US bishops welcome resumption of temporary protections for Haitian migrants

By CNA Staff

May 24, 2021 Catholic News Agency News Briefs 0 Print

A tent camp in Haiti. / arindambanarjee/Shutterstock.

Washington D.C., May 24, 2021 / 19:01 pm (CNA).

The chairs of the US bishops’ committees on migration and international justice and peace on Monday commended the Biden administration’s redesignation of Haiti for Temporary Protected Status.

“We are grateful for this decision to redesignate Haiti for TPS, which acknowledges the serious challenges facing the island nation, including widespread violence, civil unrest, political instability, and food insecurity,” Bishop Mario Dorsonville, auxiliary bishop of Washington, and Bishop David Malloy of Rockford said May 24.

The Biden administration had on May 22 said it would resume TPS for Haiti for 18 months.

TPS, a policy begun in 1990, allows people who are unable safely to return to their home nations because of armed conflict, other violence, natural disasters, or other extraordinary and temporary circumstances to remain in the United States while the situation in their home country resolves. It protects them from deportation and grants them permission to work.

The bishops commented that Haiti ‘is widely recognized as the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. The Church in Haiti has been directly impacted by the unprecedented levels of gang activity—with targeted kidnappings of clergy, religious, and lay persons in recent months—adding to the need for an urgent response.”

“We stand with our brother bishops in condemning the lawlessness, and we join them in their solidarity with victims. We urge the Haitian government and President Moïse to act in the best interests of the Haitian people by respecting and upholding their rights and dignity. We also call on the Biden Administration to address the desperate conditions plaguing the country through diplomatic and humanitarian measures,” they said.

The decision was similarly greeted by Catholic Charities USA.

“Granting TPS recognizes the continued poverty-stricken conditions of Haiti and relieves those living here from their constant fear of deportation. This policy will benefit Haitians who are not yet able to return to their homeland, but want to live productive lives in the United States to support their loved ones back home,” Sr. Donna Markham, president of CCUSA, stated.

It is estimated there are 50,000 Haitians in the US with TPS.

The Haitian population with protected status arrived in the U.S. after a 2010 earthquake killed 200,000 and displaced 1 million people. In addition, the landfall of Hurricane Matthew in 2016 destroyed much of the island’s infrastructure.

The Trump administration had terminated Haiti’s TPS designation in 2017. The administration said natural disasters from years previously should not continue to justify irregular residency.

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Bishops offer prayers for Biden on Inauguration Day

January 20, 2021 CNA Daily News 1

Washington D.C., Jan 20, 2021 / 11:50 am (CNA).- As Joe Biden took office as the 46th president of the United States on Wednesday, individual U.S. bishops offered statements of prayer and congratulations.

 

Cardinal Timothy Dolan of the Archdiocese of New York tweeted, “Today of all days, we’re one nation under God. In God we trust. We pray with and for President [Joe Biden] and ask that the Holy Spirit bring him wisdom and guidance.”

 

 

Today of all days, we’re one nation under God. In God we trust. We pray with and for President @JoeBiden and ask that the Holy Spirit bring him wisdom and guidance. pic.twitter.com/d8NBqVXvPr

— Cardinal Dolan (@CardinalDolan) January 20, 2021

 

 

Cardinal Blase Cupich of the Archdiocese of Chicago also tweeted, “Join me in prayer for President Joseph Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris who assume office today. May God give them and all elected officials the strength and wisdom needed to heal this nation and build up the common good.”

 

 

Join me in prayer for President Joseph Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris who assume office today. May God give them and all elected officials the strength and wisdom needed to heal this nation and build up the common good.

— Cardinal Cupich (@CardinalBCupich) January 20, 2021

 

 

Cardinal Joseph Tobin of the Archdiocese of Newark tweeted, “Let your light shine on us, Lord, as we begin a new chapter in our nation’s history. Heal our wounds. Unite us in justice, charity and peace for all.”

 

Earlier in the morning, the U.S. bishops’ conference was scheduled to release a statement by president Archbishop Jose Gomez of Los Angeles, offering prayers for Biden and noting areas of agreement but also disagreement between the bishops and the incoming administration. 

 

The statement was not released until the afternoon, after Biden was sworn in to office and around the time Pope Francis published a message to the new president.

 

“At a time when the grave crises facing our human family call for farsighted and united responses, I pray that your decisions will be guided by a concern for building a society marked by authentic justice and freedom, together with unfailing respect for the rights and dignity of every person, especially the poor, the vulnerable and those who have no voice,” the pope said Jan. 20.

 

As CNA reported, the text of Gomez’s statement–particularly the expression of concern about some of Biden’s public policy positions on abortion, marriage, gender, and contraception–received some opposition within the conference. 

 

“My prayers are with our new President and his family today,” Archbishop Gomez said, adding that he looks forward “to working with President Biden and his administration, and the new Congress.”

 

“As with every administration, there will be areas where we agree and work closely together and areas where we will have principled disagreement and strong opposition,” he said. 

 

Other bishops offered prayers for Biden while also stating their support for Archbishop Gomez. 

 

Bishop Thomas John Paprocki of the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois said in a statement that while, “It is true that the Catholic Church shares the President’s concern for justice in matters of the economy, health care, and immigration,” there are several of the president’s policy positions “at odds with Catholic teaching about the dignity and integrity of human life.”

 

“In this regard, given the President’s public profession of full communion with the Church, I am pleased that Archbishop Gomez has spoken on behalf of all the bishops of the United States,” Paprocki said. 

 

“I join Archbishop Gomez and my brother bishops in praying that President Biden will be an effective and virtuous leader of our great nation and that he will truly seek healing and unity, which will necessarily include respect for the God-given freedom of people of faith to practice their religion freely,” he said. 

 

Archbishop Nelson Perez of Philadelphia also tweeted that “I share the sentiments of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ statement via Archbishop José H. Gomez.”

 

Bishop Michael Burbidge of the Catholic Diocese of Arlington said in a statement, “I ask Catholics and people of goodwill to pray for all elected leaders as they take on the task of carrying out the nation’s work.” 

 

“We pray also for peace, civility and unity in our nation. The smooth transition of power is a hallmark of our extraordinary American experience and vital to the endurance of our thriving republic,” Burbidge said. 

 

Burbidge also offered prayers for Biden’s conversion on his public position on the issue of abortion. 

 

“Please pray that our new President will uphold the truths revealed and proclaimed in the Catholic Faith he professes. May the Lord grant him the wisdom and compassion to protect the most vulnerable, especially the unborn; respect the dignity of all people; uphold the traditional family as the foundation of society; defend the principle of religious freedom upon which this nation was founded; and advocate for the rights of the poor,” he said. 

 

Bishop Robert Deeley of the Diocese of Portland, Maine, said in a statement, “Every day we should thank God for the blessings of liberty, freedom, and democracy.”

 

“These are the characteristics of the American experience on full display today in our nation’s capital with the inauguration of the 46th President of the United States, Joseph R. Biden, Jr.” Deely said. “I join with my brother bishops in congratulating him on his election and inauguration. An inauguration is a beginning. That really means that the work of all of us has just begun as together we build our nation.”


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