others will abhor his public support for legislation that stands in opposition to the Church's primordial tenet -- the right to life.

In terms of immigration law reform, his public efforts were unabashedly in line with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' calls for a just and compassionate comprehensive reform. And so, his efforts on this count were greatly admired by those of us who feel that the Bishops' and Pope's statements about immigration have been clear and unequivocal. His voice will be missed in this national debate.

Here is an excerpt from one of many talks Sen. Kennedy gave on the topic, this one from June 9, 2006:

“When I look at this issue, I say finally, this is an issue about our humanity, our decency and our values […] These are individuals prepared to leave their families to go across the northern part of Mexico where about 500 a year are dying out in the desert. So they’re risking their lives. They don’t know where they’re going to get a job, but they’re going to get a job and try to get something better. And what do they do? They work extraordinarily hard, and then they repatriate to who? To their families, to look after their children.

“We in this country value hard work. We value people that work hard and love their families. This is a group of individuals that get highest attendance of any group in society in terms of going back to church. […]

“And the first thing they do when the men become residents, what they do is try to become part of the military: 70,000 now are in Iraq and in Afghanistan and serving in our country. Scores of them have been killed in Iraq. These are individuals who want to be part of the American system. For anybody that’s interested look at the latest poll that you can get on the internet: 98% of them will pay the penalty. 98% of them want to join the military. 98% of them want to be part of the whole American dream. Why should we possibly expect that they’re any different from any of our forbears that came here and want to be a part of this great country?”

To the entire transcript go to: http://bit.ly/EdZrW

Bishops ask for calls

This just in from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB):

During the week of July 6-10, the U.S. Senate considered amendments to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) appropriations bill. During the debate, the Senate considered and adopted several immigration enforcement amendments which continue the enforcement-only approach to immigration reform. An amendment offered by Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) enhancing the U.S.-Mexico border fence was particularly disturbing.

DeMint Amendment #1399: This amendment would require the completion of at least 700 miles of double fencing along the Southwest border by December 31, 2010, as well as require double barriers along portions of the fence.

USCCB Position: The USCCB has opposed the construction of a border fence, arguing that it will not stem, overall, illegal immigration, and could lead migrants to undertake more dangerous journeys into the United States. It also would force them to rely on expensive and dangerous human smuggling operations.
The Senate also adopted an amendment to extend the employment verification program, offered by Senator Sessions, and two other immigration enforcement amendments by voice vote (not roll call).
Notwithstanding the substance of the amendments, a vote in favor demonstrates that enforcement-only approaches to immigration reform are still supported by the majority of the Senate. Using the border fence vote as an example, we must communicate to our Senators that enforcement-only legislation is wrongheaded and ineffective and that only comprehensive immigration reform will help repair a badly broken immigration system.

Action and Targets: Clicking on this link will bring you to two separate letters, one which thanks your Senator for voting in opposition to the DeMint amendment and one expressing disappointment for their vote on the DeMint Amendment. Below, please find the roll call vote for the DeMint Amendment, with a "Yea" voting for the fence and a "Nay" voting against the fence.
Please send the appropriate letters to your Senator. It is just as important to thank your Senator for the right vote as it is expressing disappointment for a wrong vote. You can also use the letters as talking points if you wish to contact them via phone at 202-224-3121.

Specific Targets: While it is important that all Senators receive letters or calls, there are specific target Senators important to the comprehensive immigration reform debate (and who should support CIR) who should hear from us:
Target Senators who voted the wrong way on the DeMint amendment: Democrats: Baucus, Bayh, Boxer, Feinstein, Klobuchar, Landreiu, Lincoln, McCaskill, Merkley, Nelson (FL), Nelson (NE), Pryor, Rockefeller, Schumer, Specter, Stabenow, Tester, Webb, and Wyden. Republicans: Bennett, Brownback, Hatch, Graham, Gregg, McCain, Snowe.

For more information, please contact: Antonio Cube at acube@usccb.org or Chris West at CWest@crs.org

U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 111th Congress - 1st Session as compiled through Senate LIS by the Senate Bill Clerk under the direction of the Secretary of the Senate
Question: On the Amendment (DeMint Amdt. No. 1399 )
Vote Number: 220
Vote Date: July 8, 2009, 11:34 AM
Required For Majority: 1/2
Vote Result: Amendment Agreed to
Amendment Number: S.Amdt. 1399 to S.Amdt. 1373 to H.R. 2892 (Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2010)
Statement of Purpose: To require the completion of at least 700 miles of reinforced fencing along the southwest border by December 31, 2010.
Vote Counts: YEAs 54 NAYs 44 Not Voting 2

Alabama: Sessions (R-AL), Yea Shelby (R-AL), Yea
Alaska: Begich (D-AK), Nay Murkowski (R-AK), Nay
Arizona: Kyl (R-AZ), Yea McCain (R-AZ), Yea
Arkansas: Lincoln (D-AR), Yea Pryor (D-AR), Yea
California: Boxer (D-CA), Yea Feinstein (D-CA), Yea
Colorado: Bennet (D-CO), Nay Udall (D-CO), Nay
Connecticut: Dodd (D-CT), Nay Lieberman (ID-CT), Nay
Delaware: Carper (D-DE), Nay Kaufman (D-DE), Nay
Florida: Martinez (R-FL), Nay Nelson (D-FL), Yea
Georgia: Chambliss (R-GA), Yea Isakson (R-GA), Yea
Hawaii: Akaka (D-HI), Nay Inouye (D-HI), Nay
Idaho: Crapo (R-ID), Yea Risch (R-ID), Yea
Illinois: Burris (D-IL), Nay Durbin (D-IL), Nay
Indiana: Bayh (D-IN), Yea Lugar (R-IN), Nay
Iowa: Grassley (R-IA), Yea Harkin (D-IA), Nay
Kansas: Brownback (R-KS), Yea Roberts (R-KS), Yea
Kentucky: Bunning (R-KY), Yea McConnell (R-KY), Yea
Louisiana: Landrieu (D-LA), Yea Vitter (R-LA), Yea
Maine: Collins (R-ME), Nay Snowe (R-ME), Yea
Maryland: Cardin (D-MD), Nay Mikulski (D-MD), Nay
Massachusetts: Kennedy (D-MA), Not Voting Kerry (D-MA), Nay
Michigan: Levin (D-MI), Nay Stabenow (D-MI), Yea
Minnesota: Franken (D-MN), Nay Klobuchar (D-MN), Yea
Mississippi: Cochran (R-MS), Nay Wicker (R-MS), Yea
Missouri: Bond (R-MO), Yea McCaskill (D-MO), Yea
Montana: Baucus (D-MT), Yea Tester (D-MT), Yea
Nebraska: Johanns (R-NE), Yea Nelson (D-NE), Yea
Nevada: Ensign (R-NV), Nay Reid (D-NV), Nay
New Hampshire: Gregg (R-NH), Yea Shaheen (D-NH), Nay
New Jersey: Lautenberg (D-NJ), Nay Menendez (D-NJ), Nay
New Mexico: Bingaman (D-NM), Nay Udall (D-NM), Nay
New York: Gillibrand (D-NY), Nay Schumer (D-NY), Yea
North Carolina: Burr (R-NC), Yea Hagan (D-NC), Nay
North Dakota: Conrad (D-ND), Yea Dorgan (D-ND), Yea
Ohio: Brown (D-OH), Nay Voinovich (R-OH), Nay
Oklahoma: Coburn (R-OK), Yea Inhofe (R-OK), Yea
Oregon: Merkley (D-OR), Yea Wyden (D-OR), Yea
Pennsylvania: Casey (D-PA), Nay Specter (D-PA), Yea
Rhode Island: Reed (D-RI), Nay Whitehouse (D-RI), Nay
South Carolina: DeMint (R-SC), Yea Graham (R-SC), Yea
South Dakota: Johnson (D-SD), Nay Thune (R-SD), Yea
Tennessee: Alexander (R-TN), Yea Corker (R-TN), Yea
Texas: Cornyn (R-TX), Yea Hutchison (R-TX), Yea
Utah: Bennett (R-UT), Yea Hatch (R-UT), Yea
Vermont: Leahy (D-VT), Nay Sanders (I-VT), Nay
Virginia: Warner (D-VA), Nay Webb (D-VA), Yea
Washington: Cantwell (D-WA), Nay Murray (D-WA), Nay

Work and pray

There are times blogging comes easily. Some others, not so much.

I’m struggling now with whether I want to write about proposed legislation in California. It proposes issuing different birth certificates to the U.S.-born infants of undocumented immigrants than to any other U.S.-born infants. It would thus become material proof of “second class” status and would sweep away the 14th Amendment’s jus solis category of citizenship for those the state deems “undesirable” [http://www.northcountytimes.com/articles/2009/04/15/news/sandiego/z3a7cb4466b4507ce882575970077d470.txt].

But no, as much as the proposal alarms me – and should alarm any child or grandchild or great-grandchild of immigrants whose citizenship was granted by virtue of having been born on U. S. soil – I just don’t want to delve into what such a proposal means. What it says about the type of nation we are contemplating becoming.

Neither do I want to examine the fact that anti-immigrant groups such as FAIR [http://www.splcenter.org/intel/nativist_fair.jsp and http://www.splcenter.org/intel/nativist_lobby.jsp] have responded to the President’s readiness to begin addressing immigration reform by pledging renewed and increased talk radio and internet attacks [http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-immigration-lobbying-041509,0,446373.story]. Or the fact that the nativist group, according to information on its web site, has been called to testify before Congress on immigration proposals more than any other organization in America.

I don’t even want to write about the illuminating but depressing Catholic News Service article about the Pew Center’s recently released “Portrait of Unauthorized Immigrants” [http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0901738.htm] or any of the excellent articles on immigration I read daily in El Diario/La Prensa [http://www.impre.com/eldiariony/].

Instead, I’m tempted to blog Catholic.

It is not something I do often, though faith underpins every entry about immigration and torture and sanctuary and all the personal stories I’ve ever posted here. It’s just that – it may as well be said upfront – I’m hardly the poster child for Catholicism. I was away from the Church almost as long as I’ve been in it, and am no more capable of deep theological thought than your average bear. Forget apologetics or eschatology or whether I prefer Aquinas or Augustine (though an amusing Facebook quiz tells me I’m in Aquinas’ camp) I want to write about a far more mundane aspect of being Catholic.

May 1 is the feast of St. Joseph the Worker.

This memorial looks not at the saint’s exalted moments of angelic guidance, but at his day-to-day labor as a carpenter and the tradition that, as Jesus’ foster father, he taught Him his trade.

The memorial acknowledges the dignity of work – no matter that it be accomplished with sweat and physical exertion or without formal education – and of the dignity of the human beings performing that work.

It is good to be reminded of this. Our society doesn’t much value certain types of labor, or see artistry in what it considers ordinary. We hardly notice those around us who keep the roads paved, the fields yielding or the shelves stocked. We probably wouldn’t have noticed this simple village carpenter either.

Through this memorial, and in her papal encyclical about the dignity of work, the Catholic Church honors what many of us forget – that nations would founder without laborers, and that they are due every bit as much respect as the white-collar workers who make it onto the pages of Fortune magazine.

A column that will appear on the bilingual page of the Catholic Standard & Times’ April 23 edition [www.cst-phl.com] talks about St. Joseph the Worker and also notes that May 1 marks the national “Day without an Immigrant.” Though the rallies associated with the day have dwindled in recent years, at their peak hundreds of thousands of people gathered in a visible reminder of how many immigrants labor side by side with us; how many of them pray for justice and redemption side by side with us as well.

The author of the column in the CS&T reminds us that in addition to a laborer, St. Joseph was an also immigrant, seeking refuge with his family in lands other than his own. It fits so perfectly, don’t you think? Work and pray. That is what we do together.

On May 1, let’s promise to notice those who labor around us. Let’s notice not the color of their skin or the quality of their language or the status of their documents, but the work of their hands. To paraphrase a U2 song, those are the hands that build America.

Painting of St. Joseph by Georges de La Tour at the top of this blog is from Wikimedia commons' public domain images.

Powerful, Popular, Perfect and Peaceful

My husband came home from work with a test.

He works at the meat counter of a local grocery store owned, and in large measure staffed, by Mennonites. We often joke that between that and the fact I work at a Catholic newspaper we’re up to our jowls in religion.

It can be, um, a bit overwhelming.

Neither of us can conceive of a company gathering anymore that doesn’t start or end with – or have interludes of – prayer. Family dinners have found us exploring why the expression “Holy smokes” is unacceptable to his Mennonite coworkers and how this intersects with Catholic ritual. We’ve both heard way too many excruciatingly earnest but awful praise-and-worship songs since we started working at our respective jobs, and between us know a battalion of people of faith who spent time in New Orleans helping people rebuild from Hurricane Katrina.

I wonder about how my husband’s coworkers don’t freeze to death wearing dresses in middle of winter as they bicycle to the store from farms many miles away, and he wonders whether priests ever get a day off from wearing clerics. Our daughter just rolls her eyes at us – and makes sure the ear buds for her iPod are in tight enough.

It is easy to talk about the day-to-day of different religions at the dinner table – after all, my mother’s proscription of “never discuss politics or religion” was understood to not apply to family. (Which, it has to be said, included secular humanists, Greek Orthodox, Baptists and a number of members of other religions along with the Catholics … and also just about every value on the political spectrum.)

What proves much more difficult is to talk about religious difference as it plays out on the national stage. Witness all the back and forth about which religious leaders were included in the inaugural events (and which weren’t) and what they said, or didn’t say, or might have said, or implied in their prayers. (Go the blog www.getreligion.org for a provocative variety of entries on this topic or to www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0900344.htm for a news story about the role of religion in the inauguration.)

Despite being a person who enjoys a good discussion, I despair of the type of argumentation that seems to follow (or sometimes precede) these displays of civic religion at the national level. The attendant commentary makes God out to be as small and as blinkered as we are – as if the Divine resides only with us, standing among our own people, speaking our own language.

Which brings me back to the test.

A number of my husband’s coworkers have taken a test that asks you to identify your personality traits – all falling into four “types,” according to the authors of the test, powerful choleric, popular sanguine, perfect melancholic and peaceful phlegmatic. It is an updated form of a “four humours” typology that harks back past Renaissance and Medieval thought into classical Greek concepts of healing. In any case, Erla, Ada Mae, Lisa and Janet sent my husband home from work a number of days ago with an explanatory book and a xeroxed version of the checklist of traits, and – because he’s been procrastinating – have asked him every day since whether he’s completed it yet.

I find this touching. Not because of the test itself (although it is fun in a formulaic sort of way) but because it is an effort on their part to try to better understand someone whose life experiences – and beliefs – are radically different than their own.

Is it trivial? Sure. Will it provide a full picture of who my husband is? Not a chance. But it is, in some sense, a sentence flung out as a rope across a deep cultural and theological divide: “I want to know who you are.”

We should all be so brave.