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Bud Kennedy
E-Mail: bud@budkennedy.com
Posted on Sun, Nov. 30, 2008

Kennedy: Bishop says Joseph and Mary were immigrants, too

By BUD KENNEDY

The new bishop of Arkansas has a strong message for Roman Catholics: Christmas is an immigrant’s story.

"Does Jesus find a warm welcome in our communities?" writes Bishop Anthony B. Taylor, a Fort Worth native, in a pastoral letter read last Sunday in parishes across Arkansas.

"What changes do we need to make here in Arkansas in order to ensure that today’s Marys and Josephs — today’s Marias and Joses — receive a warm welcome truly worthy of the Savior?"

Taylor, 54, was resting this weekend far from the ensuing political firestorm.

Here to see siblings in Fort Worth, he visited the city where his family founded Taylor Dressed Beef Co. and where he spent kindergarten in St. Andrew’s Catholic School.

"I’ve had a few negative letters," he said.

So I see in the Arkansas newspapers and on the Web, where activists from Americans for Legal Immigration are openly publishing Catholic-bashing comments accusing Arkansas church leaders as "pedifiles" and the church of "looking for more alter boys."

Priests across Arkansas will follow Taylor’s letter with sermons today, beginning a three-week series of Advent messages linking the Christmas story to civil rights and immigration.

The title of Taylor’s message is from Jesus’ words in Matthew 25: "I Was a Stranger, and You Welcomed Me . . ."

Read his entire letter. It’s on the diocese Web site at www.dolr.org.

He tells Arkansas Catholics: "There must be no dividing lines in our parishes, no second-class parishioners — all are welcome, without exception."

His letter acknowledges that embracing immigrants "sometimes takes time to adjust . . . but it is precisely to this that Jesus calls us, one and all. In this, Jesus will use us to be a light to our nation."

Taylor has told Arkansas reporters that he thinks Catholics are "confused" on immigration.

He wants worshippers to understand the church’s message, particularly as a new Arkansas General Assembly considers bills to punish illegal aliens — not for any crime, but simply for remaining in the U.S. in civil violation of federal immigration law.

"I saw what happened in Oklahoma," Taylor said here Friday, referring to a crackdown last year that drove thousands of people out of the Sooner State, taking with them thousands of dollars in economic development and consumer spending.

Taylor came to Arkansas from Sacred Heart Church in Oklahoma City, where he and other priests opposed the hard-line laws that even punish churches that "harbor" foreigners without papers.

"It broke my heart," Taylor said. "I don’t want anything like that to happen in Arkansas."

Whenever anyone sticks up for the illegal alien workers who are doing about one-third of the work on construction and paving jobs and in hotels and restaurants, somebody else starts shouting about "open borders."

"I’m not for open borders," Taylor said.

"I’m for orderly border crossings that allow the immigration we need to support our economy. If honest people can show they are not criminals and come into the country at the border crossing, then only criminals will run and hide and try to cross somewhere else. Then we can catch them."

His letter compares immigration with civil rights and calls for Catholics to support reform.

Southern Baptist pastor and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee once delivered the same message — at least, until he started running for president.

Taylor’s letter closes with 19 excerpts from Scripture.

One quotes the prophet Isaiah: "Woe to the legislators of infamous laws, to those who issue tyrannical decrees, who refuse justice to the unfortunate and cheat the poor . . ."

That’s a message bigger than Little Rock.

Bud Kennedy’s column appears Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays. 817-390-7538

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