Bishops Speak Out on Trump's Policies Against Immigrants and Refugees

                          By Monica     LCW  Columbus, Ohio

         We want the world to know, since views come from so many countries, that our Ohio Catholic Bishops, in one voice, raised concern for the policies put into place by President Trump against immigrants and refugees.   We are soo proud of our Roman Catholic bishops right here in little old Ohio, USA!  We are thankful to God too, who looks out for the widow and the orphan, the stranger, and the least.  Jesus repeatedly spoke out and warned all about protecting the most vulnerable and lowliest who have no rights and no one to speak for them.  The actual statement of our Ohio bishops cut and pasted from their website is below my comments.
       We are a nation of immigrants too!  Our very ancestors were in this position and our lives would be very different now, most likely much worse, if they had not been welcome.  Many of us are descended from immigrants who more often than not came freely for a better life and were at least allowed entry - with the exception of our Native American citizens who were here first, and our African Americans brought here and forced, against their will, into slavery.
       One would think that we would have a deep appreciation and gratitude instead of condemnation and mistreatment, ripping families apart after they have already worked painstakingly to make a new life here like our ancestors, contributing greatly to society.

      It is neglectful for me not to have spoken out before now, not only from

my strong social justice roots of being a Roman Catholic (with our amazing social justice papal encyclicals, teachings from our U.S. Catholic Bishops, pastoral letters, etc), of being a staunch Catholic Worker which stands for Christ's peace always and justice for the poor, but mainly there is no excuse because I have seen firsthand the terror in my families of mainly Hispanic and Muslim descent that make up the majority of my ESL students (I am an English as a Second Language teacher in a public school).

      I have Muslim students and families who feel the hate and mistrust, even though they have done nothing wrong and never will.  They often asked me in my school year questions like, "Why does President Trump hate us?" or "What else will he do to us?" and "Is it going to get worse?" I had no answer to give.
      My Hispanic families in general are the most scared ones because people have already been rounded up to be sent back, even after having worked hard here for years.  They are terrified every day and their whole family cries a lot and try to make plans in various scenarios.  My little Third Grader Pedro said his family is moving back to Mexico even though there is not enough work right now.
     In the case of the "Chaldean Catholics" that are being rounded up and sent back to Iraq and other Middle Eastern countries, their very lives are at stake, in addition to Syrian Muslims and others.  My father remembers seeing on the news huge ships and yachts from Germany with Jewish people lining the edges, coming into New York harbor or another U.S. port with hands clasped begging and pleading to be allowed entry, only to be turned around and sent back to their deaths.  Hitler was known to say, "You say we are being hard but you don't want the Jewish rats either."
      I tried to calm my students fears, but what assurances could I give?  I am silently appalled at the lack of basic humanity in our newer laws and actions against immigrants -- and even refugees -- the whole dark mentality.  One would wonder of a change of heart would take place if the lawmakers themselves were thrust into this situation, since they lack the empathy to imagine it.
     It reminds me of how Hitler, little by little over a period of time, imposed difficult and bigoted  burdens, heavy to carry, upon Jewish people for years before finally rounding up this ethnic group for horrific purposes.  At the National Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C.  I was horrified with the MANY laws and prejudices that were acceptable to the German people against the Jewish population, incrementally worsening all the time.  First, they were not allowed to travel (sounds familiar), then ride or own bikes, then be out past a certain time in the evening, then they could not live where they wanted but were rounded up into "ghettos," etc, etc.  As their rights were infringed upon more and more, very few stepped up to fight these laws on their behalf.
     While I believe that President Trump would never agree to create work/death camps, given his verbal defense of our unborn citizens and abortion-mill laws changing one day -- which is important from our president -- he needs to end the terrible laws against refugees and immigrants, as well as slurs against entire populations of Americans.
       If you look up Boston and New York City news headlines and history in the 1800's and early 1900's you view quite an outcry against Roman Catholic Irish, Polish, and German immigrants taking over their cities, taking all their jobs, bringing their Catholic religion, being a menace to society with their heavy drinking and brawling, etc, etc,.. Obviously most of those European immigrants more often than not as a whole did not exude these negative stereotypes, but there were enough of those few to always get into the headlines, creating prejudice and bigotry in weaker minds and souls, as in Hitler's Germany.
     Instead of the "melting pot" image of how all should melt into typically a white-male European bent and language, I think the more exquisite analogy of the United States is the Salad Bowl image of many cultures, maintaining their distinct heritages, customs, dialect, ideas, strengths, etc, and creating a huge conglomerate (salad), better than its individual parts separate.  Beautiful in the eyes of the maker of us all, who created all in His own image and likeness, yet distinctly unique from each other, and all of whom are sacred, no matter who nor from what country.

      It's a good thing that compassionate Catholics - nuns (sisters), priests, laypeople - took some of those that were the young "hooligans" under their wings to help shape them into who they became, with great care and compassion.  Most immigrants though have been responsible, reliable, hard-working, law-abiding citizens building our nation stronger and more just with each generation.  May we ask our immigrant ancestors from the past to please pray for us, pray for our nation, and especially, pray for our immigrant, refugee, and other "stranger" populations who always held a special place within the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
     Below is the Ohio Bishops' Statement on Immigration, April 4th, 2017, at a meeting of the Board of Directors of the Catholic Conference of Ohio.  It was sent to President Trump and to Senators Rob Portman and Sherrod Brown, and to all Ohio members of the U.S. House.  This is taken from the Catholic Conference of Ohio website.
     Bravo to our Catholic paper here and its editors of  The Catholic Times, for printing it prominently in the beginning of the paper!
     Come to Carey, Ohio on the VIGIL (Aug. 14th) of the feast of the Assumption of our Blessed Mother to spiritually support the Chaldean Catholics living in great fear.  Twenty-five to thirty buslines, multiple campers, etc, etc take over the entire city of Carey!  So beautiful!!  You will never have heard such singing and such gusto in the songs in love of Mary as you will when the Chaldean Catholics are there.  It may not be for long though, if our lawmakers have their way.
    

News & Press - Catholic Conference of Ohio

Ohio Bishops Issue Letter of Concern regarding Changes to Immigration and Migration

Call for comprehensive reform, support for children and intact families, enforcement efforts that focus on threats to public safety, and maintaining programs for refugees

• Posted: Apr. 4, 2017
• Categories: Legislative Action Alerts, Immigration Reform, News

CATHOLIC CONFERENCE OF OHIO
Letter Encouraging Legislative Support for Immigrants and Refugees
Catholic Bishops of Ohio
April 2017
Welcoming refugees and immigrants is a significant aspect of our American heritage and a fundamental character of Ohio faith communities, including the Catholic Church. Ohio is blessed to have many refugees and immigrants in our parishes, schools and ministries. The Catholic Church in our state operates numerous programs that directly sponsor and support these newcomers.
As we listen to our pastors, principals, program directors, and more importantly, to the refugees and immigrants served by our Church’s ministries, we know of many good people who are deeply concerned for their personal safety and fearful about separation from their families. These are ongoing concerns, but recent changes in federal policy have heightened such fears.
At both the state and national levels, our Church has long spoken out in favor of policies that ensure safety and compassionate treatment for immigrant and refugee persons and families in need. We continue to call upon Congress to address our broken immigration system through a comprehensive reform that improves security and creates more legal and transparent paths to immigration.  As for enforcement, we do not advocate for the breaking of laws.  Yet, we do urge for a more humane enforcement of these laws in a way that distinguishes between actual criminals and otherwise law-abiding, undocumented immigrant family members.  We believe immigration officials should prioritize removal to those who are real threats to public safety. Likewise, most local law enforcement agencies we encounter are highly concerned about increasing trust between police and immigrant communities.  Their work for public safety relies on trust between immigrants and local police and sheriff departments.  We oppose efforts to pressure our state and local law enforcement to proactively enforce immigration regulations, unless public safety is truly at risk.
Ohio does not benefit from separating good families and traumatizing children in our schools who each day live in fear of finding that their mothers or fathers are no longer at home to greet them. In these instances, justice should be sought, but the punishment should be commensurate with serving the good of the family unit, which is the fundamental cell of all society. In January 2017, the chairman of our United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee on Migration, Bishop Joe S. Vasquez, echoed our concerns over policy shifts created by recent presidential executive orders that increase the detention and family separation of many immigrants. He wrote:

"The announced increase in immigrant detention space and immigration enforcement activities is alarming. It will tear families apart and spark fear and panic in communities. While we respect the right of our federal government to control our borders and ensure security for all Americans, we do not believe that a large-scale escalation of immigrant detention and intensive increased use of enforcement in immigrant communities is the way to achieve those goals. Instead, we remain firm in our commitment to comprehensive, compassionate, and common-sense reform."

In Ohio, our Church’s refugee resettlement network includes diocesan offices in Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Dayton. In 2016, we resettled over 1000 refugees. Catholic parishes and diocesan offices also work in collaboration with other refugee resettlement programs in Ohio. These programs have safely and compassionately resettled refugees from all over the world, including a small number from Syria. Measuring by the immense outpouring of support from parishioners and others in our communities towards these refugees, we believe most Ohioans who know migrants and refugees welcome newcomers with open arms and wish to see Americans offer acts of mercy. The refugee program is one of the most vetted processes for entry into the United States.  We do not oppose efforts to improve on the system, should there be a need.  However, the temporary shutdown of all refugee admissions, and the more than 60 percent reduction in the number of refugees who can be resettled, create a chilling effect on our ability to maintain programs and ongoing assistance.  Refugees who have languished in camps for years will continue to find no relief, and a sudden temporary halt for our own agencies will likely result in significant downsizing of resources and staff.
We encourage your support for the following:
1.  A comprehensive reform of our immigration laws, not just enforcement-only measures, but a reform that provides more paths for legal entry and a rational and clear cut separation of duties among federal and local law enforcement officials which does not compromise the community character of local law enforcement;
2.  The BRIDGE Act: S.128/H.R. 496. (This Act will protect the dignity of DACA-eligible youth by ensuring that these individuals, who were brought to the United States as children and are contributing so much to our nation, can continue to live their lives free of the anxiety that they could be deported at any time.);
3.  Efforts to persuade the administration to reestablish enforcement priorities, so that they focus more on true criminals and threats to public safety;
4.  Maintaining the U.S. Refugee Resettlement Program with adequate funding while further improving the vetting process.
As Pope Francis said, "To migrate is the expression of that inherent desire for the happiness proper to every human being, a happiness that is to be sought and pursued. For us Christians, all human life is an itinerant journey towards our heavenly homeland" (February 2017 Address to Participants in the International Forum on Migration and Peace).
Thank you for this consideration.
The Catholic Bishops of Ohio
Most Rev. Dennis M. Schnurr
Archdiocese of Cincinnati
Chairman, Board of Directors, Catholic Conference of Ohio
Most Rev. Joseph R. Binzer
Auxiliary Bishop of Cincinnati

Most Rev. Frederick F. Campbell
Bishop of Columbus

Most Rev. William Skurla
Apostolic Administrator of Byzantine Eparchy of Parma

Most Rev. Jeffrey M. Monforton
Bishop of Steubenville

Most Rev. Daniel E. Thomas
Bishop of Toledo & Apostolic Administrator Diocese of Cleveland

Most Rev. George V. Murry S.J.
Bishop of Youngstown

Most Rev. J. Michael Botean
Bishop of Romanian Catholic Eparchy of Canton

Most Rev. Bohdan J. Danylo
Bishop of St. Josaphat Ukrainian Eparchy, Parma
Letter Catholic Bishops of Ohio (PDF)

    

One Cannot Choose Life or Death for Another

By Monica, The Lamb Catholic Worker, Columbus, Ohio

     How pro-life is the Catholic Worker?  There are very few groups, even religious groups, who uphold the absolute and unequivocal sacredness  of all human life and lives - of all people everywhere, all the time, in every situation, even in the womb -as the multitude of Catholic Workers  from around the world. We believe unequivocally that all people, no matter how small, are sacred,  "made in God's own image and likeness," as Scripture tells us, having the "indelible stamp of the Creator" on each and every one, according to Pope Benedict Emeritus.  Celebrate with us over 18,000 viewers on this Catholic Worker website, sharing the same vision.
     Translated, this means that we are committed to never ever putting ourselves in any position to kill one other sacred human life, whether through abortion, euthanasia, capital punishment, severe economic exploitation of the world's poorest and war.
     Dorothy Day put it most eloquently when she simply stated: "No one has the right to choose the life or death for another person."  It also follows from the Old Testament reiteration that God alone is the sole author of life and death, not us.  We usurp His supreme role and take matters into our own hands in any of these situations, deciding the very life or death of another person.
      It is a concept "so old it is new," going back to the first 300 years of the Catholic Church, particularly on not killing sacred human life in the Early Church's staunch stance on pacifism.  Peter Maurin wanted to originally call the Catholic Worker the Catholic Radical, because "radical" means going back to one's roots.  Dorothy wanted to name it after St. Joseph the Worker, and so it was.  Pope Francis has also repeatedly spurred all Christ followers in the world to become radical, to stir things up as Christ did, where there is complacency, where there is suffering and darkness, especially at the hands of others. His words on peace, on the preferential option for the poor, on the forgotten, and on being a great light to the world remind of Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin. Thank you, Pope Francis!

Monica and sisters: Lisa Evans + Maria Horn

Monica with son Josh

Monica's nieces and nephews: Joseph Horn, Maria Evans, Jotham Allwein, Josh

Monica's Nieces Maria Evans and Dorothy Allwein

Monica's nephews Jotham Allwein Tom Horn Brendan O'Rourke

      This was the first time I marched in almost 30 years at this witness for life, and seeing at least 200,000-225,000 people based on the MLK 25th reunion and other large marches in which I participated.  The procession alone at the Shrine of the Immaulate Conception was over 40 minutes long of Cardinals, bishops, priests, and seminarians, with many many religious orders represented.  Every nook and cranny floor space was filled with mostly young people on fire for the Lord and strongly desiring to stand up for this injustice against our unborn fellow citizens. 
     Most moving were the brave, teary-eyed groups with signs that said, "I regret my abortion," and "I am an abortion survivor."
     Our Lady of Guadalupe, Queen of the Americas and of the Unborn, please, please intercede for us! Your appearance is the only one, worldwide, of a pregnant Madonna, as shown in your black band around your waist. Protect these Holy Innocents and help Americans know that they have created a soul forever when they have conceived, that even if cut short here, will "dart about like sparks in the sky" in Heaven.
      Here are the walls of the side chapel at the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in D.C. where Dorothy Day poured her heart out to our Blessed Mother to help her know the way God had in mind for direct service to the poor and marginalized.  Peter Maurin was on her doorstep on returning to New York.  Intercede for us, please, Our Dear Mother!
     

    

40th Anniversary of Roe v. Wade: The Catholic Peace Fellowship and Dorothy Day's Statement Against Abortion June 28, 1974

 THE LAMB CATHOLIC WORKER, Columbus - The January 22, 1973 Supreme Court decision on abortion deprives all unborn human beings of any protection whatever against incursions upon their right to life and has thus created a situation we find morally intolerable, and one which we feel obliged to protest.

      From the point of view of biological science the fetus is an individual human life. The social sciences may attempt to define "fully human" in a variety of ways, but their findings are inconclusive and, at best, tentative and certainly supply no basis for determining who is or who is not to enjoy the gift of life. No one has the right to choose life or death for another; to assume such power has always been recognized as the ultimate form of oppression.
     A primary obligation of civil society is to protect the innocent. A legal situation such as now exists in the United States, making abortion available upon demand, is an abdication of the state's responsibility to protect the most basic of rights, the right to life.
     We make this statement to protest a policy and a practice, not to condemn any individual for a tragic decision she or he may have felt forced to make, just as in our protest against war and its destruction of human life we pass no judgment upon the individual who acts in good conscience.
      But just as we urge our leaders to institute policies that will put an end to the constant threat of war, so we call upon them, in particular our legislatures and courts, to undertake a prudent and thorough reassessment of the abortion issue in all its ramifications and to develop a policy that will extend the rights and protections afforded by the Constitution, and inherent by nature, to the  unborn, and at the same time to provide every support and assistance to those who might otherwise be driven to consider abortion as a solution to real and demanding personal problems.
      We reject categorically the Supreme Court's argument that abortion is an exclusively private matter to be decided by the prospective mother and her physician. We protest the thoroughly logical and perhaps inevitable extension of a practice which, though first argued in a personal context, has rapidly become a social policy involving publicly funded clinics and supportive agencies.
      This is not a "Catholic issue," and to dismiss it as such is to deny the dedication and the contribution of those of other religions and of none. Nor is this simply a matter of one group of citizens imposing its own morality upon others, any more so than our conscientious resistance to the war in Viet Nam, to conscription, etc. Indeed, we insist that these positions are all of one piece, stemming from what Albert Schweitzer called, "reverence for life," and the consequent obligation to oppose any policy or practice which would give one human being the right to determine whether or not another shall be permitted to live.
      For many years we have urged upon our spiritual leaders the inter-relatedness of the life issues, war, capital punishment, abortion, euthanasia and economic exploitation. We welcome the energetic leadership our bishops are giving in the abortion controversy and we are proud to join our voices with theirs. At the same time we must point out that, ultimately, the sincerity of our words and theirs on any of these issues will be measured by our readiness to recognize and deal with the underlying social problems which turn many people to these deadly alternatives, to condemn all forms of social and economic injustice and to work for their elimination and the establishment of a social order in which all may find it easier to be "fully human." (signed)Dorothy Day, Eileen Egan, Hermene Evans, Joseph Evans, M.D., Thomas C. Cornell, James H. Forest, Gordon C. Zahn
Special thanks for the words of encouragement from Jim Forest and Tom Cornell for the Lamb Catholic Worker here in Columbus!  Gracias!   Thanks also for his support to Robert Ellsberg, author of "The Duty of Delight: the Diaries of Dorothy Day (2008) and All the Way to Heaven is Heaven: The Selected Letters of Dorothy Day (2010). Gracias!  Pray for us.
       See the movie, October Baby on the subject of abortion.  It is the most stirring movie about mercy and forgiveness.  Be sure to keep watching after the credits at the end for an incredible interview!
       Also, you people young and old with a "consistent ethic of human life" from conception to natural death (only God can take a human life), you Franciscans, Jesuits, Jesuit Volunteer Corps people, Peace Corps people and others, please pray for our community!  We get attacked from all sides and need your prayers.

A Cloud of Holy Innocents: a Litany of the Unborn Saints Who Died Since January 22, 1973

      "They seemed, in the view of the foolish, to be dead, ... But they are in peace... And they shall dart about as sparks through stubble... " (Wisdom 3:1-6).  In Heaven, there may well be this most exquisite site -- a swirling magnificent cloud of intense light- those people whose most pure and fragile bodies were attempted to be destroyed through abortion.  Yet, we as Catholics know that when a person is created by our Heavenly Father, the Author of the universe and of life itself, it is forever alive and no less valuable and worthy of great love and respect, no matter how small.
        Fr. Daniel Berrigan once compared the "new" law passed from Roe vs. Wade (he wrote this in the 70's) as to "clubbing your neighbor and eating him."  He continued with how this generation and era will be looked on aghast by future generations in the same manner that we look upon former cruel practices in history involving deaths of innocent people.  He then pondered if he even belonged to this planet, grieving over such a law that a woman can kill this most vulnerable baby of her own, still inside of her.
         On the eve of yet another year of this law (the count is at approximately 50 million people), may we, as Catholics, come together in deep prayer and beatitudinal action to look closely at the causes of teenagers and women, young and old, aborting their babies, as well as at the very law itself. 
        Some may think that the law will never change, and that if it flips, it will flip back right away.  I have fallen into this thinking at times.  I was wrong.  With God all things are possible, even this most hideous law changing for good. Along with reversing this law and placing a new one across our country, my equally fervent prayer is that we do lift a finger to help these people, not simply to ensure that the baby is born, but to help the family (parents and child) after the baby is born, the nearly equally critical time.  Jesus railed against the Scribes' hypocrisy for laying down the law and not lifting a finger to help.  Hopefully we contine to be pro-life in sustaining these marginalized children and their families.
       Dorothy Day always said that if every Catholic home that could would have a "Christ Room" there would be no need for Catholic Worker Houses.  Perhaps if every home had a Christ Room for a poor person or small family, they would have no need - at a critical point in their lives - to abort a child of theirs.  I had a Christ Room and took in four women over the years.  One was an unwed mother through Catholic Social Services (*correction from Catholic Charities).  It was a difficult time in my life, partly because we were on WIC trying to get by, but Peter Maurin always emphasized that hospitality to the poor was to be done "at a personal sacrifice."  Also, she had lied by about three months her due date to escape a drug-addicted boyfriend, saying she was farther along.  I ended up having my third child within 3 weeks of her baby, and so, we had two newborns in the house for a while.
        For a few years I have been helping a Mexican family of seven whose father committed suicide when she was nine months pregnant for their last one. They are now a family of nine. Four of the children have been my beloved students.  I bring food to them once a month and have them over at other times.  Anything and everything helps others while we attempt to live the pro-life lifestyle.
       God made every sacred human being on this planet, born and unborn, in His own image and likeness, with such unimaginable love for each one's most unique and perfect design.  He has every hair on all our heads counted.  He knew us before we were born and knit every one of us in our mothers' wounds.  Not only are we fearfully, wonderfully made, but God Himself is within every person, the world over, as Blessed Teresa of Calcutta reiterated when she said, "I see God in every human being." In the Gospel of Life", Blessed John Paul II writes: "... Man has been given a sublime dignity, based on the inimate bond which unites him to his Creator: in many there shines forth a reflection of God himself."
        Right now six of the nine justices on the Supreme Court, or two-thirds, are from the Catholic faith.  As Barbara Perry, a government professor at Sweetbriar College said, "Now we've moved from [the idea of] a Catholic seat to a Catholic court."  There is no better time than now to pray for them and to write to them.
        In terms of the causes of abortion, 70% are committed out of desperation and poverty.  We cannot claim to be pro-life and anti-abortion without directly affecting the situations, crises, and lack of help that push a woman to feel she has no other alternative.  Let our prayers not forget this huge aspect for the unborn children who would be killed even if the law changes.  Any and every avenue - at a personal level and national level - every program, policy, and organization  possible are called forth to help this struggling group of people.  Peter Maurin always said that we should all "work toward a world where it is easy to be good."
       Truly, you were in this most vulnerable state at one time, and were entirely at the mercy of your mother, or of society intervening, if she decided to kill you.  As we proceed, we are always mindful not to judge or condemn the mothers or fathers because we have not felt their depths of despair and pain.  We have not lived in their shoes.  We are to only pray, support, and strive to save.