Catholic migrant shelter calls ‘human smuggling’ accusations ‘utter nonsense’

Forty-five priests and four bishops in Venezuela have died from COVID-19 as of December 2021, the Venezuela bishops’ conference has reported. / Unsplash

Caracas, Venezuela, Dec 15, 2021 / 13:45 pm (CNA).

The Venezuelan bishops’ conference published new statistics showing that since the beginning of the pandemic 45 priests and four bishops have died from COVID-19.

The conference noted that “in the midst of the global crisis caused by the pandemic, priests are not exempt from the risks of contracting COVID-19,” as they carry out their ministry.

“At a time when people more earnestly seek the comfort of the spirit and closeness to the faith … priests offer their service to the Church,” the conference said.

The conference published current figures on the priests who were infected and died from the deadly virus. In the report, they noted that between March 2020 and Dec. 13, 2021, 439 priests were infected with COVID-19, a figure that represents 20.77% of the total clergy in the country.

During this period, 45 priests have died, or 10.25% of all priests infected with the virus, and 2.13% of all Venezuelan clergy.

Of those infected, 26 were bishops and of these 22 prelates recovered; the other four died in 2021.

The four bishops who died were Archbishop Cástor Oswaldo Azuaje, who served as the bishop of the Diocese of Trujillo until his death on January 8; Bishop César Ortega, who died on April 9; Archbishop Tulio Chirivella, Archbishop Emeritus of Barquisimeto, who died on April 11; and Cardinal Jorge Urosa Savino, Archbishop Emeritus of Caracas, who died on Sept. 23.

The bishops’ conference said that the Church in Venezuela currently has 2,068 priests. Siixty are bishops and of these 41 are titular bishops, three are auxiliary bishops, and 16 are bishops emeritus.

The dioceses with the greatest number of priests are San Cristóbal (208), Trujillo (154), Barquisimeto (148), Mérida (127), Caracas (121), the conference reported.

The bishops’ conference said that since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic “it has urged the entire population to comply with the guidelines and recommendations in the field of biosafety” to prevent contracting the virus.

The conference also stressed that taking proper care of oneself, the family and the community “is the best way to prevent the spread of COVID-19.”

Finally, the bishops’ conference exhorted the faithful to “increase their trust in God in times of a health emergency” and encouraged them to continue praying from the Word of God, “especially in the family, the Domestic Church,” since prayer “is an expression of the faith and hope that we need to strengthen.”

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Washington D.C., Feb 28, 2019 / 03:00 pm (CNA).- Neomi Rao was given and affirmative vote by the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday. She is President Donald Trump’s nominee to replace Justice Brett Kavanaugh on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Dictrict of Columbia.

Rao cleared the committee on a party-line vote of 12 to 10. Her nomination will now head to the full Senate.

Earlier in the week, Rao’s nomination seemed to face an uncertain future as questions about her suitability arose on both sides of the aisle and it was not clear if she could garner enough support from committee members.

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO), a freshman senator from Missouri, raised concerns about Roa’s judicial philosophy, particularly her views on judicial activism and substantive due process. But on Thursday morning, Hawley issued a statement saying he had met one-on-one with Rao on Wednesday, and said that he was no longer opposed to her advancing to the full Senate.

“In our discussion, Ms. Rao said she would interpret the Constitution according to its text, structure and history, not according to changing social and political understandings,” said Hawley.

“She said the text of the Constitution is fixed and the meaning must follow that fixed text,” he added, and that “she rejected the idea of ‘common law constitutionalism.’”

Hawley also said he was pleased that Rao told him she did not think there was textual support for substantive due process in the Constitution.

Concerns about Rao’s commitment to an originalist approach to the Consitution also reflected anxieties of pro-life campaigners who had concerns she may be philosophically sympathetic to a consitutional right to abortion, rather than merely committed to defering to it as established precedent.

Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) was also concerned with Rao, particularly her college newspaper op-eds concerning sexual assault and women. In some of the writing’s Rao made observations about the context in which assaults could take place which some observers said came close to victim-blaming.

Ernst, herself a survivor of sexual assault, said that she found the writings to be “abhorrent,” but also said she had since been satisfied about Rao’s suitability and agreed to vote her through to a final confirmation vote in the Senate.

During Rao’s confirmation hearing, Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), who is now running for the Democratic nomination for president in 2020, quizzed her about her views on morality, gay marriage, and sin.

Booker asked Rao to comment about whether she believed marriage only could exist between a man and a woman, or if two she thought men in a sexual relationship was immoral. Rao declined insisted that it was not her place asa  judicial candidate or judge to opinion on the nature of sin, and said she would follow precedent if she were confirmed to the bench.

Currently, Rao is the administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, and has taught law at George Mason University. She previously served in the White House counsel’s office under president George H.W. Bush and as a staffer for the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The final confirmation vote is expected in March.

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Washington D.C., Feb 3, 2020 / 06:01 pm (CNA).- The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops is decrying a Trump administration order that expands, by six, a list of countries whose citizens are restricted from immigrating to the United States.

The Trump administration on Jan. 31 expanded travel restrictions to include those seeking to move to the United States from Nigeria, Sudan, Tanzania, Eritrea, Burma, and Kyrgyzstan.

“The proclamation restricting immigration further undermines family reunification efforts and will make ensuring support for forced migrants in the designated countries more difficult,” the chairs of several USCCB committees said Feb. 2.

“We respect that there are challenges in assuring traveler documentation and information exchange between countries as a means to ensure the safety of citizens. However, we also believe that ill-conceived nation-based bans such as this injure innocent families…We urge the administration to reverse this action and consider the human and strategic costs of these harmful bans.”

The statement was signed by Bishop Mario Dorsonville, auxiliary bishop of Washington and chairman of the USCCB Committee on Migration; Bishop Joseph Bambera of Scranton, chairman of the ecumenical and interreligious affiars committee; Bishop Jaime Soto of Sacramento, chair of the Catholic Legal Immigration Netowrk, Inc.; Sean Callahan, president of Catholic Relief Services; and Sister Donna Markham, president of Catholic Charities USA.

The formal announcement from the White House stated that each of the six additional countries identified in the January 2020 proposal has deficiencies in sharing terrorist, criminal, or identity information with the United States.

Visas that can lead to permanent residency will be suspended for nationals of Nigeria, Burma, Eritrea, and Kyrgyzstan, while nationals of Sudan and Tanzania will not be able to apply for the “diversity visa” lottery.

Nigeria is the most populous nation in Africa and is approximately 50% Christian.

The United States issued more than 7,920 immigrant visas to Nigerians in the 2018 fiscal year, and of these, 4,525 went to the immediate relatives of American citizens, and another 2,820 to other family members, The New York Times reports. Nigerian immigrants sent back $24 billion in remittances to Nigeria in 2018 alone, the Times reported according to the accounting firm PwC.

The Times reported that nearly 30,000 Nigerians overstayed their nonimmigrant visas in 2018, citing US Department of Homeland Security figures.

The new policy will take effect Feb. 21, the White House announcement said. Immigrants who obtain visas before then will still be able to travel to the United States, officials told The New York Times.

Special Immigrants, whose eligibility is based on having provided assistance to the United States Government, would be excepted from the new policy, the White House said.

The Trump administration’s original executive order restricting immigration was issued Jan. 27, 2017, prompting hundreds of demonstrators to gather at airports. The order was modified and went through several court challenges.

In addition to the countries added in January, the order bars entry of some citizens of Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Yemen, Venezuela, and North Korea. Chad was on the original list, but has since been removed.

Lawyers, advocates for Muslim immigrants, and other critics said the administration’s travel ban still constituted a “Muslim ban” since most of the countries under the ban are Muslim-majority.
The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the travel ban in June 2018, ruling that President Donald Trump was acting within the limits of his authority when he enacted the travel ban on nationals from seven countries.

At the time of the ruling, leaders of the U.S. bishops’ migration committee and religious freedom committee said the travel ban “targets Muslims for exclusion, which goes against our country’s core principle of neutrality when it comes to people of faith.” The Supreme Court “failed to take into account the clear and unlawful targeting of a specific religious group by the government,” the bishops said.

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