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Title: Catholic Bishop lobbies Congress for amnesty bill, ignores facts and Church’s tax exempt status
Source:
examiner.com
URL Source: http://www.examiner.com/x-35821-Imm ... -and-Churchs-tax-exempt-status
Published: Jul 17, 2010
Author: By Immigration Reform Examiner * Dave Gi
Post Date: 2010-07-17 08:33:49 by HAPPY2BME-4UM
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Keywords: None
Views: 87
Comments: 6
On Wednesday, Bishop Gerald Kicanas speaking on behalf of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishop, addressed the House Judiciary subcommittee, and made the following statement: “Immigration is ultimately a humanitarian issue since it impacts the basic rights and dignity of millions of persons and their families. As such, it has moral implications, especially how it impacts the basic survival and decency of life experienced by human beings like us. ... Our current immigration system fails to meet the moral test of protecting the basic rights and dignity of the human person.” “Because of a broken system, immigrant families are being separated. Migrant workers are subject to exploitation by unscrupulous employers, and those attempting to find work by coming north are being abused and taken advantage of by human smugglers. it is our view that the best way to secure our southern border is through (comprehensive) immigration reform.” While Kicanas, who is the head of the archdiocese in Tucson, claimed that over the last ten years, thousands of men, women and children have died in the desert trying to cross into this country…he failed to mention the thousands of Americans who have been killed by illegal aliens. Nor did the Bishop mention the thousands of American children who have been molested by many of those “migrant workers.” Of course, the issue of child molestation is a touchy one for the Catholic Church. Though it may be unethical or a violation of the Church’s tax exempt status to use their position to engage in politics, Bishop Kicanas’ lobbying on behalf of illegal aliens is only the latest such effort by the Catholic Church. In January, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ committee on immigration met to discuss how the church can help push forward so-called ‘comprehensive immigration reform’ (i.e. amnesty for illegal aliens). Bishop John C. Wester, chair of the committee, characterized the USCCB’s lobbying efforts as “a full-court press” on immigration reform. Wester told reporters: "We certainly honor the laws of the land and we're grateful for them, but we do believe the system is no longer able to deal with the immigration realities we face today. We have great need for labor and invite immigrants to work, but then call it trespassing. We need temporary workers, but don't have sufficient visas." Though Wester claimed the Catholic Church has respect for our laws, he was quick to justify the actions of those who enter this nation illegally. The bishop said: “’What part of illegal don't you understand?' is a quick sound bite. But if someone is breaking the law, you need to look at why the person's breaking the law.” In October 2006, Bishop William Skylstad, President of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops wrote an open letter to President Bush asking him to veto the Secure Fence Act which authorized construction of 700 miles of fences and barriers along the U.S./Mexican border. A portion of that letter follows: “To be clear, the U.S. Catholic bishops are supportive of efforts to enforce immigration law and secure our borders, so long as the mechanisms and strategies applied toward this end protect human dignity and protect human life. However, we are opposed to this legislation because we believe it could lead to the deaths of migrants attempting to enter the United States and increased smuggling-related violence along our border. We also believe it would send the wrong signal to our peaceful neighbor to the south, Mexico, as well as the international community. Finally, we do not believe it will solve the problem of illegal immigration faced by our nation. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently found that migrant deaths have doubled since 1995, about the time that the government initiated a series of border enforcement initiatives designed to stem illegal entries at ports-of-entry and other traditional crossing routes. Since that time, close to 3,000 migrants have died in remote portions of the southwest region of the country. In our estimation, the erection of a border fence would force immigrants, desperate to find employment to support their families, to seek alternative and more dangerous ways to enter the country, contributing to an increase in deaths, including among women and children. It also would drive migrants to depend upon unscrupulous smugglers, who would exploit them and, in some cases, place them in dangerous situations which may cause them harm.” The Catholic Church has also helped to organize the massive illegal alien rallies seen in recent years around the nation. The March 2006 rally held in Washington, D.C. was sponsored by among others, the Archdiocese of Washington’s Office of Justice and Service, Catholic Charities of the Arlington Diocese, and the Catholic Social Justice Lobby Network. Baltimore churches St. Michael and St. Patrick even sent a four bus convoy filled with illegal aliens to the Washington rally. A high-ranking official with the Diocese of Arlington, Va. named Father Jose Hoyos played to the crowd when he said: “I want to pray for all the representatives and the senators and the president of the United States, because if they were Christians they would not pass this kind of law.” Churches in this country are considered to be non-profit, charitable organizations and as such are exempt from taxes. However, as a condition of that status, they are prohibited from engaging in political activities (endorsing candidates, lobbying, etc.). If the Catholic Church is going to use the pulpit to lobby for political change, they must be treated as any other lobbyist group attempting to influence our elected representatives. While they claim that the motives behind their quest for amnesty for the millions of mostly Hispanic illegal aliens are strictly humanitarian, the church also has very practical reasons for seeking amnesty…Their own survival. What the leadership of the Catholic Church always fails to acknowledge in their sanctimonious speeches is that because of the Church’s widespread molestation scandal, the U.S. dioceses are dying, and droves of devout Mexican and Central American Catholics are just what the church needs right now to save it. Our state, local, and federal governments must ask the Catholic Church to decide whether it is either a church or a political organization. If it chooses the latter, the taxpayers should not be asked to subsidize their lobbying activities. Catholic Bishop lobbies Congress for amnesty bill, ignores facts and Church’s tax exempt status
CATHOLIC Bishop Gerald Kicanas testifying before House Committee
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#4. To: HAPPY2BME-4UM (#0)
completely clueless statist statement, baseless claim, and something that the far left commies would say. church's can advocate whatever policy they want, such as immigration, abortion, homo marriage, unions, religious liberties, refusal of vaccines, education of children, parental rights, etc. the list is endless, & for this guy to claim otherwise shows he knows literally nothing of our God given rights or the proper /Constitutional role of government. church's, under their so-called 'tax status', are forbidden from endorsing a specific candidate. i thought this was 3rd grade knowledge, but he obviously went to government ('public') school,
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Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/LatestThough it may be unethical or a violation of the Church's tax-exempt status to use their position to engage in politics,
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