Catholic Archives - Ramblin' with Roger

U.S. Bishops’ “Special Message” on Immigration

The priority of the Lord is for those who are most vulnerable: the widow, the orphan, the poor, and the stranger (Zechariah 7:10).

I noticed that “as the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) gathered for their Fall Plenary Assembly in Baltimore, the bishops issued a Special Message addressing their concern for the evolving situation impacting immigrants in the United States. It marked the first time in twelve years that the USCCB invoked this particularly urgent way of speaking as a body of bishops.”

I understand that this is a very big deal. “The last one issued in 2013 was in response to the federal government’s contraceptive mandate.| Specifically, their position was that the Obama Administration mandate violated the First Amendment freedoms of religious organizations and others. While I disagreed, I would have to acknowledge that their position was consistent with their stated theology.

So is their immigration position, which passed 216 to 5 with three abstentions. This was covered in the New York Times.

The statement

In part:

“As pastors, we, the bishops of the United States, are bound to our people by ties of communion and compassion in Our Lord Jesus Christ. We are

-disturbed when we see among our people a climate of fear and anxiety around questions of profiling and immigration enforcement

– saddened by the state of contemporary debate and the vilification of immigrants

-concerned about the conditions in detention centers and the lack of access to pastoral care.

-troubled by threats against the sanctity of houses of worship and the special nature of hospitals and schools.

– grieved when we meet parents who fear being detained when taking their children to school, and when we try to console family members who have already been separated from their loved ones.

“Despite obstacles and prejudices, generations of immigrants have made enormous contributions to the well-being of our nation. We as Catholic bishops love our country and pray for its peace and prosperity. For this very reason, we feel compelled, in this environment, to raise our voices in defense of God-given human dignity.”

It’s followed by Biblical citations supporting their view.

Moral counterweight

From Axios in October: A diverse coalition of moderate and progressive Christians has opted to jump off the pulpit and challenge the regime around immigration, civil rights, and poverty.

The big picture: Moderate faith leaders are escorting immigrants to court hearings, blasting “rapid response” text alerts on sightings of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and leading vigils to try to prevent protest clashes.

They pray with ICE agents and National Guard troops to try to ease tension while also giving “know your rights” workshops to immigrants.

The intrigue: From the pulpit, they frame their actions as a moral stand outlined by Jesus in the Gospels to help “the stranger” and “the least of these,” as they call on their members to speak out.

“We don’t just pray for peace. We bring peace,” the Rev. Brendan Busse, pastor of Dolores Mission Catholic Church in Los Angeles, tells Axios.

Evangelicals

While many evangelicals are taking an opposing view, lots of them also support the immigrant. In June, “on World Refugee Day, scores of evangelical pastors and ministry leaders from across the State of California are speaking up on the contentious topic of immigration. After weeks of unrest over increased immigration enforcement in the state that is home to more immigrants than any other, evangelical leaders are affirming a ‘California Evangelical Statement on Refugees & Immigration.’

“As evangelical Christians in California, our perspective on immigration is grounded in the authority of Scripture. While immigration is a political issue, we see it first as a biblical one—deeply connected to the mission of the Church both locally and globally. We affirm the need to clearly express the biblical principles that guide our views, so that immigrants—many of whom are fellow members of the same Body of Christ and all of whom are our neighbors (Luke 10:27)—know we stand with them.”

News

11/7: USCIS announced that it is complying with the district court order in ASAP v. USCIS on 10/30/25 and has paused the issuance of Annual Asylum Fee (AAF) notices. Applicants may disregard previously issued AAF notices while the stay is in place. USCIS will not refund previously paid AAFs.

Racial Profiling Is ICE’s New Norm. Activists Are Mobilizing in Response.

Hamilton: “We get the job done.”

Immigration Man – Graham Nash

Leslie Ellen, to distinguish her

Codfish

My sister Leslie was born less than two years after I was. I have few specific recollections growing up, aside of being in class, in which she was not at least tangentially involved.

One of the truly odd things my parents did was to name my sister after my father. This was occasionally a pain for both of us. For me, since people knew there was someone named after Dad, they assumed it was me. I got cranky when some people, primarily men of our church, would refer to me as Little Les. Eventually, we needed something to distinguish between the two Leslies. Dad was generally Les anyway. My sister became Leslie Ellen.

I seem to recall introducing her to my classmates on the first day of school. Because I started school in February and she in September, we almost never had the same teachers in elementary school. She had one named Miss Coddington in the fifth grade. Miss Codfish, as some of the kids referred to her, really seemed to have it in for my sister. I don’t know if it was racially motivated or if the woman was just a bitter human being. Quite possibly, it was both.

She’s a saint

And while the name “Leslie Ellen” could be a bit weighty, it was convenient when she converted to Catholicism during Holy Week of 2018. While Leslie isn’t a saint name, Ellen/Helena is. Helena “was about sixty-four years of age when she received the light of the Gospel.”

Sadly, one of her oldest friends was quite bothered by Leslie’s conversation. Her reasoning, in the letter I read after Leslie’s bicycle accident, frankly baffled both of us. It was a general evangelical anti-Catholic screed that wasn’t tied to any position of the church, failings by priests, or the like.

Leslie is having another birthday, which is a good thing. After that 2018 bike wreck, every birthday is a bit of a miracle.

Sanctus – why so Subito QUESTION

The papal party line is that it’s happening because “the people” want it.

I’ve had a great interest in all the Popes in my lifetime, odd, I suppose, since I’m not Roman Catholic. I thought John Paul II was an inspirational political leader, who helped bring down the Iron Curtain. I think he showed great compassion to the man who tried to kill him in 1981.

When I worked at FantaCo, and the Pope comic book came out in 1982, quite early in his papacy, we got so many people coming through our doors who had never been there before and never came after. I don’t know how many we ordered, but I sensed at the time that we could have sold twice as many as we had, at least.

But I just don’t understand the rush to beatification, a large step towards sainthood. The papal party line is that it’s happening because “the people” want it. This ignores those people who are less kindly disposed. I’m not cynical enough to suggest that it is the church’s attempt to divert attention away from the sexual abuse scandal by pedophile priests, about which JP was slow to respond effectively. But it IS a part of his record.

Thoughts?