Survey finds strong Catholic support for immigration changes

Washington D.C., Apr 27, 2013 / 01:09 pm (CNA).- A survey commissioned by the U.S. bishops finds that almost 80 percent of Catholics support legal changes that allow immigrants to gain “earned citizenship” through meeting certain requirements.

“It is clear that Catholics understand the importance of this issue,” Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles, who chairs the U.S. bishops’ migration committee, said April 19 in response to the poll.

“As an immigrant church, Catholics from all walks of life understand the migration experience and accept the Gospel’s call to welcome the stranger.”

The survey, commissioned by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Office of Migration Policy and Public Affairs, found that 77 percent of U.S. Catholics support citizenship for immigrants who fulfill requirements like registration, paying a fine, paying taxes, and taking English classes.

Eighty-four percent of respondents agree that requiring immigrants to register with the government in order to remain in the country would improve national security.

Another 75 percent of respondents said immigration law enforcement should be focused on “humane values” that deport violent criminals but “finds ways to work with people who have come to find a better life.”

Most respondents said that border security and humane treatment of illegal immigrants are compatible and most agree that the Church has an obligation to help those in need, even if they are illegal residents. Additionally, most believe that immigrants are good for the economy, and most thought that enforcement-only policy focused on deportations is bad for family unity.

Sixty percent of Catholics who attend Mass weekly or more said that the immigration issue is very important to them.

The Catholic bishops have endorsed changes to immigration law, such as allowing an expansive “path to citizenship” for undocumented immigrants and expanding legal migration for low-skilled migrant workers.

Archbishop Gomez encouraged Catholics to ask their legislators to support “humane” immigration reform, saying this would “help our brothers and sisters come out of the shadows and become full members of our communities.”

Worldliness poses danger to priestly identity, Pope says

Denver, Colo., Apr 27, 2013 / 04:05 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The biggest threat to priests is the temptation to be more immersed in the world than the Gospel, says Pope Francis in his newly translated book.

“For then-Cardinal Bergoglio, narcissism and worldliness are completely self-defeating to the purpose of why a priest becomes a priest,” the book's translator, Alejandro Bermudez, told CNA April 23.

“It's a total rejection of the reason why he decided to become a priest, and therefore these are some of the most destructive and damaging problems in priestly formation.”

The new book, “On Heaven and Earth,” is a conversation between Pope Francis and Abraham Skorka, a rabbi and scholar from Buenos Aires. It was originally published in Spanish in 2010, when the Pope was still Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, archbishop of Buenos Aires.

The book covers numerous topics touching on priesthood in today's world, including vocation, celibacy and the sex abuse crisis.

Bermudez, who is executive director of Catholic News Agency, said that though Pope Francis warns against worldliness in all Christians, “he makes a much more important point regarding the priests, because they have the duty to lead the Catholic community, and lead it in a completely selfless manner.”

“One might think that having a woman on the side is being worldly, but that is only one of the double lives that are usually mentioned,” Pope Francis said in the book. “There are those that seek to compromise their faith for political alliances or for a worldly spirituality.”

Pope Francis noted the 20th century theologian Henri de Lubac's comment that to be worldly is “the worst that can happen” to a priest. “If this were to happen throughout the Church, the situation would be much worse than those embarrassing periods with libertine pastors,” he said.

“Worldliness and the narcissism can become not only an attitude of individuals but of the whole community, and therefore you can have the whole leadership of Catholics – bishops, priests and lay leaders – involved,” said Bermudez.

This would “basically turn the Church into a narcissistic worldly operation, and it would be completely neutralized of any capacity to transform persons and the world,” he explained.

In “On Heaven and Earth,” Pope Francis discusses priestly celibacy with such phrases as “for now” and “for the time being.” This has led some to speculate that he will bring to an end to the Latin Church's tradition of unmarried priests.

However, Bermudez asserted that Pope Francis will do “absolutely nothing” to change the rules on married priests.

“That doesn't mean at all that he is soft on this, or even contemplating the possibility of not continuing the tradition of priestly celibacy,” the translator said. “The book in itself, his pastoral practice and his homilies all speak to the great appreciation he has of priestly celibacy.”

Pope Francis also said that “we can rule out that celibacy carries pedophilia as a consequence.” He noted that most sex abuse occurs in families and neighborhoods by those who have not taken a vow of celibacy.

“Now, when this happens, you can never turn a blind eye. You cannot be in a position of power and destroy the life of another person,” the Pontiff stressed.

“I do not believe in the positions that some hold about sustaining a certain corporate spirit so as to avoid damaging the image of the institution … Recently, in Ireland they uncovered cases that occurred for twenty years, and the current pope (at the time Benedict) clearly said: 'Zero tolerance with this crime.' I admire the courage and the straightforwardness of Benedict XVI on this point.”

Since his election as Bishop of Rome, Francis has reaffirmed the Vatican process established by Benedict for handling instances of sexual abuse by priests.

Pope urges Christians to remember final judgment

Vatican City, Apr 24, 2013 / 07:27 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Christians should not be frightened of the final judgment but should let it affect how they live, Pope Francis told the 100,000 pilgrims who filled St. Peter’s Square.

"Human history begins with the creation of man and woman in the image and likeness of God and concludes with the final judgment of Christ. We often forget these two poles of history, and above all faith in the return of Christ and the final judgment is sometimes not so clear and strong in the hearts of Christians,” Pope Francis said April 24.

The crowd that turned out for the Wednesday audience was one of the largest yet, with the attendance reportedly surpassing expectations by about 25,000 people.

The Pope dedicated his address to the phrase from the Creed, “He will come again in glory, to judge the living and the dead,” continuing a series started by Benedict XVI for the Year of Faith.

He began by noting that Jesus “often focused on the reality of his final coming” during his public ministry.

“Today I would like to reflect on three Gospel texts that help us to enter into this mystery: that of the ten virgins, the talents and that of the final judgment. All three are part of Jesus' discourse on the end times in the Gospel of St. Matthew,” he explained. At the present moment humanity is living between the moment of Christ’s Ascension and his final return, and this is the context Jesus used when he told the parable of the 10 virgins, the Pope said.

The parable involves 10 virgins who were awaiting the arrival of a bridegroom to his wedding feast. Five of them were wise and had extra lamp oil to provide light until he arrived, but five were foolish, having brought no extra oil.

The foolish virgins were not able to notice the arrival of the bridegroom with their lamps out, and so they were left knocking on the door of the house where the feast was being held.  

“They were knocking insistently, but it was too late, the bridegroom responds, ‘I do not know you,’” the Pope recalled.

The Holy Father said that the time of waiting for the bridegroom – who is Jesus – is a period granted by God in his “mercy and patience,” and Christians should not fall asleep, keeping their faith alive through prayer and the sacraments. Turning to the parable of the talents, Pope Francis recalled how Jesus warned people against letting fear precent them from using the gifts God gave them.

“A Christian who withdraws into himself, hiding all that the Lord has given him, is not a Christian!” the Pope stated. “I would ask the many young people present to be generous with their God-given talents for the good of others, the Church and our world,” he added.

Pope Francis then spoke about the final parable, in which Jesus describes the final judgment as being like a shepherd who divides his flock into sheep and goats. Those on the right are those who followed the will of God in their lives, while those on the left did not.

“This tells us that we will be judged by God on charity, on how we loved him in our brothers, especially the most vulnerable and needy,” he explained.

“Of course,” the Pope qualified, “we must always keep in mind that we are justified, we are saved by grace, by a free act of the love of God, which always precedes us, we alone cannot do anything. Faith is first of all a gift that we have received.”

“Looking to the final judgment must never frighten us,” Pope Francis concluded.
 
“Rather, it urges us to live the present better. With mercy and patience, God offers us this time so that we might learn every day to recognize him in the poor and the small, might strive for the good, and might be vigilant in prayer and love,” so that when he comes he will find us his good and faithful servants, he said.