Catholic Church Supports Illegal Aliens, Calls for Immigration Reform When Cardinal Roger Mahony proclaimed that he would order archdiocesan priests and others to ignore the law with respect to illegal aliens, he raised more than just a few eyebrows; in fact, he threw down a gauntlet.

Even though this bold move took place on March 1, 2006, -- just in time for Ash Wednesday -- it also placed the American Catholic church into the fray that has become a hot-button issue: illegal immigration. His bold move was actually set in motion in 2003, when bishops began their advocacy for comprehensive immigration reform.


At issue -- spiritually speaking -- is of course the biblical understanding that all members of the faith are one family. Serving this family should not be dependent on immigration status. Taking it a bit further, it behooves the reader of the Bible to remember that there are plenty of warnings that encourage the faithful to look out for the "alien and the fatherless."

If estimates are correct and indeed some 40 percent of immigrants are Catholic, it stands to reason that the Catholic Church must show a vested interest in protecting these newcomers.

Critics of the church's position suggest that being liberal is a fashionable stance that now invades the sanctuaries of Catholic institutions. Offering literal sanctuary to illegal immigrants in church basements was considered par for the course in 2006 and -- with cities such as Los Angeles and San Francisco proclaiming themselves to be sanctuary cities -- it is not surprising that Cardinal Mahony would be the Catholic powerhouse to fire the opening salvo.

Transporting the topics of illegal aliens and comprehensive immigration reform into a spiritual realm also served to further force the hand of government. By way of an unintended consequence, it blinded the faithful to the other side of the immigration debate: a failure to control the influx of illegal aliens (and to properly keep track of those who commit crimes) leads to the setup of a shadow society.

The church would argue that the language of the 2006 legislation was too broad and could -- eventually -- have included clergy. (A charge that lawmakers deny.)

Pitting the church against the government may be a new experience for Catholics; even so, it is one that is here to stay. Cardinal Theodore McCarrick acknowledged that border control is the right of the United States but -- to him -- the way that the country goes about it is not "efficient or humane."

Unfortunately, the cardinal does not realize that he is in effect setting up a litmus test for what a 'good' immigrant should look like, which may not be in harmony with some of the folks currently crossing the border illegally. As he talks about bringing "values" to the United States, he unilaterally slams the door on groups that the Catholic Church would find objectionable.

Fast forward to 2010 and the hypocrisy of the "let's break some laws but not others" debate has never been more glaringly obvious than with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' withdrawal of support for the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA) because of the application of same-sex couples to also be counted.
It would appear that while the Catholic Church is willing to violate some laws, it is not (yet) ready to see gay bi-national couples as bringing something of value to the United States. Then again, this premise may be fulfilled by a different denomination that has yet to stand up and speak out against today's current immigration laws. The question then arises if there will be religious squabbling over theological rhetoric.
Moreover, it is curious to note that those usually most vociferous about the separation of church and state do not mind the Catholic Church's encroaching on the immigration debate. Could it be that illegal alien legislation is causing the secular and the spiritual realms to become unholy bedfellows? Does the end truly justify the means?
Sylvia Cochran offers an insider's perspective of the American immigration system. Having gone through the steps of becoming a citizen -- and currently living in a border state -- she brings hands-on familiarity with hot-button issues to the table.

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