Where All Find a Home
Immigration is increasingly becoming the subject of debate in our neighborhoods, families and parishes. In many places, the discussion can grow divisive. It doesn't need to be. As Catholics, our focus must be the dignity of the human person and the welfare of families.
The Maryland-serving bishops have released "Where All Find A Home: A Catholic Response to Immigration." In it, Baltimore Archbishop Edwin O'Brien, Washington Archbishop Donald Wuerl and Wilmington Bishop Michael Saltarelli urge Catholics to engage in faith-filled discussion of the issue.
In the Church no one is a stranger, and the Church is not foreign to anyone, anywhere.
The Supreme Court’s immigration hearing: Human dignity not up for debate
By Jose H. Gomez
Archbishop of Los Angeles
This week [April 24, 2012] the U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments on Arizona’s controversial immigration law. The case before the court focuses on a few provisions of this law, but the principle at stake is whether the federal government holds full authority to enact and implement immigration law in this country.
The implications are huge. How the court responds could fundamentally alter how our country governs immigration. Instead of one federal law that applies to all the states, a patchwork of 50 state immigration policies could suddenly define our nation’s immigration system.
In a friend of the court brief submitted in the case, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops argues that the federal government is in the best position to balance competing goals of enforcing of immigration laws while upholding long-held American values such as family unity and human dignity. These values help define America as a nation. They should not be taken for granted.
Patroness of Migrants
St. Frances Xavier Cabrini was a naturalized immigrant from Italy and the first American citizen to become a saint. Today she is universal patroness of migrants.
