Bishops to Trump: Don’t abandon young people to deportation

July 20, 2017 CNA Daily News News Briefs 1 Print

Washington D.C., Jul 20, 2017 / 06:01 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Undocumented young people brought to the U.S. by their parents contribute to American society and deserve continued protections from the Trump administration, said the U.S. Catholic bishops this week.

“These young people entered the U.S. as children and know America as their only home. The dignity of every human being, particularly that of our children and youth, must be protected,” Bishop Joe S. Vasquez of Austin, Texas said July 18.

Young people who qualify under the program are “contributors to our economy, veterans of our military, academic standouts in our universities, and leaders in our parishes,” said the bishop, who chairs the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ migration committee.

The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy was implemented in 2012 by the Department of Homeland Security to address the situation of undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. at a young age. It provides more than 750,000 youth with a temporary reprieve from deportation and employment authorization to work legally in the U.S.

Bishop Vasquez urged the Trump administration to continue the program and “to publicly ensure that DACA youth are not priorities for deportation.”

In late June, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, with the attorneys general of nine other states, sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions demanding the Trump administration end the DACA policy. The letter threatened to amend a lawsuit against another deportation deferral program in order to target the policy, Politico reports.

Bishop Vasquez, however, addressed the young people and their families: “the Catholic Church stands in solidarity with you.”

“We recognize your intrinsic value as children of God,” he said. “We understand the anxiety and fear you face and we appreciate and applaud the daily contributions you make with your families, to local communities and parishes, and to our country. We support you on your journey to reach your God-given potential.”

Bishop Vasquez also said that the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program is not a permanent solution and called on Congress to find a legislative solution for these youth “as soon as possible.”

“My brother bishops and I pledge continuing efforts to help find a humane and permanent resolution that protects DACA youth,” he said. “Additionally, I note the moral urgency for comprehensive immigration reform that is just and compassionate. The bishops will advocate for these reforms as we truly believe they will advance the common good.”

According to Politico, Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly told a gathering of 20 Democratic members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus that he can’t guarantee the Trump administration will defend the DACA policy in court. Attorneys have told him the program wouldn’t survive a legal challenge.

 

 

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‘Go to Joseph’: Diocese of Lafayette kicks off Year of St Joseph

August 20, 2020 CNA Daily News 1

Denver Newsroom, Aug 20, 2020 / 03:01 am (CNA).- He’s been called Terror of Demons, but even St. Joseph has to adhere to some coronavirus restrictions. The Diocese of Lafayette was going to kick off their Year of St. Joseph a couple months ago, but coronavirus restrictions bumped the celebration to this past weekend.

“We waited until our diocese and the state of Louisiana was at a safe point in our recovery,” Blue Rolfes, the communications director for the diocese, told CNA. She said they consulted the state’s Department of Health before the launch, and they were on board with the August start date. “We’re just excited that we were going to be able to do it after all,” Rolfes said. Bishop Douglas Deshotel of Lafayette started the year Aug. 17 by celebrating Mass at St. Joseph parish in Patterson, one of 13 parishes in the diocese named after the saint.

There is “not one recorded word of St. Joseph spoken in the Gospel,” Deshotel said in his homily. “But we know him as a man of action.” “Spiritual writers give St. Joseph many attributes, saying he was a very religious man, he was civic-minded, humble, a hard worker, obedient to the will of God, a provider to his family, Jesus and Mary, and the protector of the holy family,” he said. The bishop noted that the diocese had chosen to celebrate this year as the Year of St. Joseph because it is the 150th anniversary of Bl. Pius IX declaring Saint Joseph patron of the universal Church in 1870.
“As St. Joseph cared for the holy family of Jesus and Mary, we ask him during this year to care for the Church. The Church is the body of Christ, as St. Joseph loved and cared for and protected Jesus, we ask him to do the same for the Church,” Deshotel said. But even though St. Joseph was a quiet man, Rolfes said, he is one of the greatest saints of the Church. “He wasn’t martyred, he didn’t go out in blaze of glory. But the contributions that he made to our faith and our Church, and to the life of Jesus are just secondary to none,” Rolfes said. “He was asked by God to do the unthinkable, especially back then, very much as Mary was. And he immediately obeyed and said that he would follow God’s request. And because of that, he was able to become Christ’s earthly father, foster father,” Rolfes said. As the protector of the Holy Family and the chaste spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary, “he set a wonderful standard for fathers, for human fathers for the rest of eternity,” Rolfes added. Catholics in the Diocese of Lafayette can participate in the year in many ways, Rolfes noted, including by making a pilgrimage to any of the parishes named for St. Joseph in the diocese, by participating in the parish missions about St. Joseph, and by participating in the St. Joseph Workday at their parishes.

A Year of St. Joseph pamphlet contains photos of each St. Joseph parish that may be visited, and pilgrims can receive stamps at each parish, indicating that they have made a pilgrimage there. The pamphlets also include prayers to St. Joseph, such as the Litany of St. Joseph, that may be prayed throughout the year. Pope Francis has also granted a plenary indulgence to Catholics in the diocese who make a pilgrimage to at least one of the parishes, and meet the other ordinary conditions of receiving a plenary indulgence: that the individual be in the state of grace by the completion of the acts, have complete detachment from sin, and pray for the Pope’s intentions. The person must also sacramentally confess their sins and receive Communion, up to about twenty days before or after the indulgenced act.
Rolfes said she thought St. Joseph was a strong example and witness for all Catholics during this time in history.

“The society and the culture that we live in now is so divisive in so many ways, and not only politically, but also on a lot of other different levels,” she said. “And I think St. Joseph is a wonderful example to us of staying true to the faith and being strong, and doing what God asks of us. And caring more for others than we care for ourselves. I think he’s a wonderful role model for fathers, definitely, but for all of us,” she said.

The Year of St. Joseph in the Diocese of Lafayette will conclude May 1, 2021, the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker, with a closing Mass at St. Joseph Church in Milton.

“We’re asking everyone to go to Joseph, to take all of their concerns and worries and fears and anxieties…and requests and prayers. Go to Joseph during this year.”

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