Thread: Jesus himself was a migrant

http://www.catholicnews.com/data/sto...ns/0603038.htm

HILL May-25-2006 (700 words) With photo. xxxn

Border wall has no place in nation of 'Lady Liberty,' says speaker

By William R. Genello
Catholic News Service

SCRANTON, Pa. (CNS) -- The televised images of the Berlin Wall are still seared into Candy Hill's mind: people desperately trying to get over it, to the point of some losing their lives.

"We (the free world) thought it was horrible, and we cheered when that wall came down" in 1989, she said.

"Now, in the greatest country on earth, we're debating whether to build a wall here" to prevent people from crossing the border into the U.S. from Mexico illegally, Hill said.

"If we build that wall, we'll have to tear down the Statue of Liberty. We can't have that lady in the harbor welcoming people, and a wall in the desert keeping them out," she said.

Hill is senior vice president for social policy for Catholic Charities USA. She spoke May 19 to the staff of Catholic Social Services of the Diocese of Scranton. The diocesan agency's offices provide various services to immigrants, many of them Latinos from Mexico and other countries.

Hill's presentation focused on the church's social teaching, in particular how it relates to the immigration law debate.

In a May 15 address on immigration reform, President George W. Bush proposed a plan to deploy National Guard troops on the Mexican border. He also outlined a program for enabling most of the estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants already in the U.S. to legalize their status.

Meanwhile, Congress was considering legislation to revise the immigration system. Some lawmakers have suggested building a fence or wall along the border.

Catholic officials are promoting a comprehensive approach that provides an avenue to citizenship and allows immigrants to keep their families together.

The current system is broken, said Hill, citing long waiting periods for visas -- leading to situations where people desperate to provide for their families risk the dangers of coming here illegally. This often results in families being separated, or cases in which children who are U.S. citizens are living with one parent or even both parents who are not citizens.

"We are not suggesting that we simply open our borders and allow everyone to come in," Hill said. "But we have to find an orderly way for people to enter our country, and return home if they wish. Now people come here, get trapped and are separated from their families."

Responding to a question about security, she said it was unfair to profile all people from other countries as potential terrorists. She noted the terrorists who attacked the country Sept. 11, 2001, entered through Virginia.

On the issue of assimilation, she recalled the 18 million immigrants, mostly from Southern and Eastern Europe, who came to the U.S. in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In most cases, it took at least a generation for those families to learn English and become fully assimilated.

By 1920, Hill noted, immigrants constituted 75 percent of U.S. Catholics. They often encountered hostility, not only because of their ethnicity, but also simply because they were Catholic.

The church responded with ministries to meet their needs. Parishes, schools, hospitals, charities, religious communities, mutual aid societies and fraternal groups provided much of the assistance.

To a large extent, that legacy is carried on today by agencies such as Catholic Social Services, under the Catholic Charities USA umbrella.

Msgr. Joseph P. Kelly, the Scranton diocesan secretary for Catholic human services and executive director of Catholic Social Services, said his agency is committed to serving the growing Latino community and all immigrants in the 11 counties in the diocese. He has hired eight bilingual workers for the agency's nine offices.

"We want to be the welcoming church to meet the social needs of these people," he said.

The Catholic Church is in fact an immigrant church, Hill said, noting that Jesus himself was a migrant. From its earliest days, the church has tried to preserve the sanctity of the family and protect human rights, she said.

"Citizenship does not confer rights, personhood does," she said. "The church is committed to standing in solidarity with the poor and the stranger. The Bible is the ultimate immigration guide."

END

Border wall has no place in nation of 'Lady Liberty,' says speaker

So because France gave us a 'gift' we have to accept the name of lady liberty??? We are not the nation of lady liberty . The statue is just a gift, a tribute.

"If we build that wall, we'll have to tear down the Statue of Liberty. We can't have that lady in the harbor welcoming people, and a wall in the desert keeping them out," she said.

This is one of the dumbest remarks yet. And P.S. you have to seriously question the intelligence of a person like this being in a position of responsibilty.

"Citizenship does not confer rights, personhood does," she said. "The church is committed to standing in solidarity with the poor and the stranger. The Bible is the ultimate immigration guide."

This is unbelievable.

"The Catholic Church is in fact an immigrant church, Hill said, noting that Jesus himself was a migrant. From its earliest days, the church has tried to preserve the sanctity of the family and protect human rights, she said.

"Citizenship does not confer rights, personhood does," she said. "The church is committed to standing in solidarity with the poor and the stranger. The Bible is the ultimate immigration guide."


The Bible is a history book with both wisdom and contradictions and the Catholic church's history is a sad one. The dogma of the church has absolutely no place in determining the laws of a country and most Catholics were never taught the teachings of the Bible...instead the church has consistently taught catechism with little or no exposure to the Bible for the masses. So, in short, Hill is off her rocker.[/quote]

"We are not suggesting that we simply open our borders and allow everyone to come in," Hill said. "But we have to find an orderly way for people to enter our country, and return home if they wish. Now people come here, get trapped and are separated from their families."

We do have an orderly way for people to enter our country. It is called LEGAL immigration. While I admit this whole process needs to be overhauled (as does everything else in this country), this is the way it has to be done and any other way is ILLEGAL! And maybe we can overhaul and streamline legal immigration if we every get around to taking care of our current illegal problems.

Who says they are trapped! They can return any time they wish, in fact I encourage it.

Who thinks this crap up.

In cases such as this, always remember to apply 'The 3 Ifs THEN' rule.

If it looks like poo, If it feels like poo, If it smells like poo THEN it is poo!!!

The catholic church does indeed have a sad history. It deals, and has dealt, more in politics than in religion.

The Inquisition sponsored by the catholic church is what sent landed and wealthy spainards to seek new territory on this continet.

They have also hidden among them child abusers etc.

They have too much to answer for in my view to be speaking out on what this country should do about anything.

MJ

It is not difficult to understand the twisted logic of the Mexican authorities and its people since it is the same twisted logic of the Catholic church.....and as long as you tithe (pay a bribe) you are free to break the law again.

The televised images of the Berlin Wall are still seared into Candy Hill's mind: people desperately trying to get over it, to the point of some losing their lives.

"We (the free world) thought it was horrible, and we cheered when that wall came down" in 1989, she said.

"Now, in the greatest country on earth, we're debating whether to build a wall here" to prevent people from crossing the border into the U.S. from Mexico illegally, Hill said.

"If we build that wall, we'll have to tear down the Statue of Liberty. We can't have that lady in the harbor welcoming people, and a wall in the desert keeping them out," she said.

The Berlin Wall was built mainly to keep East Germans from exiting to West Germany. Basically, the primary reason for the wall was to keep East Germans in, not prevent others from entering. Sure the wall served to prevent both, but halting exiting East Germans (brain drain) was its primary purpose.

There is absolutely no similarity between the Berlin Wall and a fence along our southern border, which will be built for protection from invasion. People throughout the world having been building barriers and fences for centuries to protect themselves from wild animals, environmental causes (flooding, landslides, etc.), and INVASION from those that would conquer and destroy them.

As for the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island was a LEGAL entry port. All those entering through Ellis Island in view of the Statue of Liberty were LEGAL immigrants! Legal immigrants were welcome then and still are as long as that immigration is within reason. With that said, times have changed and unlimited immigration is no longer necessary, nor desired. We are no longer an untamed and unsettled nation that can support all that wish to come.

It's amazing how the pro-illegal groups love to twist the facts to fit their own agenda, isn't it? That's a rhetorical question!

MW, you are 100% correct regarding the Berlin wall etc and Hill like a lot of pro-illegal alien sponsors loves to twist the fact with her rhetorical manure....there is absolutely no correlation between keeping people inside a country and trying to keep people out for illegal immigration.