Thread: Nevins urges more support of illegal immigrants

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Article published Jul 26, 2006

STAFF PHOTOS / ROB MATTSON

Bishop John J. Nevins, middle right, of the Diocese of Venice in Florida, blesses a group of more than 40 people from Jesus the Worker Catholic Church in Fort Myers on Tuesday afternoon.

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Bishop Nevins' heir installed on 'a great day for our church'
07/26/2006

Nevins urges more support of illegal immigrants
By PAUL QUINLAN



paul.quinlan@heraldtribune.com

VENICE -- Hours before the ceremony that would ordain his successor, Bishop John Nevins challenged political leaders on an issue that has defined his 22 years leading the Diocese of Venice.

Nevins said the United States should be more welcoming of the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants. He cited the diocese's ministries and charities designed to aid immigrant workers as an example of the needed reforms.

"I would challenge the government to do the same thing," said Nevins, 74.

Nevins also praised the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act, which granted amnesty to 3 million illegal immigrants.

An only son whose mother rode a ship from Ireland to New York, the Spanish-speaking Nevins said the struggle of migrant and undocumented workers struck a personal chord.

"I remember my roots," Nevins said.

Tapped as first bishop of the Diocese of Venice when it was carved from three others in 1984 and included half the current number of parishioners, Nevins led the region's Catholic Church through a period of rapid growth and change. The development, he said, causes him concern over the region's drinking water resources. He called on leaders to begin setting aside money for desalination programs.

Nevins also steered the diocese through one of the Catholic Church's darkest moments, the sex-abuse scandal that touched home when a boy accused a priest at St. Martha's Catholic Church of fondling him years earlier. After an internal investigation by a church-appointed committee, the church proclaimed the priest innocent, though committee members later criticized the way the investigation was handled.

Nevins called the scandal one of the most trying moments in his career.

A championship Irish step-dancer, Nevins appeared in 1948 on the variety television program "Ted Mack's Original Amateur Hour." The 16-state audience was asked to write-in votes for the favorite performer. They chose Nevins.

Something of a home-grown priest in the United States, Nevins served in the Diocese of Miami before becoming bishop, a far different path than the one followed by his successor, Frank Dewane, who spent most of his career working in the Vatican.

After stepping down in January, Nevins said he plans to retire to Donegal, a city set in the mountains of northwest Ireland facing the Atlantic Ocean.

"Oh, you can't imagine how beautiful it is there," he said.

He said he will keep a winter home in Venice and assist in church matters when needed.



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After stepping down in January, Nevins said he plans to retire to Donegal, a city set in the mountains of northwest Ireland facing the Atlantic Ocean.

He could care less what happens in this country.

FLASH VIDEO of the law abiding, good hearted folk and what they think of Americans

All our traitor politicians should watch that video. That is what you think america needs? Send them all back to their own third world country toilets where they belong