Key Catholic leaders ministering to migrants at the border pose for a photograph with President Joe Biden Jan. 8, 2023. Left to right: Bishop Seitz of El Paso, Texas; Sister Norma Pimental of Brownsville, Texas; and Ruben Garcia, director of migrant shelter Annunciation House. / Diocese of El Paso
Washington D.C., May 8, 2023 / 16:30 pm (CNA).
Bishop Mark Seitz of El Paso issued an open letter to Congress on May 5 strongly condemning the Secure the Border Act of 2023 as “extreme” and expressing the U.S. bishops’ position that the bill’s passage “is beyond justification.”
As chairman of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Migration, Seitz is a hardline advocate for the rights of immigrants and has been highly critical of efforts to restrict immigration by both Republicans and Democrats.
The Secure the Border Act of 2023 is sponsored by Republican Reps. Mario Diaz-Balart and Tom McClintock and supported by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
The bill proposes to crack down on the record number of migrants who have been crossing the border under the Biden administration. The bill’s proposals include resuming construction of the border wall, ending the policy of “catch and release,” increasing the number of Border Patrol agents, and more.
President Biden’s open-border policy is a national security & humanitarian crisis.
That’s why @MarioDB & @RepMcClintock introduced HR 2, the Secure the Border Act, which would restore sanity, safety, & security at our borders.
According to Seitz’s letter, “this legislation contains such a combination of harmful measures that we [the bishops] believe its passage, on the whole, is beyond justification.”
Seitz claims that if passed the bill would “fundamentally weaken our nation’s decades-long commitment to humanitarian protection … endanger unaccompanied children and inflict harm on other vulnerable persons, decimate access to asylum, mandate damaging detention and removal practices, restrict access to legal employment, limit — and potentially eliminate — federal partnerships with faith-based and other nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), undermine the rule of law, and more.”
The bishops’ letter also condemns resuming construction of the border wall.
“We have long opposed the construction of a wall spanning the entire U.S.-Mexico border, especially with the dangers it poses to human life and the environment” and that this “bill would effectively undermine constitutional property rights and further abrogate the rights of those living near the border by prioritizing federal land acquisition above such rights,” the bishops’ letter reads.
Because of these issues, the bishops encourage members of Congress to oppose the Secure the Border Act of 2023.
“The provisions discussed,” wrote Seitz, “underscore the extreme nature of this bill, its incompatibility with Catholic social teaching, and its inconsistency with our nation’s broadly bipartisan commitment to humanitarian protection.”
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Religious sisters of the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles, sing as the process with the body of their late foundress, Sister Wilhelmina Lancaster, on May 29, 2023, at their abbey near Gower, Missouri. The sisters exhumed the nun’s body on May 18 and discovered that it was apparently intact, four years after her death and burial in a simple wooden coffin. / Joe Bukuras/CNA
Gower, Missouri, May 29, 2023 / 20:02 pm (CNA).
The body of Sister Wilhelmina Lancaster, an African American nun whose surprisingly intact remains have created a sensation at a remote Missouri abbey, was placed inside a glass display case Monday after a solemn procession led by members of the community she founded.
About 5 p.m., dozens of religious sisters of the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles, carried their foundress on a platform around the property of the Abbey of Our Lady of Ephesus, reciting the rosary and singing hymns. Some of the thousands of pilgrims who visited the abbey over the three-day Memorial Day weekend followed behind.
Beautiful procession of the remains of Sr. Wilhelmina Lancaster, a Benedictine nun who died in 2019 and now appears to be in an unexpected state of preservation. Her new resting place is inside the church at the sisters’ monastery in Gower, MO. pic.twitter.com/Ax9uYPKXYv
The procession, held in bright, late-afternoon sunshine, culminated inside the abbey’s church, where the nun’s body was placed into a specially made glass case. Flowers surrounded her body and decorated the top of the case, where there is an image of St. Joseph holding the Child Jesus. The church was filled with pilgrims, including many priests and religious sisters from other orders.
Sister Wilhelmina, who founded the Benedictine order in 1995 when she was 70 years old, died in 2019. Expecting to find only bones, her fellow sisters exhumed her remains on May 18 intending to reinter them in a newly completed St. Joseph’s Shrine, only to discover that her body appeared astonishingly well-preserved.
The sisters say they intended to keep their discovery quiet, but the news got out anyway, prompting worldwide media coverage and a flood of pilgrims arriving at the abbey in Gower, a city of 1,500 residents about an hour’s drive from Kansas City, Missouri. A volunteer told CNA that more than 1,000 vehicles came onto the property on Monday but no official count was available.
There has been no official declaration that Sister Wilhelmina’s remains are “incorrupt,” a possible sign of sanctity, nor is there a formal cause underway for her canonization, a rigorous process that can take many years. The local ordinary, Bishop Vann Johnston of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, has said that a “thorough investigation” is needed to answer “important questions” raised by the state of her body, but there has been no word on if or when such an analysis will take place.
Sister Wilhelmina’s body was reinterred in a glass display case inside the church of the Abbey of Our Lady of Ephesus in Gower, Missouri, on May 29, 2023. Joe Bukuras/CNA
Before Monday’s procession, pilgrims again waited in line throughout the day for an opportunity to see and touch Sister Wilhelmina’s body before its placement in the glass case, where it will remain accessible for public viewing.
Among those who came on Monday were Tonya and William Kattner, of Excelsior Springs, Missouri.
“You’ve got to experience the magic and the miracle of it,” Tonya Kattner said.
“It’s a modern-day miracle and it was just something we had to come to,” William Kattner said. “Especially with everything going on in the world today, something like this brings hope.”
Kate and Peteh Jalloh of Kansas City, Missouri, said it was a “blessing” to view the apparently well-preserved body of Sister Wilhelmina Lancaster at her abbey in Gower, Missouri, on May 29, 2023. Joe Bukuras/CNA
Kate and Peteh Jalloh, of Kansas City, Missouri, also didn’t want to pass up the chance to see Sister Wilhelmina.
“I strongly believe in the Catholic faith. I believe in miracles and I have never seen anything like this before. I’ve got a lot going on in my life and this is the best time to get that message from a nun,” Kate Jalloh said.
“It could take another hundred years for us to see something like this,” she added.
Janie Bruck came with her cousins, Kristy Cook and Halle Cook, all from Omaha, Nebraska.
“I came to witness the miracle. I believe we’re in a Jesus revolution and he’s sending us lots of signs,” Bruck said. Kristy Cook, a former Omaha police officer, said she was surprised that Sister Wilhelmina’s body had no odor of decay.
The body of Sister Wilhelmina Lancaster, OSB, lies in the basement of the church of the Abbey of Our Lady of Ephesus outside Gower, Missouri, on May 28, 2023. Joe Bukuras/CNA
The sisters have publicly thanked the many local law enforcement officers, medical personnel, and volunteers who helped manage the influx of pilgrims over the holiday weekend.
Among the volunteers was Lucas Boddicker, of Kearney, Missouri, who joined members of his Knights of Columbus council based at St. Anne’s Catholic Church in nearby Plattsburgh, Missouri, to guide visiting vehicles to a makeshift parking lot in an open field. Other knights from local parishes helped set up tents and handed out free hamburgers, fruit, and bottles of water.
“That’s one thing the Knights do pretty well,” Boddicker said. “They get the word out when we need manpower.”
Priests heard confessions in a large grass field for hours, some using trees for shade, as young children played on the abbey grounds.
Three religious sisters from the Poor of Jesus Christ order, based in Kansas City, Kansas, said they were inspired by seeing Sister Wilhelmina’s body.
One of the religious, Sister Azucena, said she “wanted to cry,” while praying at the nun’s side. “I just had this feeling of peace and love. We share a vocation. Her fidelity to the Lord and her love, I could feel that there,” she said.
Jason and Jessica Ewell were excited to coincidentally be in town visiting Trish Bachicha (far right) when they heard about the discovery of Sister Wilhelmina’s surprisingly intact remains. Joe Bukuras/CNA
A married couple, Jason and Jessica Ewell, both of whom are blind, were visiting Kansas City, Missouri, from Pennsylvania when they heard Monday morning about Sister Wilhelmina’s body.
“It’s just kind of a neat thing to be a part of the beginning of this story,” Jessica Ewell said.
“I was asking for her intercession for children for our marriage,” she said. “A lot of people think ‘Oh, it’s the blindness,’ but no, it’s not that at all,’” she said.
“Yesterday I was kind of in a place where I said, ‘God, I need something right now,’” she said. “We always hear about these miracles. But they’re long ago and far away and always happen to other people.”
Trish Bachicha, Jessica’s mother, said she believes that God is sending a message.
“He saying ‘I’m alive and well and I haven’t forgotten you,’” she said.
Attorney General of Massachusetts Andrea Joy Campbell speaks onstage during the pro-abortion EMILYs List’s 2023 Pre-Oscars Breakfast at on March 7, 2023, in Beverly Hills, California. / Credit: Araya Doheny/Getty Images for EMILYs List
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 9, 2024 / 15:15 pm (CNA).
A group of at least 17 Democratic attorneys general has formed a “reproductive rights working group” to expand abortion access and crack down on pregnancy resource centers across the country, according to reporting by The 19th, a pro-abortion news source.
The group is being led by Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell. She said on Thursday that the group will serve as a “united effort” to “protect access to abortion across our country.”
In an interview with The 19th, Campbell said that the group held its first meeting this week and had 17 state attorneys general in attendance. She said they plan to use member attorney general offices’ resources to advance “reproductive health care.”
“Every office has different resources and human capital,” she told The 19th. “If we come together across offices in this coalition and working group, we can make sure everyone has what we need as we take on this collective fight.”
Campbell said the group will be prioritizing the use of abortion “shield laws.” These laws provide legal protection to doctors and other entities that provide abortions or mail abortion pills to women in states where they are banned.
Chemical abortion pills now account for 63% of all U.S. abortions. The two-pill regimen works by a pregnant woman first ingesting mifepristone, which cuts off nutrient flow to her unborn baby, and then ingesting misoprostol, which expels the dead child.
Over half of the states in the U.S. have restrictions on chemical abortion pills, while some states — such as Texas, North Carolina, and Arizona — have prohibited mailing the drugs altogether.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, several states have passed so-called abortion “shield” laws. These laws vary in their extent and methods, but Massachusetts’ law is the only one to expressly protect chemical abortion providers from prosecution “regardless of the patient’s location.”
Campbell and the other attorneys general in the group would like to increase the number and scope of these laws.
She also explained that the group is aiming to increase regulation of pregnancy resource centers, like how New York Attorney General Letitia James recently did in her state.
On May 6, James sued Heartbeat International, one of the largest pregnancy center networks in the world, and 11 other New York pregnancy centers. James is claiming that Heartbeat and the other centers are endangering and misleading women by promoting “abortion reversal” pills.
In response, Heartbeat International has sued the New York attorney general and said that they are being “unfairly singled out” solely because they offer alternatives to abortion.
Besides cracking down on pregnancy centers, The 19th said, the Democratic attorneys general group also plans to help attorneys general establish “reproductive justice units” within their offices to focus on providing legal expertise regarding abortion.
Reno, Nev., Jun 23, 2017 / 06:01 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Dr. T. Brian Callister chose to become a physician for the reason many choose to go into the medical field – to make a difference in people’s lives.
Seitz’s position (and that of the majority of US bishops, since they elected him as their representative on this issue) is nothing less than an endorsement of open-borders mayhem. CNA would doubtlessly consider it disrespectful to ask His Excellency if he thinks there ought to be any restrictions, quantitative or qualitative, on immigration to America. He would refuse to answer anyway, but we know.
His list of harmful measures is bogus. Unaccompanied children have been exposed to the greatest dangers imaginable as they are smuggled north by drug dealers and pimps. Almost all the asylum claims are phony. People who enter a country illegally should expect to be detained and deported. They certainly have no right to employment in a country where their presence is illegal. Of course, Seitz has no concerns about the welfare of the American people whose wages are being undercut, neighborhoods are being made unsafe and whose country is being turned into a vast, incoherent Third World dump. All of this will only make life more miserable for all parties, with the possible exceptions of the oligarchs and their well-connected flunkies like the ones shown in photo.
When have any of these bishops condemned Pope Francis for praising the tyrannical governments that exacerbated the poverty that increased the desperation of the migrants?
“The provisions discussed,” wrote Seitz, “underscore the extreme nature of this bill, its incompatibility with Catholic social teaching, and its inconsistency with our nation’s broadly bipartisan commitment to humanitarian protection.”
These official statements by “Bishop” Seitz and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and its Committee on Migration are flagrant and outright lies that in no way, shape, form, or fashion represent Catholic social teaching or the values of the United States. What they do represent is approval, support, and encouragement of unrestricted invasion by illegal alien invaders, almost all of whom are single men in their 20’s and 30’s, from almost 190 countries around the globe, including Islamist and Communist terrorists; virtually total control of this country’s by barbarically criminal drug cartels profiting in the billions of dollars annually from human trafficking, fentanyl and methamphetamine drug trafficking; the sex slavery of children and women and the massive rape and sexual exploitation of hundreds of thousands of children and women seeking to avail themselves of illegal entry to this country; the collapse of social welfare, hospital, and health care facilities throughout the entire Southern border as well as in virtually every major city in this country; the corruption of elections throughout this country by millions of fraudulent votes; and spread of documented deadly infections such as tuberculosis, syphilis, gonorrhoea, leprosy, polio, cholera, diphtheria, smallpox, or severe acute respiratory syndromes.
Is it any wonder that Catholics who read such cynical propaganda from “Bishop” Seitz and his fellow hirelings at the USCCB are scandalized and outraged when they learn that billions of dollars of their taxpayer money is being paid every year to carry on this sordid charade? For example, Catholic Charities had revenues last year of $4.7 billion, $2.9 billion of which came from the U.S. government for illegal immigration support.
Every year over the past 10 years the cry has grown louder and louder that there is an ape Church which has eclipsed the one, holy, Catholic, and apostolic Church in the Vatican with its world-wide sexual perversions, stunning financial crimes and corruption, and almost daily denials and deformations of dogma and doctrine. It is actions like these of “Bishop” Seitz and the USCCB that only extend and confirm these realities.
I think that the doors to our country need to be open to those wishing to immigrate and become hard-working American citizens. Due to legalized abortion (69-72 million killed since 1972) and Americans choosing to remain childless or limiting their families to 1 or 2 children (or discovering that they are unable to conceive for various reasons, including waiting until late in life to try to conceive), our population is decreasing. The Baby Boomer generation (my generation) is still with us and many of us who were born in the late 1950s and early 1960s are just now coming to the age of retirement–and many of us do NOT wish to continue working (or cannot work due to various physical/mental conditions). WE NEED PEOPLE TO DO THE WORK THAT KEEPS OUR NATION GOING! The shortage of medical professionals, especially in the non-nursing fields (lab, X-Ray, respiratory, MRI, Physical Therapy assistants, etc.) is alarming–if the nation knew how short-staffed many medical labs are, there would be panic. And the various industries are short-staffed–in Missouri, a factory is supposed to be opening that will offer employment to 10,000 workers–they are counting on immigrants (primarily Mexican) and are preparing housing and other services to assist them as they move to Missouri. The Catholic Church is also preparing, as one of the parishes is scheduled to become a Hispanic parish. The need for workers in all fields is huge! WE NEED MORE PEOPLE IN THIS COUNTRY! Yes, stop the drug lords, the mobs, the sex-traffickers, and street gang recruiters from getting into this country, but everyone else who wants to come to the U.S. and become Americans should be welcomed and given the assistance to assimilate into our great country and join us as we work and play!! I find it hypocritical that the Republicans want to save the unborn but reject the immigrants. They should welcome ALL human beings. (I am a registered Republican.) We have plenty of room in the U.S.!
Well, in principle yes Mrs. Sharon. We need immigration but we need to do it through reasonable legal channels as our neighbors do. Canada being an example.
Mexico has pretty strict requirements re. immigration & rules for foreign nationals residing in their country.
Mexico is no longer a Third World nation & their birth rates have plummeted also. Mexico will be looking for young people to fill their future workforce too & they should be looking to accommodate more Latin American migrants rather than sending them North to be preyed upon further by cartels.
A truly disheartening stand by these bishops [I’m confidant not all agree]. Flagrantly socialistic in tone. With all the horrors committed at the border, child exploitation, trafficking, fentanyl they stand smilingly in unison, hold hands with the greatest purveyor of in utero infanticide, perversion, sexual mutilation of children the world has known.
Title 42, a pandemic-era public health policy that placed restrictions on immigrants entering the US, comes to an end 11 May. The public health legislation was issued by the TRUMP administration and denied refugee status to migrants on the US’ southern border. The policy’s end comes as the Biden administration is ending the Covid public health emergency nationally.
I ask, since the illegal immigrants are coming mostly from Central American countries whose COVID testing is suspect, at best, should President Biden lift Title 42?
CNN: “What will happen if Title 42 is lifted? Officials predict that lifting Title 42 is likely to spur a significant increase in the number of migrants trying to cross into the US. One reason for the expected spike: Many migrants who were sent back to Mexico under the policy are desperate and losing patience.” Can we honor the saying on Lady Liberty?
““Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”
You know Morgan, Mexico is no longer a Third World country and they can lend a hand in offering other Latin American migrants a place to live and work. Especially folks escaping the situation in Venezuela.
Immigration through proper channels…not enmassed to repeatedly rush the borders of the southern states. Biden didn’t end the Covid emergency; if he could he would permanently extend such a power grab.
Ellis Island and the immigrants from Europe were radically different from those currently swarming US borders. Today’s illegals, from Federal government data, will rely on services and aid that did not exist one-hundred years ago. There are no language requirements and the idea of assimilation exists where?
Seitz’s position (and that of the majority of US bishops, since they elected him as their representative on this issue) is nothing less than an endorsement of open-borders mayhem. CNA would doubtlessly consider it disrespectful to ask His Excellency if he thinks there ought to be any restrictions, quantitative or qualitative, on immigration to America. He would refuse to answer anyway, but we know.
His list of harmful measures is bogus. Unaccompanied children have been exposed to the greatest dangers imaginable as they are smuggled north by drug dealers and pimps. Almost all the asylum claims are phony. People who enter a country illegally should expect to be detained and deported. They certainly have no right to employment in a country where their presence is illegal. Of course, Seitz has no concerns about the welfare of the American people whose wages are being undercut, neighborhoods are being made unsafe and whose country is being turned into a vast, incoherent Third World dump. All of this will only make life more miserable for all parties, with the possible exceptions of the oligarchs and their well-connected flunkies like the ones shown in photo.
When have any of these bishops condemned Pope Francis for praising the tyrannical governments that exacerbated the poverty that increased the desperation of the migrants?
“The provisions discussed,” wrote Seitz, “underscore the extreme nature of this bill, its incompatibility with Catholic social teaching, and its inconsistency with our nation’s broadly bipartisan commitment to humanitarian protection.”
These official statements by “Bishop” Seitz and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and its Committee on Migration are flagrant and outright lies that in no way, shape, form, or fashion represent Catholic social teaching or the values of the United States. What they do represent is approval, support, and encouragement of unrestricted invasion by illegal alien invaders, almost all of whom are single men in their 20’s and 30’s, from almost 190 countries around the globe, including Islamist and Communist terrorists; virtually total control of this country’s by barbarically criminal drug cartels profiting in the billions of dollars annually from human trafficking, fentanyl and methamphetamine drug trafficking; the sex slavery of children and women and the massive rape and sexual exploitation of hundreds of thousands of children and women seeking to avail themselves of illegal entry to this country; the collapse of social welfare, hospital, and health care facilities throughout the entire Southern border as well as in virtually every major city in this country; the corruption of elections throughout this country by millions of fraudulent votes; and spread of documented deadly infections such as tuberculosis, syphilis, gonorrhoea, leprosy, polio, cholera, diphtheria, smallpox, or severe acute respiratory syndromes.
Is it any wonder that Catholics who read such cynical propaganda from “Bishop” Seitz and his fellow hirelings at the USCCB are scandalized and outraged when they learn that billions of dollars of their taxpayer money is being paid every year to carry on this sordid charade? For example, Catholic Charities had revenues last year of $4.7 billion, $2.9 billion of which came from the U.S. government for illegal immigration support.
Every year over the past 10 years the cry has grown louder and louder that there is an ape Church which has eclipsed the one, holy, Catholic, and apostolic Church in the Vatican with its world-wide sexual perversions, stunning financial crimes and corruption, and almost daily denials and deformations of dogma and doctrine. It is actions like these of “Bishop” Seitz and the USCCB that only extend and confirm these realities.
I think that the doors to our country need to be open to those wishing to immigrate and become hard-working American citizens. Due to legalized abortion (69-72 million killed since 1972) and Americans choosing to remain childless or limiting their families to 1 or 2 children (or discovering that they are unable to conceive for various reasons, including waiting until late in life to try to conceive), our population is decreasing. The Baby Boomer generation (my generation) is still with us and many of us who were born in the late 1950s and early 1960s are just now coming to the age of retirement–and many of us do NOT wish to continue working (or cannot work due to various physical/mental conditions). WE NEED PEOPLE TO DO THE WORK THAT KEEPS OUR NATION GOING! The shortage of medical professionals, especially in the non-nursing fields (lab, X-Ray, respiratory, MRI, Physical Therapy assistants, etc.) is alarming–if the nation knew how short-staffed many medical labs are, there would be panic. And the various industries are short-staffed–in Missouri, a factory is supposed to be opening that will offer employment to 10,000 workers–they are counting on immigrants (primarily Mexican) and are preparing housing and other services to assist them as they move to Missouri. The Catholic Church is also preparing, as one of the parishes is scheduled to become a Hispanic parish. The need for workers in all fields is huge! WE NEED MORE PEOPLE IN THIS COUNTRY! Yes, stop the drug lords, the mobs, the sex-traffickers, and street gang recruiters from getting into this country, but everyone else who wants to come to the U.S. and become Americans should be welcomed and given the assistance to assimilate into our great country and join us as we work and play!! I find it hypocritical that the Republicans want to save the unborn but reject the immigrants. They should welcome ALL human beings. (I am a registered Republican.) We have plenty of room in the U.S.!
Well, in principle yes Mrs. Sharon. We need immigration but we need to do it through reasonable legal channels as our neighbors do. Canada being an example.
Mexico has pretty strict requirements re. immigration & rules for foreign nationals residing in their country.
Mexico is no longer a Third World nation & their birth rates have plummeted also. Mexico will be looking for young people to fill their future workforce too & they should be looking to accommodate more Latin American migrants rather than sending them North to be preyed upon further by cartels.
A truly disheartening stand by these bishops [I’m confidant not all agree]. Flagrantly socialistic in tone. With all the horrors committed at the border, child exploitation, trafficking, fentanyl they stand smilingly in unison, hold hands with the greatest purveyor of in utero infanticide, perversion, sexual mutilation of children the world has known.
Of course, the bill has no chance of clearing the Senate much less being signed into law, so the bishops have no cause for concern.
Title 42, a pandemic-era public health policy that placed restrictions on immigrants entering the US, comes to an end 11 May. The public health legislation was issued by the TRUMP administration and denied refugee status to migrants on the US’ southern border. The policy’s end comes as the Biden administration is ending the Covid public health emergency nationally.
I ask, since the illegal immigrants are coming mostly from Central American countries whose COVID testing is suspect, at best, should President Biden lift Title 42?
CNN: “What will happen if Title 42 is lifted? Officials predict that lifting Title 42 is likely to spur a significant increase in the number of migrants trying to cross into the US. One reason for the expected spike: Many migrants who were sent back to Mexico under the policy are desperate and losing patience.” Can we honor the saying on Lady Liberty?
““Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”
You know Morgan, Mexico is no longer a Third World country and they can lend a hand in offering other Latin American migrants a place to live and work. Especially folks escaping the situation in Venezuela.
Immigration through proper channels…not enmassed to repeatedly rush the borders of the southern states. Biden didn’t end the Covid emergency; if he could he would permanently extend such a power grab.
Ellis Island and the immigrants from Europe were radically different from those currently swarming US borders. Today’s illegals, from Federal government data, will rely on services and aid that did not exist one-hundred years ago. There are no language requirements and the idea of assimilation exists where?