[Dialogue] The Gospel vs. H.R. 4437

[Harry Wainwright]

 <http://www.nytimes.com/> The New York Times <http://www.nytimes.com/> 



 

 

March 3, 2006

Editorial

The Gospel vs. H.R. 4437 

It has been a long time since this country heard a call to organized
lawbreaking on this big a scale. Cardinal Roger Mahony of the Roman Catholic
Archdiocese of Los Angeles, the nation's largest, urged parishioners on Ash
Wednesday to devote the 40 days of Lent to fasting, prayer and reflection on
the need for humane reform of immigration laws. If current efforts in
Congress make it a felony to shield or offer support to illegal immigrants,
Cardinal Mahony said, he will instruct his priests - and faithful lay
Catholics - to defy the law.

The cardinal's focus of concern is H.R. 4437, a bill sponsored by James
Sensenbrenner Jr. of Wisconsin and Peter King of New York. This grab bag
legislation, which was recently passed by the House, would expand the
definition of "alien smuggling" in a way that could theoretically include
working in a soup kitchen, driving a friend to a bus stop or caring for a
neighbor's baby. Similar language appears in legislation being considered by
the Senate this week. 

The enormous influx of illegal immigrants and the lack of a coherent federal
policy to handle it have prompted a jumble of responses by state and local
governments, stirred the passions of the nativist fringe, and reinforced
anxieties since 9/11. Cardinal Mahony's defiance adds a moral dimension to
what has largely been a debate about politics and economics. "As his
disciples, we are called to attend to the last, littlest, lowest and least
in society and in the church," he said.

The cardinal is right to argue that the government has no place
criminalizing the charitable impulses of private institutions like his,
whose mission is to help people with no questions asked. The Los Angeles
Archdiocese, like other religious organizations across the country, runs a
vast network of social service programs offering food and emergency shelter,
child care, aid to immigrants and refugees, counseling services, and
computer and job training. Through Catholic Charities and local parishes,
the church is frequently the help of last resort for illegal immigrants in
need. It should not be made an arm of the immigration police as well.

Cardinal Mahony's declaration of solidarity with illegal immigrants, for
whom Lent is every day, is a startling call to civil disobedience, as
courageous as it is timely. We hope it forestalls the day when works of
mercy become a federal crime.

 

*	Copyright
<http://www.nytimes.com/ref/membercenter/help/copyright.html>  2006The New
York Times Company <http://www.nytco.com/> 

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