Big Religion, the hierarchy of any church, is like any other Special Interest Group, just follow the money. Most Special Interest Groups are only concerned for "their" agenda of profit and/or power, not the people they pretend to speak for or save from harm. Something about living in a Glass House, the Cardinal should be able to clean his own house before he tells others what they are doing wrong! Of course he is expecting money to flow in from "our" Federal Government to assist with his Big Religion ministering to the ILLEGALS or he just may receive some funds from the ILLEGAL EMPLOYERS who benefit from their ILLEGALS! Doubtful he will get any monetary help from the ILLEGAL EMPLOYERS they of course expect the United States Taxpayers to pick up the bill for their ILLEGALS while they soak up all of the PROFIT, you have to admit the SOAKING of United States Taxpayers is good.

I suppose the Cardinal needs to replace the money utilized for the out of court settlements for his "preachers" who molest the children.

A call to action on immigration
Local religious leaders hopeful for reform, despite political climate
By JEANNIE KEVER
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Jan. 28, 2011, 5:37AM

Mayra Beltran Chronicle
Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, carrying papers, was among the local religious leaders attending an interfaith prayer service to renew a call for immigration reform.

Just two days after President Barack Obama renewed a call for immigration reform, a group of Houston religious leaders said Thursday that despite a discouraging political climate, they see signs of change.

"I feel the people are shifting," said the Rev. Michael Rinehart, who as bishop of the Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast Synod oversees the region's Evangelical Lutheran churches.

But he and other leaders who spoke after an interfaith prayer service that was filled with symbols of unity — Iman Mustafa Yigit reading from the Quran in Arabic, Rabbi Mark Miller blowing a shofar, the Rev. Uriel Osnaya offering a prayer in Spanish - know the goal remains elusive.

"I'm not sure Washington is shifting," Rinehart said. "Politics trumps policy sometimes."

The interfaith coalition first began promoting immigration reform more than a year ago, both among their congregations and in public pronouncements.

"We know this is a long haul, and we want to maintain our focus," said Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. "The work needs to continue."

The local effort is part of a broader call by religious leaders nationally, who say they have seen the toll taken by current policies on their parishioners.

'Cannot be silent'
A group of evangelical leaders, including the Rev. Marcos Witt, head of the Hispanic ministry at Lakewood Church, and Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Convention, joined the cause last year.

The Rev. John Ogletree, pastor of First Metropolitan Church in northwest Houston, said it is a moral issue.

"We cannot be silent or govern what we say due to the political climate," he said. "We have to say what we know is true."

Thursday's service at Christ the King Lutheran Church brought Christian, Jewish and Muslim leaders together in support of policies that promote family unity, create a path for citizenship and end current detention policies.

Acknowledging that the November elections make wide-ranging reform less likely now, the leaders also asked for a limit on local laws aimed at illegal immigrants.

'Living our values'
The Rev. John Bowie, pastor of True Light Missionary Baptist Church and co-chair of The Metropolitan Organization, a coalition of congregations and other organizations that co-sponsored the prayer service, likened the voter ID law approved by the Texas Senate this week to earlier efforts to keep African-Americans from voting.

"Once you put something there as a requirement, you disenfranchise a lot of people," he said.

Rinehart, during a sermon, suggested immigration reform would even be good for Houston's erstwhile hometown airline.

"Wouldn't that be good for Continental Airlines, because people could fly back and forth freely?" he asked.

"People of faith would win, too," he said, "because we would be living our values."

jeannie.kever@chron.com

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/met ... 01930.html