Mexican bishops denounce Arizona immigration law
August 03, 2010
The bishops of Mexico have released a press statement denouncing the controversial Arizona immigration law. The statement was signed by Bishop Víctor René Rodríguez Gómez of Texcoco, secretary general of the Mexican bishops’ conference.
“With deep sadness, we have received the news that the immigration law SB1070 has entered into force,” the statement begins. Expressing solidarity with Latinos residing in the United States, the bishops “ask with insistence that the Lord of life and all the earth move the hearts of all people who do not know the Father of all and have not been able to discover brotherhood, tolerance, and mercy.”
“We value and we are thankful to the noble and generous people of the United States of America, who for years have offered a warm welcome and support to Mexico and so many countries in need on the continent and in the world,” the statement continues. “We are disappointed to see, and we firmly condemn, the selfish and irresponsible attitude of certain powerful groups which aim to separate countless families, leaving them to drown in deepest misery and poverty after having made enormous sacrifices and risked their lives in the search for a better life and a future of wellbeing and justice for their children.”
“We join our voices with those of all men and women of goodwill calling on Mexican authorities, and Mexican families and parishes, to warmly welcome with specific pastoral care our brothers and sisters forced to retrace their steps.”
“We intend to continue our activity to render our people of Mexico ‘A Home and a School of Communion,’ enabling them to be present in faith and prayer. We give them our blessing as Bishops and we commend them to the Heart of God, to His Son Jesus Christ, and to Holy Mary of Guadalupe.”
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Further information:
- Boletín de Prensa con motivo de la entrada en vigor de la Ley migratoria SB1070 (Fides)
- Arizona immigration law SB 1070: “selfish and irresponsible" say the Bishops of Mexico (Fides)
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Posted by: unum -
Aug. 04, 2010 9:48 AM ET USA
So the Mexican bishops are politicians, just like our U.S. bishops. It makes me wonder who is teaching the faith while Church leaders are engaged in politics. I wonder what happened to "Render unto Caesar ...".
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Posted by: samuel.doucette1787 -
Aug. 04, 2010 9:23 AM ET USA
With all due respect to you bishops in Mexico, you are dead wrong on this issue. Your southern borders are guarded by the Mexican military and you turn away illegals from Central and South America routinely. Where is your sense of outrage toward your own country's immigration laws? You defend Mexico's sovereign right under the natural law to control her own borders. Why do you undermine ours?
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Posted by: Thomas429 -
Aug. 03, 2010 11:21 PM ET USA
There actually many issues here. Most of us agree that regardless of their motives in coming the ILLEGAL aliens are overwhelming education, public health, and other social services. Many of the ILLEGAL aliens that are apprehended are criminals with rapsheets on both sides of the border. There is an additional concern that should compel us to secure our border. There are people in the worls that mean to do us great harm. These people are crossing the border regardless of their ethnicity.
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Posted by: sarsok8679 -
Aug. 03, 2010 8:26 PM ET USA
In a country with highly restrictive immigration laws far worse than the US one is dumbfounded at the blatant hypocrisy of Mexican and Central American cleric critics of US immigration laws. One wonders how many more drug cartel killings will occur in Mexico before the clerics speak out?! One wonders what it will take to reform the Mexican economy rich in resources, before that government will be free of drug cartel money and money coming into their nation as a result of illegal immigration?!
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Posted by: extremeCatholic -
Aug. 03, 2010 7:42 PM ET USA
The bishops of Mexico with deep sadness should acknowledge their country -- its politics, its culture, and the how the Catholic faith is acted out in the temporal order -- have failed Mexicans and the United States has been successful in creating opportunity, wealth, and hope for millions of Mexicans. I call upon the bishops of Mexico to convert the selfish, irresponsible, and powerful elites who keep so many of Mexico in poverty and misery to create a future for Mexico that doesn't depopulate
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Posted by: Lilacs2me -
Aug. 03, 2010 7:32 PM ET USA
How come when Mexicans illegally cross into the USA, deliberately separating themselves from families, that is ok? They know what they are getting into by disobeying our legitimate laws, so if they are forced to return, it is their own fault, not ours.
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Posted by: Defender -
Aug. 03, 2010 6:44 PM ET USA
"...we firmly condemn, the selfish and irresponsible attitude of certain powerful groups which aim to separate countless families, leaving them to drown in deepest misery and poverty after having made enormous sacrifices and risked their lives in the search for a better life and a future of wellbeing and justice for their children”. What hutzpah to suggest people deliberately want to separate families and cause misery. What are the Mexican bishops doing for their wellbeing?
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Posted by: New Sister -
Aug. 03, 2010 5:48 PM ET USA
What about condemning illegal behavior? Crime? Prayers for the victims touched by human and drug trafficking over the border?
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Posted by: gallardo.vm5565 -
Aug. 03, 2010 4:58 PM ET USA
I'm a 33yr-old 1st gen. Mexican-American. I grew up in Santa Ana, CA. Both my parents came here illegally and then subjected themselves to the process; always knowing the consequences. I still don’t see the problem; neither do my parents, in a country enforcing boarder laws. Can we use reform? Sure, but reform is not the same as undermining a state’s legitimate right to enforce a legitimate law. Or maybe I'm wrong? Family in Juarez and in El Paso don't see a problem with tightening things up.
