 WASHINGTON- The United States has a moral obligation to protect unaccompanied children and families from persecution in Central America, said Bishop Mark J. Seitz of El Paso, Texas, in testimony before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, October 21. Bishop Seitz is an advisor to the USCCB Committee on Migration and a member of the board of the Catholic Legal Immigration Network (CLINIC).
The humanitarian outflow, driven by organized crime in the northern triangle countries of Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras, continues, with nearly 40,000 unaccompanied children and an equal number of mothers with children having arrived in the United States in Fiscal Year 2015.
"If we do not respond justly and humanely to this challenge in our own backyard, then we will relinquish our moral leadership and moral influence globally," Bishop Seitz said.
Bishop Seitz pointed to the human consequences of U.S. policies which are designed to deter migration from the region, including U.S. support for Mexican interdiction efforts which are intercepting children and families in Mexico and sending them back to danger, in violation of international law.
Bishop Seitz recommended an end to these interdictions and the introduction of a regional system which would screen children and families for asylum in Mexico and other parts of the region. He also called for Congress to approve and increase a $1 billion aid package proposed by the Administration.
"If we export enforcement," Bishop Seitz said, "we also must export protection."
Bishop Seitz recalled the words of Pope Francis before Congress in September, when he invoked the golden rule in guiding our nation's actions toward those seeking safety in our land.
Quoting the Holy Father, Bishop Seitz repeated to the committee, "'The yardstick we use for others will be the yardstick which time will use for us.'"
"Mr. Chairman, I pray that time, and history, will conclude that we honored this rule in meeting this humanitarian challenge," Bishop Seitz concluded.
Bishop Seitz' testimony can be found at http://www.usccb.org//about/migration-policy/congressional-testimony/upload/seitz-ongoing-migration.pdf
Keywords: Bishop Mark J. Seitz, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, USCCB, Congress, Senate, Committee on Migration, migration, unaccompanied children, violence, Pope Francis
# # #
MEDIA CONTACT:
Norma Montenegro Flynn
O: 202-541-3200
Catholic News 2
 WASHINGTON- The United States has a moral obligation to protect unaccompanied children and families from persecution in Central America, said Bishop Mark J. Seitz of El Paso, Texas, in testimony before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, October 21. Bishop Seitz is an advisor to the USCCB Committee on Migration and a member of the board of the Catholic Legal Immigration Network (CLINIC).The humanitarian outflow, driven by organized crime in the northern triangle countries of Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras, continues, with nearly 40,000 unaccompanied children and an equal number of mothers with children having arrived in the United States in Fiscal Year 2015."If we do not respond justly and humanely to this challenge in our own backyard, then we will relinquish our moral leadership and moral influence globally," Bishop Seitz said.Bishop Seitz pointed to the human consequences of U.S. policies which are designed to deter migration from the region, i...
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis prayed the Angelus with faithful pilgrims and tourists gathered in St. Peter’s Square on Sunday, ahead of which he spoke of the spirit of wonder engendered by the Gospel and especially by the Christmas season.Reflecting on the Gospel reading of the 4th Sunday of Advent, which recounts Mary’s visit to her cousin, Elizabeth, miraculously with child in her old age, Pope Francis indicated three loci of wonder in our lives: the other; history; and the Church.Click below to hear our report “The other,” he said, “is [the first locus of wonder], in which to discover a brother, for, from the moment in which Jesus was born, every visage carries the features of the Son of God – above all when it is the face of a poor person, because it was as a poor person that God entered the world and it was by the poor that He allowed himself to be approached first.”“Another locus of wonder in which, if we look with faith, we fee...
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis prayed the Angelus with faithful pilgrims and tourists gathered in St. Peter’s Square on Sunday, ahead of which he spoke of the spirit of wonder engendered by the Gospel and especially by the Christmas season.
Reflecting on the Gospel reading of the 4th Sunday of Advent, which recounts Mary’s visit to her cousin, Elizabeth, miraculously with child in her old age, Pope Francis indicated three loci of wonder in our lives: the other; history; and the Church.
Click below to hear our report
“The other,” he said, “is [the first locus of wonder], in which to discover a brother, for, from the moment in which Jesus was born, every visage carries the features of the Son of God – above all when it is the face of a poor person, because it was as a poor person that God entered the world and it was by the poor that He allowed himself to be approached first.”
“Another locus of wonder in which, if we look with faith, we feel real wonder, is history,” Pope Francis continued. “So many times we think we see it the right way, and instead we risk reading it backwards: it happens, for example, when history seems to us to be determined by the market economy, regulated by finance and business, dominated by the powers that be. The God of Christmas is rather a God who “shuffles the deck” – He likes to do it, eh? – As Mary sings in the Magnificat, it is the Lord who casts down the mighty from their thrones and lifts up the lowly, who fills the hungry with good things and sends the rich away empty (Lk 1.52 to 53). This is the second surprise, the wonder of history.”
“The third locus of wonder is the Church,” said Pope Francis. “To look on her with the wonder of faith means not just considering the Church only as a religious institution – which the Church is – but to feel her as a mother who, despite her warts and wrinkles – we have so many! – lets the contours of the bride beloved of and purified by Christ the Lord shine through.”
“At Christmas,” Pope Francis concluded, “God gives us all of Himself by giving His one and only Son, who is all his joy – and only with the heart of Mary, the humble and poor daughter of Zion, become the Mother of the Son of the Most High, that we can rejoice and be glad for the great gift of God and for His unpredictable surprise: may she help us to perceive the wonder, these three wonders: the other, history and the Church; so let it be with the birth of Jesus – the gift of gifts – the undeserved gift that brings us salvation, that it might also make us feel this wonder in meeting Jesus. We cannot have this wonder, however, we cannot meet Jesus, if we do not meet Him in the other, in history and in the Church.”
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis prayed for the victims of massive flooding in India on Sunday. Speaking to the faithful gathered in St. Peter’s Square after the traditional Angelus prayer, Pope Francis said. “My thoughts turn in this moment to the dear populations of India, recently stricken by a great flood.”The city of Chennai, capital of Tamil Nadu state in southeastern India, was overwhelmed earlier this month after a series of record-breaking rainfalls triggered the flooding, in which some three hundred people perished. Much of the city's 4.8 million population remains exposed to the threat of disease outbreak as a result of the flooding. Meteorologists fear unusually intense weather patterns could bring more rain.Click below to hear our report “Let us pray for these brothers and sisters, who are suffering as a result of this great calamity, and let us entrust the souls of the dead to the mercy of God,” Pope Francis said.The Holy Father then led...
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis prayed for the victims of massive flooding in India on Sunday. Speaking to the faithful gathered in St. Peter’s Square after the traditional Angelus prayer, Pope Francis said. “My thoughts turn in this moment to the dear populations of India, recently stricken by a great flood.”
The city of Chennai, capital of Tamil Nadu state in southeastern India, was overwhelmed earlier this month after a series of record-breaking rainfalls triggered the flooding, in which some three hundred people perished. Much of the city's 4.8 million population remains exposed to the threat of disease outbreak as a result of the flooding. Meteorologists fear unusually intense weather patterns could bring more rain.
Click below to hear our report
“Let us pray for these brothers and sisters, who are suffering as a result of this great calamity, and let us entrust the souls of the dead to the mercy of God,” Pope Francis said.
The Holy Father then led the faithful in reciting the Ave Maria for all those affected.
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Sunday blessed the figures of the Christ Child, which shall be placed in the mangers of Christmas crèches in and around Rome and throughout Italy this Christmas season.The Pope gave the traditional blessing on the day of the “children’s Jubilee” – a Year of Mercy celebration devoted especially to children and young adolescents.“Dear children,” said Pope Francis in greetings following the traditional prayer of Marian devotion, “listen carefully: when you pray before your Nativity Scene, remember to pray also for me, as I shall remember you.” The Holy Father concluded his greeting, saying, “I thank you heartily – and have a Merry Christmas!”Click below to hear our report
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Sunday blessed the figures of the Christ Child, which shall be placed in the mangers of Christmas crèches in and around Rome and throughout Italy this Christmas season.
The Pope gave the traditional blessing on the day of the “children’s Jubilee” – a Year of Mercy celebration devoted especially to children and young adolescents.
“Dear children,” said Pope Francis in greetings following the traditional prayer of Marian devotion, “listen carefully: when you pray before your Nativity Scene, remember to pray also for me, as I shall remember you.” The Holy Father concluded his greeting, saying, “I thank you heartily – and have a Merry Christmas!”
Click below to hear our report
Vatican City, Dec 20, 2015 / 09:46 am (Aid to the Church in Need).- Ahead of Christmas, Pope Francis spoke on the surprise of God and his great gift in sending Jesus Christ to save mankind.“God gives us all of Himself by giving His one and only Son, who is all his joy – and only with the heart of Mary, the humble and poor daughter of Zion, become the Mother of the Son of the Most High, that we can rejoice and be glad for the great gift of God and for His unpredictable surprise.”The Pope prayed that the Virgin Mary may help us to “perceive the wonder.”“So let it be with the birth of Jesus – the gift of gifts – the undeserved gift that brings us salvation, that it might also make us feel this wonder in meeting Jesus,” the pontiff said Dec. 20.Thousands of pilgrims and tourists had gathered in St. Peter’s Square for the recitation of the Angelus on the Fourth Sunday of Advent, Vatican Radio reports.Pope Francis said that we ca...
Vatican City, Dec 20, 2015 / 09:46 am (Aid to the Church in Need).- Ahead of Christmas, Pope Francis spoke on the surprise of God and his great gift in sending Jesus Christ to save mankind.
“God gives us all of Himself by giving His one and only Son, who is all his joy – and only with the heart of Mary, the humble and poor daughter of Zion, become the Mother of the Son of the Most High, that we can rejoice and be glad for the great gift of God and for His unpredictable surprise.”
The Pope prayed that the Virgin Mary may help us to “perceive the wonder.”
“So let it be with the birth of Jesus – the gift of gifts – the undeserved gift that brings us salvation, that it might also make us feel this wonder in meeting Jesus,” the pontiff said Dec. 20.
Thousands of pilgrims and tourists had gathered in St. Peter’s Square for the recitation of the Angelus on the Fourth Sunday of Advent, Vatican Radio reports.
Pope Francis said that we cannot have the wonder of meeting Jesus “if we do not meet Him in another person, in history and in the Church.” His remarks stressed these three “places of wonder.”
Another person is a place “to discover a brother.” The Pope said that “from the moment in which Jesus was born, every visage carries the features of the Son of God – above all when it is the face of a poor person, because it was as a poor person that God entered the world and it was by the poor that He allowed himself to be approached first.”
Looking to history, “if we look with faith, we feel real wonder,” the Pope explained, warning against a wrongheaded approach.
“So many times we think we see it the right way, and instead we risk reading it backwards: it happens, for example, when history seems to us to be determined by the market economy, regulated by finance and business, dominated by the powers that be,” he said.
God then “shuffles the deck,” as shown by Mary’s Magnificat: “it is the Lord who casts down the mighty from their thrones and lifts up the lowly, who fills the hungry with good things and sends the rich away empty.”
Pope Francis said that the Church is also a place for wonder.
“To look on her with the wonder of faith means not just considering the Church only as a religious institution – which the Church is – but to feel her as a mother who, despite her warts and wrinkles – we have so many! – lets the contours of the bride beloved of and purified by Christ the Lord shine through.”
At the Angelus the Pope blessed the “bambinelli,” small statues and figurines of the Christ Child for Nativity scenes. Children traditionally bring these on the last Sunday of Advent. The Pope had a request for the children: “when you pray before your Nativity Scene, remember to pray also for me, as I shall remember you.”
The Pope’s comments also reflected on the disasters and conflicts of the world.
“My thoughts turn in this moment to the dear populations of India, recently stricken by a great flood,” he said.
Massive floods in the Indian city of Chennai Dec. 1-2 killed around 300 people and displaced thousands more. The city, whose population is close to 5 million, is now at risk of disease.
“Let us pray for these brothers and sisters, who are suffering as a result of this great calamity, and let us entrust the souls of the dead to the mercy of God,” the Pope said before leading the gathered crowd in praying a Hail Mary for the affected.
Pope Francis also spoke of the civil war in “our beloved Syria.” He voiced his appreciation for the U.N.-sponsored resolution for a peace process to end a conflict that has killed over 300,000 people.
“I encourage everyone to continue, with a generous spirit of confident willingness, toward cessation of violence and a negotiated settlement leading to peace.”
He then discussed Libya, saying a plan for a national unity government “invites hope for the future.”
For Nicaragua and Costa Rica, where an international court has ruled on a long-standing territory dispute, Pope Francis hoped for “a renewed spirit of fraternity” that will strengthen dialogue and cooperation between the two countries.
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) -- One of New Jersey's "Real Housewives" is set to be freed from the big house just days before Christmas....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A shake-up of the nation's kidney transplant system means more organs are getting to patients once thought nearly impossible to match, according to early tracking of the new rules....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Republican foes of President Barack Obama's health care law may be able to get more by chipping away at it than trying to take the whole thing down at once....
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- To say that the force is strong with this one isn't nearly enough....
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) -- The latest developments on an Air France flight from Mauritius to Paris that was diverted to Kenya after a suspected bomb was found on it....
