In a 216-5 vote at their fall meeting in Baltimore, the US bishops approved a rare special pastoral message on immigration.

The bishops stated, “To our immigrant brothers and sisters, we stand with you in your suffering, since, when one member suffers, all suffer (cf. 1 Corinthians 12:26). You are not alone!”

“We oppose the indiscriminate mass deportation of people,” the bishops added. “We pray for an end to dehumanizing rhetoric and violence, whether directed at immigrants or at law enforcement. We pray that the Lord may guide the leaders of our nation, and we are grateful for past and present opportunities to dialogue with public and elected officials.”

Today the dioceses in the United States celebrate the Memorial of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini (1850-1917), virgin, born in Lombardy, Italy, one of thirteen children. She came to America as a missionary, founded the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart to care for poor children in schools and hospitals. She is the first American citizen to be canonized. December 22 is her feast in the Roman Martyrology.

“He reaches up to grab it — and as he does, his hand is literally thrown off. And he screams..."

"Jesus, fortify me with the grace of your Holy Spirit and give your peace to my soul that I may be free of all needless anxiety, solicitude, and worry."

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Being a Christian means recognizing every person as a brother or sister and always being ready to lend a helping hand, Pope Leo XIV said.

"Brothers and sisters support each other in hardship, they do not turn their back on those who are in need, and they weep and rejoice together in the active pursuit of unity, trust and mutual reliance," the pope said Nov. 12 at his weekly general audience.

Continuing his series of audience talks on "Jesus our hope," the pope said he wanted to look specifically at Jesus' command to his followers that they love one another. 

Relationships support and enrich human life and make it possible to survive, grow and learn, he said. They are an antidote to "loneliness and even a narcissism that is concerned with others only out of self-interest."

But even more, the pope said, fraternity is "an essential feature of Christianity, which ever since the beginning has been the proclamation of the Good News destined for the salvation of all, never in an exclusive or private form."

As sons and daughters of God, he said, it is clear that all people are brothers and sisters to each other. 

In a world torn by war and division, he said, it is "more urgent today than ever, to reflect on the greeting with which St. Francis of Assisi addressed everyone, regardless of their geographical, cultural, religious and doctrinal origins: 'omnes fratres' (brothers and sisters all)."

St. Francis "placed all human beings on the same level, precisely because he recognized them in their common destiny of dignity, dialogue, welcome and salvation," the pope said.

Summarizing his talk in English, Pope Leo said that St. Francis of Assisi "knew that everyone has the same needs: to be respected, welcomed, heard and saved. Indeed, this is the Good News and a core tenet of our Christian faith: God's saving love is for everyone, no exceptions."

Addressing Portuguese speakers, the pope said Jesus calls his followers to live fraternity "through concrete gestures, words and actions."

Christians, he added, are called to "a continual striving to outdo one another in mutual respect and reciprocal care."

"May the Lord free us from all selfishness and division and renew us in hope that we may faithfully imitate his generous love for all people," he prayed.
 

BALTIMORE – As the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) gathered for their Fall Plenary Assembly in Baltimore, the bishops issued a Special Message addressing their concern for the evolving situation impacting immigrants in the United States. It marked the first time in twelve years the USCCB invoked this particularly urgent way of speaking as a body of bishops. The last one issued in 2013 was in response to the federal government’s contraceptive mandate.

Under the regulations pertaining to statements and publications of the Conference, a “Special Message” may only be issued at plenary assemblies, and they are statements which the President of the Conference, the Administrative Committee, or the general membership consider to be appropriate in view of the circumstances at the time. To show the consensus of the body, a Special Message must receive two-thirds of the Conference members present and voting at the plenary in order to pass. In a vote of 216 votes in favor, 5 votes against, and 3 abstentions, the bishops overwhelmingly approved the Special Message, with sustained applause of the body following the vote.

The full text of the bishops’ Special Pastoral Message follows:

As pastors, we the bishops of the United States are bound to our people by ties of communion and compassion in Our Lord Jesus Christ. We are disturbed when we see among our people a climate of fear and anxiety around questions of profiling and immigration enforcement. We are saddened by the state of contemporary debate and the vilification of immigrants. We are concerned about the conditions in detention centers and the lack of access to pastoral care. We lament that some immigrants in the United States have arbitrarily lost their legal status. We are troubled by threats against the sanctity of houses of worship and the special nature of hospitals and schools. We are grieved when we meet parents who fear being detained when taking their children to school and when we try to console family members who have already been separated from their loved ones. 

Despite obstacles and prejudices, generations of immigrants have made enormous contributions to the well-being of our nation. We as Catholic bishops love our country and pray for its peace and prosperity. For this very reason, we feel compelled now in this environment to raise our voices in defense of God-given human dignity.

Catholic teaching exhorts nations to recognize the fundamental dignity of all persons, including immigrants. We bishops advocate for a meaningful reform of our nation’s immigration laws and procedures. Human dignity and national security are not in conflict. Both are possible if people of good will work together.

We recognize that nations have a responsibility to regulate their borders and establish a just and orderly immigration system for the sake of the common good. Without such processes, immigrants face the risk of trafficking and other forms of exploitation. Safe and legal pathways serve as an antidote to such risks.

The Church’s teaching rests on the foundational concern for the human person, as created in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:27). As pastors, we look to Sacred Scripture and the example of the Lord Himself, where we find the wisdom of God’s compassion. The priority of the Lord, as the Prophets remind us, is for those who are most vulnerable: the widow, the orphan, the poor, and the stranger (Zechariah 7:10). In the Lord Jesus, we see the One who became poor for our sake (2 Corinthians 8:9), we see the Good Samaritan who lifts us from the dust (Luke 10:30–37), and we see the One who is found in the least of these (Matthew 25). The Church’s concern for neighbor and our concern here for immigrants is a response to the Lord’s command to love as He has loved us (John 13:34).

To our immigrant brothers and sisters, we stand with you in your suffering, since, when one member suffers, all suffer (cf. 1 Corinthians 12:26). You are not alone!

We note with gratitude that so many of our clergy, consecrated religious, and lay faithful already accompany and assist immigrants in meeting their basic human needs. We urge all people of good will to continue and expand such efforts. 

We oppose the indiscriminate mass deportation of people. We pray for an end to dehumanizing rhetoric and violence, whether directed at immigrants or at law enforcement. We pray that the Lord may guide the leaders of our nation, and we are grateful for past and present opportunities to dialogue with public and elected officials. In this dialogue, we will continue to advocate for meaningful immigration reform. 

As disciples of the Lord, we remain men and women of hope, 
and hope does not disappoint! (cf. Romans 5:5)

May the mantle of Our Lady of Guadalupe enfold us all in her maternal and loving care and draw us ever closer to the heart of Christ.

 

###

 

 

The Church celebrates the Memorial of St. Josaphat (1580-1643), a Catholic of the Ruthenian rite. He was an apostle of the return of the Orthodox schismatics to the Church of Rome. Born in the then Polish region of Lithuania of Orthodox parents, he became a Catholic and a Ukrainian Basilian monk. Chosen bishop, he worked faithfully for the unity of the Church until he suffered martyrdom at the hands of an angry mob in Russia in 1623 at the age of forty-three. He is one of the patrons of Poland.

Eternal rest, grant unto them, O Lord.

"Great Battles for Boys" was created to "inspire a younger generation toward heroic virtue, like our Veterans who remain a tremendous example to us all.”

BALTIMORE - At their November Plenary Assembly, the bishops of the United States held a canonical consultation on a possible cause of beatification and canonization for Reverend Richard M. Thomas, a priest of the Society of Jesus. Bishop Thomas John Paprocki, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on Canonical Affairs and Church Governance, and Bishop Peter Baldacchino of Las Cruces, facilitated the discussion by the bishops. With 206 votes in favor, 4 votes against, and 1 abstention, the bishops affirmed their support for the advancement of the cause of beatification and canonization on the diocesan level.

The following brief biography of Father Richard Thomas, SJ, was drawn from information provided by the Diocese of Las Cruces:

Richard Thomas was born on March 1, 1928, in Seffner, Florida. He was educated in Catholic schools and graduated from Jesuit High School in Tampa. He entered the Jesuit order in 1945, and was ordained to the priesthood in San Francisco, California in 1958. In 1964, he was assigned to lead Our Lady’s Youth Center in El Paso, Texas, a ministry to the poor in south El Paso. He expanded the reach of Our Lady’s Youth Center to New Mexico and across the border to areas of Juarez, Mexico. 

On Christmas Day in 1972, prompted after reading Luke 14:12-14 where Jesus tells his followers to invite the poor - not their rich friends - to dine, Father Thomas invited a prayer group from El Paso to join him in serving dinner to the poor who lived and worked at a garbage dump in Juarez, Mexico. While Father Thomas and his group only took enough food to feed 150 people, more than 300 people came to dinner and each was served a full meal. With leftovers that were donated to three orphanages after the dinner, the group later realized that the Lord had multiplied the food; the event prompted the group to not only return to the garbage dump on a regular basis, but also led them to advocate for better income for the trash pickers, and start additional ministries to the poor such as food banks, a prisoner outreach program, a medical and dental clinic, and student scholarship assistance. It is said that while Father Thomas believed in miracles such as what happened at the Christmas dinner in 1972, he did not assign them a central place in his work or his message; instead, he chose to see them as ways that God would occasionally intervene to encourage and guide Christians to do His will. Father Thomas considered it the duty of every Christian to share with the poor and preached on Catholic social teaching and living out the Gospel values taught by Christ. 

As a gifted preacher and teacher, Father Thomas was a sought-after speaker and gave talks at conferences, seminars, and workshops around the world, and had a special charism in mobilizing lay people to get involved in the Church and in helping the poor in their local area. Father Thomas lived the virtue of fortitude heroically, having the courage of his convictions and courageously facing the opposition that arose as he did what he felt God was calling him to do. He also lived the virtue of justice in an extraordinary way. Working for a just society and championing people who were victims of inequality or oppression was an ever-present emphasis of his ministry. In trying to live a just life and work for justice for others, Fr. Thomas lived an ascetic lifestyle, profoundly exemplifying the virtue of temperance: he slept on an army cot or on the floor, lived without heating or cooling in the houses or cars he used, wore his clothes until they were threadbare, and gave away many things of his that the poor needed.

Father Richard Thomas died on May 8, 2006, in Las Cruces, after several years of declining health including a battle with cancer. He was laid to rest in the Jesuit plot of Concordia Cemetery in El Paso and leaves behind a legacy of a strong commitment to social justice and an unwavering obedience to God's word. 

###