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 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
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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis celebrated Mass on the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe on Saturday evening, saying Mary “has experienced the divine mercy, and has hosted the very source of this mercy in her womb: Jesus Christ.”

The Holy Father used the homily to reflect on mercy –  and asked that this jubilee year “will be a planting of merciful love in the hearts of individuals, families and nations.”

The Pope said “no sin can cancel [Jesus’] merciful closeness or prevent him from unleashing the grace of conversion, provided we invoke it.”

Pope Francis called on Christian communities be “oases and sources of mercy, witnesses to a charity that does not allow exclusions.”

Pope Francis also confirmed he will visit Mexico from 12-18 February 2016.

Here is an unofficial Vatican Radio translation of the Pope’s homily

“The LORD, your God, is in your midst, a mighty savior; he will rejoice over you with gladness, and renew you in his love, he will sing joyfully because of you, as one sings at festivals.” (Zep 3:17-18). These words of the prophet Zephaniah, addressed to Israel, may also be referred to Mary, the Church, and every person, all of whom are loved by God’s merciful love. Yes, God loves us so much that he even rejoices and takes pleasure in us. He loves us with gratuitous love, love without limits, and without expecting anything in return. This merciful love is the most striking attribute of God, the synthesis of which is condensed the Gospel message, the faith of the Church.

The word “mercy” – misericordia - is composed of two words: misery and heart. The heart indicates the capacity to love; mercy is that love, which embraces the misery of the human person. It is a love that "feels" our poverty as its own, with a view to freeing us of it. “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” (1 Jn 4:9-10). “The Word became flesh,” with the intention of sharing all our frailties – with the intention of experiencing our human condition, even unto taking upon himself the Cross, with all the pain of human existence. Such is the abyss of compassion and mercy: a fusion, in order to make himself company, and to place himself in the service of a wounded humanity. No sin can cancel his merciful closeness or prevent him from unleashing the grace of conversion, provided we invoke it.

Indeed, sin itself makes more radiant the love of God who, to ransom a slave, sacrificed his Son. That mercy of God comes to us with the gift of the Holy Spirit in Baptism, enables, generates and nourishes the new life of his disciples. For, howsoever great and grave the sins of the world, the Spirit, who renews the face of the earth, makes possible the miracle of a life that is more human, more full of joy and hope. Let us, too, shout with jubilation: “The Lord is my God and Savior!”

“The Lord is near,” says the apostle Paul, and nothing should make us anguished. The greatest mercy lies in his being in our midst, in our being in his presence and company. He walks with us, he shows us the path of love, lifts us up in our falls, holds us to our labors, accompanies us in all circumstances of our existence. He opens our eyes to see themselves and the world miseries, but also fills us with hope. “The peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” (Phil 4:4-7). This is the source of our life made peaceful and happy; nothing can steal this peace and joy, despite the sufferings and trials of life. Let us cultivate this experience of mercy, peace and hope during Advent, through which we are making our way in light of the Jubilee year. Announcing the Good News to the poor, as John the Baptist, performing works of mercy, is a good way to look for the coming of Jesus at Christmas.

In Mary, God rejoices and is especially pleased. In one of the prayers most cherished by Christians, the Salve Regina, we call Mary “mother of mercy.” She has experienced the divine mercy, and has hosted the very source of this mercy in her womb: Jesus Christ. She, who has always lived intimately united with her Son, knows better than anyone what he wants: that all men be saved, and that God’s tenderness and consolation will not fail anyone. May Mary, Mother of Mercy, help us to understand how much God loves us.

To Blessed Mary we entrust the sufferings and joys of people throughout the Americas, who love her as a mother and recognize her as Patroness under the beloved title of Our Lady of Guadalupe. That “the sweetness of her gaze be with us in this Holy Year, so that we might rediscover the joy of the tenderness of God” (Cf. Bull Misericordiae vultus, 24). We ask her that this jubilee year will be a planting of merciful love in the hearts of individuals, families and nations. Let us convert and become merciful people, and may all Christian communities be oases and sources of mercy, witnesses to a charity that does not allow exclusions. Let us implore her to guide the footsteps of the American people, a pilgrim people looking for the Mother of mercy and asks her to show them her Son Jesus.

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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis confirmed on Saturday he will be visiting Mexico from 12-18 February. Later, the Vatican released the full schedule of his trip to the country.

Friday 12 February 2016

12:30     Departure from Rome’s Fiumicino Airport for Mexico City

19:30     Arrival at “Benito Juárez” International Airport in Mexico City

                OFFICIAL RECEPTION

Saturday 13 February 2016

09:30     WELCOMING CEREMONY at the National Palace            

                COURTESY VISIT TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC 

10:15     MEETING with CIVIL AUTHORITIES AND DIPLOMATIC CORPS (Discourse by the Holy Father)

11:30     MEETING with the BISHOPS of MEXICO in the Cathedral (Discourse by the Holy Father)

17:00     HOLY MASS in the Basilica of Guadalupe              (Homily by the Holy Father)

Sunday 14 February 2016

09:20     Transfer by helicopter to Ecatepec        

10:30     Holy Mass in the area of the Study Centre of Ecatepec (Homily/Angelus by the Holy Father)

12:50     Transfer by helicopter to Mexico City   

13:10     Arrival in Mexico City    

16:30     VISIT TO THE PEDIATRIC HOSPITAL “Federico Gómez”  (Greetings by the Holy Father)

18:00     MEETING WITH THE WORLD OF CULTURE in the National Auditorium (Discourse by the Holy Father)

Monday 15 February 2016

07:30     Departure by plane for Tuxtla Gutiérrez             

09:15     Transfer by helicopter to San Cristóbal de Las Casas      

10:15     HOLY MASS with the indigenous  community of Chiapas at the Municipal Sports (Homily by the Holy Father)

13:00     Lunch with indigenous representatives and the Papal entourage

15:00     VISIT TO THE CATHEDRAL OF SAN CRISTÓBAL DE LAS CASAS     

15:35     Transfer by helicopter to Tuxtla Gutiérrez         

16:15     MEETING with FAMILIES in “Víctor Manuel Reyna” Stadium at Tuxtla Gutiérrez               (Discourse by the Holy Father)

18:10     Departure by plane for Mexico City      

20:00     Arrival at the airport in Mexico City       

Tuesday 16 February 2016

07:50     Departure by airplane for Morelia         

10:00     HOLY MASS with priests, religious, consecrated persons, and seminarians (Homily by the Holy Father)

15:15     VISIT TO THE CATHEDRAL

16:30     MEETING WITH YOUNG PEOPLE at “José María Morelos y Pavón” Stadium (Discourse by the Holy Father)

18:55     Departure by plane for Mexico City

20:00     Arrival in Mexico City    

Wednesday 17 February 2016

08:35     Departure by plane for Ciudad Juárez  

10:00     Arrival at “Abraham González” International Airport in Ciudad Juárez  

10:30     Visit to a prison (CeReSo n.3)    (Discourse by the Holy Father)

12:00     MEETING with the WORLD of WORK at con il MONDO del LAVORO at the Colegio de Bachilleres dello Stato of Chihuahua (Discourse by the Holy Father)

16:00     HOLY MASS at the fairgrounds of Ciudad Juárez  (Homily + greeting by the Holy Father)

19:00     DEPARTURE CEREMONY at Ciudad Juárez International Airport               

19:15     Departure by plane for Rome (Ciampino Airport)

Thursday 18 February 2016

14:45     Arrival at Rome’s Ciampino Airport         

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Vatican City, Dec 12, 2015 / 11:55 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis officially announced the date he would venerate the shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico during his homily for the Marian feast at the Vatican.

Speaking at the Dec. 12 Mass in St. Peter's Basilica, the Pope said he will venerate the shrine on Feb. 13, 2016, where he will pray that Christian communities may be “oases and sources of mercy,” and a witness to charity “that does not allow exclusions.”

The Pope will travel to Mexico from Feb. 12-18, the Vatican announced Saturday. During a recent press briefing, Francis said his next trip would likely be to Mexico, although the details had not been finalized.

In his homily for Mass celebrated for the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Pope Francis asked for Mary's intercession in cultivating mercy during this Jubilee year, and entrusting the sufferings and joys of the people of the Americas to her care.

“God delights and pleases especially in Mary,” the Pope said, speaking in his native Spanish. “She has experienced Divine mercy, and welcomed the very source of this mercy in her womb: Jesus Christ.”

“She who has always lived intimately united with her Son, knows better than anyone what he wants: that all men be saved, and God's tenderness and consolation will not fail anyone.”

Pope Francis entrusted to Mary the “sufferings and joys of people throughout the Americas,” who love her as their mother,  under the title of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

“We ask (Mary) that this jubilee year will be a cultivation of merciful love in the hearts of individuals, families, and nations.”

Pope Francis also appealed to Mary that “we may become merciful, and that Christian communities may be oases and sources of mercy, witnessed a charity that does not allow exclusions.”

“I beg her to guide the footsteps of the American people, a pilgrim people looking for the Mother of mercy, and ask her to reveal to us her Son, Jesus.”

Veneration of Our Lady of Guadalupe goes back to the 16th century, and surrounds a miraculous image of Mary left on a tilma, made from a piece of poor-quality cactus cloth.  

As the story goes, a “Lady from Heaven” appeared to Saint Juan Diego, a poor Indian from Tepeyac, on a hill northwest of Mexico City. Over the course of a series of apparitions in 1531, the Woman, who identified herself as the Mother of the True God, instructed Juan Diego to have the bishop build a church on the site.

As a sign, the now-famous image of Our Lady of Guadalupe was imprinted miraculously on his tilma. Both the image and the tilma remain intact after more than 470 years.

Pope Francis centered much of his homily Saturday on God's mercy toward sinners.

God's loves us with “gratuitous love,” and expects nothing in return, the pontiff said. God's merciful love, which is synthesized in the Gospel message and the faith of the Church, is his most “striking” attribute.

Pope Francis explained that the word “mercy” is derived from the words “misery” and “heart.”

“The heart indicates the capacity to love,” he said. “Mercy is love which embraces the misery of the human person. It is a love that 'feels' our poverty as its own.”

“The Word became flesh” out of a desire to share our frailties, the Pope said. “He wanted to experience our human condition, to carry upon the cross with all the pain of human existence.”

“Such is the depth of compassion and mercy,” the Pope said. There is no sin that can take away God's “merciful closeness,” or prevent him “from unleashing the grace of conversion,” provided we ask for it, he noted.  

Indeed, sin reveals the radiance of the love of God, who sacrificed his own Son in order to ransom the enslaved. Citing the words of St. Paul, who says “The Lord is near,” the Pope assured those present that there is no reason to worry.

“The greatest mercy lies in His being in our midst,” he said. “Walking with us, he shows us the path of love, lifts us up from our falls, sustains us in our weariness, accompanies us in all circumstances of our existence.”

The Pope cited Paul's letter to the Philippians, which says “the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

“This is the source of our peaceful and happy life,” the Pope said. “Nothing can steal this peace and joy, despite the sufferings and trials of life.

In off-script remarks, the pontiff added: “The Lord, with his tenderness, opens us with his heart, opens us with his love. The Lord is allergic to rigidity.”

Pope Francis invited the faithful to cultivate this sense mercy, peace, and hope in the journey through the liturgical season of Advent, illuminated by the light of the recently-begun Jubilee of Mercy.

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