Thread: 'Phony Mahony' tells priests to violate law or face punishme

http://cbs2.com/local/local_story_060104049.html

Cardinal Has Immigration Message For Ash Wed. Mass

(AP) LOS ANGELES The leader of the Los Angeles Roman Catholic Archdiocese is expected to call for parishioners to mobilize on behalf of illegal immigrants in his Ash Wednesday Mass.

Cardinal Roger Mahony told the Los Angeles Times that it's the first time he'll call the entire 5 million-member archdiocese -- the nation's largest -- to get behind a social issue.

Mahony made his comments as congress begins to consider regulations that would require social organizations and church groups to ask people for documentation when approached for help. He said he'll instruct his priests to defy that legislation if it is passed.

Mahony is criticizing efforts by the immigration control groups like Minuteman Project that police the border. He said he's against what he calls a "hysterical" anti-immigration sentiment sweeping the nation.

(© 2006 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

Here's the LA Times report on this:

http://www.latimes.com/news/printeditio ... 7515.story

Immigrants Gain the Pulpit
Cardinal Mahony says he will ask priests to provide aid without proof of documentation even if proposed restrictions become law.
By Teresa Watanabe, Times Staff Writer
March 1, 2006

Wading back into the growing debate over illegal immigration, Cardinal Roger M. Mahony on Tuesday denounced what he called "hysterical" anti-immigrant sentiment sweeping California and the nation.

In an interview on the eve of Ash Wednesday, Mahony said he planned to use the first day of the Lenten season to call on all 288 parishes in the Los Angeles Archdiocese, the nation's largest, to fast, pray and press for humane immigration reform. U.S. Roman Catholic bishops support proposals for a guest-worker program, legalization of undocumented immigrants and more visas for migrants' families.

Mahony also criticized efforts by the Minuteman Project and other immigration control groups to police the border, saying that such efforts were a misguided reaction to national security concerns.

"The war on terror isn't going to be won through immigration restrictions," he said, adding that Al Qaeda operatives would not trek through miles of deadly desert to infiltrate the nation. {Are you on crack? If some uneducated/unskilled Mexican can do it, then why couldn't Al Qaeda? They live in conditions much harsher than the desert in the southwest. What an idiot}

As spiritual leader of the 5 million-member archdiocese, Mahony adds a powerful voice to what has become an acrimonious debate over illegal immigration, coming as the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee takes up a series of proposed immigration controls this week.

In his most forceful comments to date, Mahony said he would instruct his priests to defy legislation — if approved by Congress — that would require churches and other social organizations to ask immigrants for legal documentation before providing assistance and penalize them if they refuse to do so. That provision was included in the immigration bill recently passed by the House of Representatives; a similar proposal is in the version that the Senate Judiciary Committee plans to begin debating this week.

Although some parishes engaged in civil disobedience during the sanctuary movement to harbor Salvadoran refugees during the 1980s, Mahony's call to all priests to defy the law would mark a first for the cardinal.

"The whole concept of punishing people who serve immigrants is un-American," Mahony said. "If you take this to its logical, ludicrous extreme, every single person who comes up to receive Holy Communion, you have to ask them to show papers. It becomes absurd and the church is not about to get into that. The church is here to serve people…. We're not about to become immigration agents. It just throws more gasoline on the discussion and inflames people."

Mahony has long been a strong advocate of immigrant rights, opposing efforts to deny public benefits to undocumented migrants through Proposition 187 in 1994. California voters approved the widely popular initiative, but it was later struck down by the federal courts as unconstitutional.

Immigration has once more risen to the top of Mahony's agenda because of what the church believes is a punitive House immigration bill that criminalizes aid to undocumented migrants and contradicts gospel values, said Auxiliary Bishop Gabino Zavala of the archdiocese's San Gabriel Valley region.

"With the Minutemen, you roll your eyes and say these people are out on the fringe," Zavala said. "But when it starts getting to legislation, it is imperative to speak out."

Immigration control groups disagreed with Mahony's remarks.

Ira Mehlman, of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, said the cardinal was failing to address the costs of illegal immigration on low-wage American workers, local governments, public schools and the healthcare system. Instead, he said, Mahony was asking others to give up their jobs and resources for undocumented immigrants.

"Charity is an important tenet of the Judeo-Christian faith, but there are limits," Mehlman said.

Chris Simcox, president of the Minutemen Civil Defense Corps, said its border patrol efforts were not mean-spirited but were meant to stop drug dealers, human traffickers, gang members and others who prey on U.S. citizens and immigrants alike.

Immigration expert Wayne Cornelius said Mahony's efforts to mobilize the archdiocese, while late, could help offset what he called the political advantage now held by immigration control forces.

"All of the momentum is on the restrictionist side of the debate," said Cornelius, director of the Center for Comparative Immigration Studies at UC San Diego. "It's important that Congress hears there are groups opposed to drastic restrictionist measures. If there is any chance of getting constructive legislation out of Congress this year, it will take grass-roots efforts" such as the Catholic campaign.

Mahony plans to speak on immigration policy at two Ash Wednesday services today. He said it would be the first time he has asked the entire archdiocese, which covers Los Angeles, Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, to mobilize on a social issue. Mahony has led the archdiocese since 1985.

In addition to calling for a Lenten fast to reflect on the contributions of immigrants, he said, he has sent informational packets to all parishes on how to preach, teach and lobby on the issue.

He said he also planned to step up his personal political advocacy, starting with a letter to California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a Senate Judiciary Committee member and opponent of large-scale guest-worker programs outside agriculture.

"There is enormous ignorance out there," said Mahony, disputing as "myths" accusations that undocumented immigrants take jobs from Americans or don't pay taxes. "This is a teachable moment to help people understand that all of us are immigrant people."

The local efforts are part of a national campaign called Justice for Immigrants, recently launched by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and other church organizations.

Other Southern California dioceses also are mobilizing their flocks. In Orange County, parishes have started a postcard campaign to lobby their elected representatives on the issues, Auxiliary Bishop Jaime Soto said.

Mahony, a Los Angeles native of Italian and German descent, said his personal passion on the issue was sparked as a child, when he became close to the mostly Mexican immigrants who were hired to work at his father's poultry plant in the San Fernando Valley.

As an elementary school student, Mahony said, he personally witnessed what he called a "terrifying" immigration raid on his father's plant, leaving him with an indelible impression about the abuse of immigrant workers.

He said that both Hebrew and Christian Scriptures were consistent and clear about the moral imperative to care for strangers and aliens. The Jewish people were aliens in Egypt, he said, and Jesus was a refugee who was escaping from King Herod. God clearly instructed Moses to care for aliens, orphans and widows in his midst, Mahony said.

"This is part of our heritage of God's care and concern for all peoples," Mahony said. "At no point … is God asking us to build walls on borders."

He added that he would put the full weight of his office behind immigration reform "as strongly as I can."

"We need to bring a moral and ethical dimension to the debate, which has been far too politicized," Mahony said. "We need a wake-up call, and this is it."

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/25/natio ... ref=slogin

I.R.S. Finds Sharp Increase in Illegal Political Activity

By STEPHANIE STROM
Published: February 25, 2006

The I.R.S. said yesterday that it saw a sharp increase in prohibited political activity by charities and churches in the last election cycle, a trend that it aims to reverse as the country heads into the midterm elections.

The tax agency found problems at three-quarters of the 82 organizations it examined after having received complaints about their political activities, according to a report the Internal Revenue Service released. The infractions included distributing materials that encouraged people to vote for particular candidates and giving cash to campaigns.

The agency said it was seeking to revoke the exemptions of three organizations but did not name them, pending an appeals process. Charities are generally prohibited from campaigning for candidates, although they can take stands on issues.

The internal revenue commissioner, Mark W. Everson, devoted much of a speech to a civic group yesterday in Cleveland to the subject.

"We've seen a staggering increase in money flowing into campaigns, and the question is whether all this money is encroaching upon and polluting the charitable sector," Mr. Everson said in a telephone interview before his address. "We saw a disturbing amount of political intervention in charities in the last election cycle."

While pointing out the extent of the problem, the agency published more guidance for nonprofit organizations, including examples of what is permissible and what is not. Mr. Everson warned that the agency would be more aggressive in addressing prohibited political activity as election campaigns moved into full swing.

"You have the ever-increasing influence of money in politics and the fact that charities are subject to much less regulation than campaigns for parties," he said. "Those two things come together to create an opportunity that is at variance with what the statute limiting political activity by charities allows."

Advocates for nonprofit groups praised the report, saying it was unusually clear and straightforward.

"They're getting information out early this year, before we get into the heat of an election year," said Liz Towne, director of advocacy programs for the Alliance for Justice, which has urged the tax agency to provide better guidance. "By releasing data on their findings, they're moving toward more transparency."

Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, which has filed dozens of complaints about churches' political activities, said, "It's no longer possible for critics to say the I.R.S. is blind or toothless, because this announcement is a pretty major indication that they are serious about educating charities and about imposing appropriate penalties."

The complaints by the group include one on July 15, 2004, against Jerry Falwell Ministries, saying falwell.com had endorsed President Bush and urged readers to donate $5,000 to the Campaign for Working Families. Such activities are illegal, Mr. Lynn said, and the Web site was quickly changed.

Almost half the tax-exempt groups under examination are churches. Churches played a pivotal role in the 2004 elections, and the Republican Party, in particular, harnessed their influence to register, educate and deliver voters. Both parties are cultivating churches for future elections. Democratic senators have been courting the Rev. Rick Warren, who draws more than 20,000 people a week to his Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., and the North Carolina Republican Party made waves when its leader sent an e-mail request for church directories.

Of the 47 complaints against churches under investigation, 37 were found to have merit. The agency found that three had no merit, and seven examinations were pending. Over all, 82 of 110 examinations have been completed.

All Saints Church, a liberal Episcopal church in Pasadena, Calif., is among those awaiting a decision. The agency began an investigation after a former pastor gave a sermon in which he imagined a debate among Jesus, President Bush and Senator John Kerry and in which he criticized the Iraq conflict.

A lawyer for All Saints, Marcus Owens, said he did not know the status of the investigation.

"The I.R.S. agent assigned to All Saints doesn't even return my calls," Mr. Owens said. "The I.R.S. sent an inquiry and then an examination letter. It has never done anything further."

Mr. Owens also represents the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, whose chairman, Julian Bond, gave a speech in July 2004 sharply critical of Mr. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney. The N.A.A.C.P. declined to cooperate in the following investigation, and Mr. Owens said it had not heard from the I.R.S. since early last year.

Mr. Owens, who formerly led the unit in the agency responsible for overseeing tax-exempt groups, said he had concerns about the report.

"I wonder whether or not all the 50 or 60 organizations they identified as having engaged in illegal political intervention really did have significant issues," he said. "That having been said, give me an hour and my computer and I can sit down and give the I.R.S. 200 good audit leads on questionable political activity."

Last month, a group of religious leaders representing Christian and Jewish denominations filed a complaint against two large politically active churches in Ohio, Fairfield Christian Church and World Harvest Church, and their leaders, the Revs. Russell Johnson and Rod Parsley.

The churches, which deny wrongdoing, said the I.R.S. had not contacted them since then.

All you Catholics on this board and nationwide. This is all about the money. The Catholics in the heirarchy want more membership so they can get more money. You all need to stop paying your tithing and when these clowns ask you why, you tell them you will not give their corrupt church another dime until they stop this blatant criminal activity.