Archbishop Gomez offers the following insights on the Catholic approach to immigration reform:
The American bishops support a comprehensive reform of our immigration policies that secures our borders and gives undocumented immigrants the chance to earn permanent residency and eventual citizenship. Personally, I believe the bishops’ approach is wise. Other good Catholics can come to different conclusions on how to support the bishops in their efforts to promote authentic immigration reform in the spirit of the Gospel. I respect that. I’m not out to change anybody’s mind today….
You know that we cannot separate our faith in Jesus from the policies we advocate as citizens. In this sense, the immigration issue is like the issues of abortion and marriage. Our words and our actions must always reflect the priority of Jesus Christ in our lives and the priorities of his Gospel.
Right now in this country, there are a lot of people — a lot of good people — who are saying things they know they should never be saying about immigrants. Their anger and frustration is understandable. But their rhetoric and many of their political responses are not worthy of the Gospel. And they are not worthy of America’s proud history as a beacon of hope for the world’s poor and persecuted.
I’m not certain I’d put the right to life on par with marriage or immigration, but certainly the ethic that we are always called to live the Gospel rings true.