US

Baltimore, Md., Jul 4, 2019 / 03:30 pm (CNA).- A string of high-profile migrant deaths in the last week should draw our attention to the thousands more that go unreported, and encourage us to welcome migrants, while also working to address the challeng… […]

El Paso, Texas, Jul 4, 2019 / 04:00 am (CNA).- A Catholic aid agency in El Paso, Texas, has closed a temporary shelter for migrants and asylum seekers released from federal custody, as more asylum seekers are required to wait in Mexico for court dates, and after concerns have been raised about the detention condtions of would-be migrants in government custody.

Fernando Ceniceros, communications specialist for the Diocese of El Paso, told CNA that changes in border patrol policy have likely led to the decrease in migrants entering the United States at El Paso, but the humanitarian crisis is no less severe— the difference is that many would-be migrants in need of aid are required to remain in Mexico, rather than crossing the border.

“They’re not letting them cross over anymore,” Ceniceros said. “We think that the decline was the reason we had to shut down [the shelter].”

The Department of Homeland Security announced new Migrant Protection Protocols in January, providing that migrants arriving illegally or without proper documentation “may be returned to Mexico and wait outside of the U.S. for the duration of their immigration proceedings, where Mexico will provide them with all appropriate humanitarian protections for the duration of their stay.”

The Diocese of El Paso’s shelter, which Bishop Mark Seitz opened in October 2018, was part of a larger consortium of aid agencies, Ceniceros said, led by Reuben Garcia at the Annunciation House, a shelter for migrants that has been operating in El Paso for over 40 years.

“We were receiving anything between 40-80 migrants a day,” Ceniceros said.

“They were coming into the shelter, we were helping them clothe them, give them a warm shower, give them something to eat. And they were in and out of our shelter within 28-48 hours…we helped them connect with their families here in the United States.”

The migrants that the Diocese of El Paso was assisting had already been cleared by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and had been dropped off in the city, in need of basic necessities. A recent government report indicates that in some regions, migrants in federal custody have endured prolonged detention in overcrowded conditions and awaited processing and release for periods of longer than one month.

According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, apprehensions of “unaccompanied alien children” has risen by nearly 75% from May 2018 to May 2019. The rise in apprehensions is led by El Paso, which has seen a 323% rise in that period period.

The rise in apprehensions of  families is higher— 463% across the board. El Paso’s rate of apprehension of families rose 2,100%.

“We’ve never seen the kind of influx of migrants that we have in the last year and a half,” Ceniceros commented. 

“And just as a point of reference, we were just receiving single men usually. They were just looking for work, they were coming from Mexico. Mostly now, you’re looking at families from Central America. Really very [few] Mexican nationals are coming [now]. But we were seeing even migrants from as far as Africa come through here and seek asylum.”

He said the Diocese of El Paso continues to provide legal services for migrants and asylum seekers.

The federal Office of the Inspector General reported this week overcrowded, squalid conditions at some migrant detention facilities along the US/Mexico border, including standing-room-only cells, children going without showers and hot meals, and detainees clamoring desperately for release.

“What you’re seeing on television as far as conditions are concerned is that’s what we’ve heard…really terrible conditions. And we’re asking for prayers that we’re able to step in and help these people,” Ceniceros said.

“We are in contract with the Diocese of Juarez [Mexico] and their migrant shelter there. And we’re working to set up a plan to send over supplies, find a way to send over supplies to them. Because they’re inundated [with migrants].”

“This ‘remain in Mexico’ protocol protection is really very alarming to us and it really will create a humanitarian crisis. And I think that’s really what we want to bring attention to, is the humanitarian crisis on the other side of the border…We’re called to serve here in the Church, and serve the poorest of the poor. And that’s really what our message is.”

The bishops on either side of the Rio Grande, where several migrants recently died, expressed last week their sorrow over the deaths.

Bishops Daniel Flores of Brownsville and Eugenio Andres Lira Rugarcia of Matamoros wrote June 28 to “express with much pain the sorrow of the whole community upon hearing of the parents and children that have recently lost their lives upon crossing the Río Grande River, seeking a better life.”

The six Catholic bishops of Washington state issued a joint statement June 28 calling for immigration reform that “honors the dignity of those seeking a better life in the United States, while also addressing the legitimate need for safe and secure borders.”

“Worsening conditions that fuel the Latin American refugee crisis, combined with domestic policies that disrespect the dignity of human beings, risk causing even greater suffering for those fleeing peril and threaten the domestic tranquility promised to Americans,” the bishops said.

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Norfolk, Virginia, Jul 4, 2019 / 03:41 am (CNA).- An immigrant parish, burnt down, with only the crucifix remaining. A parish rebuilt, transformed and a key part in giving back to the community. In a sense, one parish’s story of struggle, pressure and rebirth is metaphor for the American Catholic experience.

St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception in Norfolk, Virginia, is the only black Catholic church in the United States that is also a basilica. Its dramatic history captures both the broader American Catholic history of persecution, growth and acceptance, but also a witness to the unique challenges faced by black Catholics over the centuries.

Founded originally as St. Patrick’s Parish in 1791, it is the oldest Catholic parish in the Diocese of Richmond, predating the foundation of the diocese by nearly 30 years.

“Catholicism was not legal to practice” in Virginia when the colony was founded, said Fr. Jim Curran, rector of the basilica. In much of Colonial America, before the Revolution and the signing of the Bill of Rights, churches that were not approved by the government were prohibited from operating, he told CNA.

The land originally bought in 1794 for the parish is the same ground on which the basilica today stands. From the beginning, according to the parish’s history, Catholics from all backgrounds worshiped together: Irish and German immigrants, free black persons and slaves.

However, by the 1850s, the parish’s immigrant background and mixed-race parish drew the ire of a prominent anti-Catholic movement: the Know-Nothings.

Largely concentrated in northeastern states where the immigrant influx was greatest, the movement rose and fell quickly. Concerned with maintaining the Protestant “purity of the nation,” it worked to prevent immigrants – many of whom were Catholic – from gaining the right to vote, becoming citizens, or taking elected office.

“I consider the Know-Nothings to be a sort of gatekeeper organization, by which I mean that they were both anti-immigrant and anti-Catholic at the same time,” said Fr. David Endres, an assistant professor of Church History and Historical Theology at the Athenaeum of Ohio.

He told CNA that the Know-Nothing Party was able to bring together both pro- and anti-slavery voters in the mid-1800s, united in the common “dislike of foreign-born and Catholics.”

While most anti-Catholic activities took the form of defamatory speeches and public discrimination, the prejudice sometimes turned to violence and mob action, Fr. Endres explained.

The anti-Catholic discrimination and threats found their way to St. Patrick’s doorstep, where the Know-Nothings were unhappy that the pastor was allowing racially integrated Masses, said Fr. Curran.

The pastor at that time, Fr. Matthew O’Keefe, received so many threats directed against the church and himself that police protection was required to stop the intimidation of the Catholics worshiping at the church, according to the locals.  

Despite the threats, however, Fr. O’Keefe did not segregate the Masses. In 1856, the original church building burned down, leaving only three walls standing. Only a wooden crucifix was left unscathed.

More than 150 years later, it is still unclear exactly who or what caused the fire, but since the days following the blaze, parishioners have had their suspicions.

“We don’t know for sure if they were the ones who burned it, but it’s widely believed, it’s a commonly held notion that it’s the Know-Nothings who burnt the Church,” Fr. Curran said.   

Fr. O’Keefe and the parishioners worked hard to rebuild the church, seeking donations from Catholics along the East Coast. A new church building was constructed less than three years after the fire and is still standing today.

After the church was rebuilt, the parish renamed itself in 1858 in honor of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, which was proclaimed by Pope Pius IX in 1854. It claims to be the first church in the world named for Mary of the Immaculate Conception following the declaration.

In 1889, the Josephites built Saint Joseph’s Black Catholic parish to serve the needs of the black Catholic community, and the two parishes operated separately within several blocks of one another. However, in 1961, St. Joseph’s was demolished to make way for new construction, and the two parishes were joined, reintegrating – at least in theory – St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception.

But the merger was not popular with many of the white parishioners and conflicted with the segregation policies of local government institutions and public life, Fr. Curran said. “St Mary’s became a de facto black parish.”

During this demographic shift, many parishioners of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception had to draw deeply upon their faith. Black Catholics had to be stalwart, facing prejudice from both some white parishioners, who did not view them as fully Catholic, and some black Protestants, who did not support their religious beliefs.

“They were devoted, and still are,” the rector said. “You have to be very devoted to be a Black Catholic.”

This devotion and witness of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception was formally celebrated when, in 1991, Saint Pope John Paul II elevated the 200-year-old church to a minor basilica.

“Your black cultural heritage enriches the Church and makes her witness of universality more complete. In a real way the Church needs you, just as you need the Church, for you are a part of the Church and the Church is part of you,” Pope Saint John Paul II proclaimed at the elevation.

Today, St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception plays a vital role not only as the only Catholic basilica in Virginia, but also as an important anchor of the neighborhood. The basilica operates a “robust” set of outreach ministries to local families, including rent assistance and food aid, serving thousands of people.

“The Church standing proudly and beautiful in the midst of the poor is where we need to be,” Fr. Curran said.

This article was originally published on CNA July 4, 2015.

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New York City, N.Y., Jul 3, 2019 / 05:01 pm (CNA).- After a New York law temporarily allowed alleged victims of past sexual abuse to file lawsuits that had been barred by legal time limits, the New York archdiocese has filed a lawsuit against 31 insura… […]

Washington D.C., Jul 3, 2019 / 04:18 pm (CNA).- The US bishops on Tuesday applauded the Supreme Court’s recent decision blocking the inclusion of a citizenship question on the 2020 census under the reasons proffered by the Commerce Department.

“We affirm last week’s decision by the Supreme Court that the inclusion of a citizenship question must ensure genuine reasons for such inclusion,” Bishop Frank Dewane of Venice and Bishop Joe Vásquez of Austin, chairs of the USCCB’s domestic justice and migration committees, said July 2.

“We reaffirm that all persons in the United States should be counted in the Census regardless of their immigration status and reemphasize our judgment that questions regarding citizenship should not be included in the Census. We hope that this view will prevail, whether by administrative action or judicial determination.”

In its June 27 decision in Department of Commerce v. New York, the court found that the Trump administration’s reason for seeking to include a citizenship question on the census seemed “contrived”. The ruling was 5-4.

The administration agreed July 2 to start printing the questionnaire without the question.

The decennial census is used in districting for elections, and helps determine the allocation of federal funding to the states.

A question about whether the respondent is a citizen has not appeared on the census questionnaire since 1950.

The administration had argued for its inclusion under the Voting Rights Act of 1965, saying it could strengthen protections for minorities.

But some researchers at the Census Bureau had found that including the citizenship question could lower the response rate of minority and immigrant households, lowering the quality of the census data.

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Washington D.C., Jul 3, 2019 / 03:00 pm (CNA).- Economic sanctions are often seen as a more humane alternative to military conflict. But as some observes warn that sanctions on Iran are beginning to restrict the availability of daily necessities, quest… […]

Wheeling, W.V., Jul 3, 2019 / 01:01 pm (CNA).- Allegations of financial impropriety against former Wheeling-Charleston Bishop Michael Bransfield went unheeded for years, according to a new report. Letters from lay men and woman, and from Bransfield&rsq… […]

Washington D.C., Jul 3, 2019 / 11:00 am (CNA).- Over 125 members of Congress and other pro-life leaders have asked the Trump administration to clarify how abortion coverage is listed in healthcare plans under the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

A lett… […]

Monroe, Michigan, Jul 3, 2019 / 03:21 am (CNA).- Dog walkers, bike riders, joggers, and Catholics priests hearing confession – most of these things you can find in any given park on any given summer day. But one of these things is not like the others.
… […]

Chicago, Ill., Jul 2, 2019 / 04:43 pm (CNA).- After an investigative series by the Chicago Tribune uncovered numerous cases of sexual abuse and cover-up in the city’s public schools, a local commentator is looking to the Archdiocese of Chicago as… […]