Thread: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops: Above the Law?

http://www.americanchronicle.com/articl ... cleID=5152

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops: Above the Law?
By Barbara Anderson
January 26, 2006
As important issues come into public view, Catholics look to their spiritual leaders for guidance. The guidance is often not there at all, or skewed politically.

Catholics are now being asked to promote illegal immigration through the exhortations, from the pulpit, to “welcome the stranger�. In this “welcoming“, no distinction is made between legal and illegal.

When the Vietnamese who were displaced in the war came to this country, an admirable resettlement effort was made by the Catholic Church to help these refugees settle in this country. However, each Vietnamese at that time entered legally and was helped by Americans who provided housing, jobs and other sustenance until the refugees could live on their own. This was required by the United States government, which stipulated that they would not become a burden on the American taxpayer. It was difficult and required many sacrifices by ordinary Americans who wanted to help. Catholics were prominent in this resettlement.

Today we are faced with massive illegal immigration, especially from across our southern border. The American bishops’ response has been to foster the illegal immigration, but to demand that the taxpayer foot the bill. Catholic Charities USA boldly states on its website how it lobbies Congress on behalf of illegal aliens. It demands that in-state tuition be given to children of illegals. Since college and university slots are becoming scarce, this could mean that a non-citizen would take a place a citizen should have. The Catholic Campaign for Human Development uses money given by generous Catholics to train illegals to lobby and agitate for “rights� for illegals. They are implementing a “social gospel� program, which is purely socialism in its demands. When taxpayers object, they are called “racist�.

The church has launched an ambitious “welcoming the stranger� week. Lots of publicity has been given to it, from bishops’ promoting it in the diocesan papers, to clergy appearing on TV to make appeals for the “undocumented workers�. It is a blatant attempt to make respectable that which is not…….undermining the laws of the country. Laws are made for all. Some elite think they know better than the lawmakers how to govern. This is uncharted territory for the Catholic Church in America. Catholics all over the world have been taught that they are to obey the laws of their respective countries and that the end does not justify the means. As avid as the pro-life Catholics are, for instance, they know that they cannot take the law into their hands, even for what they deem a moral position against a heinous law.

Non-Catholics who value the law are justly outraged that the church puts itself above the law. They are justifiably angry about the efforts of some bishops to swell the ranks of Catholics, while presenting the bill to the rest of the taxpaying public. To see clergy on TV obfuscating the reality of illegal aliens, calling them “undocumented workers�, as if all they lack is a piece of paper, is an alienating experience. Catholics who do value the law are often made to explain their position, which seems at odds against official church teaching. It is not. Some bishops want illegal immigration and egregiously blur the lines between legal and illegal. They say we are a nation of immigrants. Indeed, we are, but a nation of LEGAL immigrants. Those legal immigrants have learned the English language, and while keeping their unique cultures, have assimilated into the country, showing they value the chance to live here and access all of the many benefits, (not the least of which is freedom), this blessed land has to offer. This is the model we should be using in “welcoming the stranger�. When it comes to law, shortcuts always cause resentment from those who will not take them.

All I can say, is what I wrote the Pope the other day. The Bishops was doing everything in there powers to hide the Child abusers, now this. I think the Church is headed for a big down fall.