Cardianl Mahony is roundly criticized for being one of the most progressive (and that’s a bad term in the Catholic hierarchy) bishops of the Church. So I hate to say it, but it’s almost refreshing to see him take any moral stand whatsoever:
Cardinal Roger Mahony denounced the proposed Border Protection, Antiterrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Bill, which has already passed the House of Representatives and is currently being considered by the Senate in Washington, as part of the “hysterical” anti-immigrant sentiment sweeping the country.
The bill expands the “aggravated felony” of “alien smuggling” to cover anyone who “assists, encourages or directs” anyone whom he knows “lacks lawful authority to reside in or remain in the United States”, or of whose status he is in “reckless disregard”. Churches and other social organisations will be compelled to ask immigrants for legal documentation before providing them with anything, including food from a soup kitchen, and even, Cardinal Mahony suggested, Holy Communion.
He insisted that “priests, deacons and members of the Church are not going to observe this law” despite a penalty of up to five years in prison. “The whole concept of punishing people who serve immigrants is un-American,” he said, as well as inimical to the Gospel.
Cardinal Mahoney is right. It’s a sin to deny food, medicine, clothing, and other vital necessities to another human being no matter what their condition.
Now if he could only find the moral fortitude to take such a stand when it comes to the most silent of victims in America… but that’s another tangent for another day.