Video

A while ago, I made a video about Pope Leo and Illegal immigration, in fact before I begin this episode I want to reitterate what Pope Leo said about illegal immigration in this clip I shared in the previous episode.

To be clear, the church does not believe we should have open borders, the state has a right to protect it’s borders. However, the church stands up when we have harsh treatment of people. Of humans who deserve rights. As Pope Leo has said, we cannot stand against abortion, against the killing of children in the womb, if we don’t also stand against the inhuman treatment of migrants.

I am now going to share you an excerpt from a recent article by Bishop Robert Barron, a bishop originally from Chicago, who is serving as a bishop in Minnesota, in the Diocese of Winnona-Rochester: “along with my brother bishops, I strongly defend our nation’s right to maintain the border and to enforce immigration regulations. I do not subscribe to the effectively open border policy that held sway during the Biden administration. But, at the same time, I think that ICE operations should be limited to rounding up only undocumented people who have committed serious crimes. I understand that anyone who has entered the country without documentation has committed a crime, but I believe that ICE raids against such people are simply too blunt an instrument. The status of illegal immigrants who have lived productively and peacefully in our country for many years should be a matter for political adjudication and not aggressive police action. The riots in Minneapolis and elsewhere in the country prove that the American people are ill at ease with the present policy. At the same time, I would urge the political leadership in the state of Minnesota to stop stirring up resentment against federal officers who are endeavoring to enforce the laws of our country. The comparison of these oft-beleaguered individuals to Nazis and fascists and Gestapo agents is morally heinous and directly productive of violence.”

I think, in theory, it sounds great to expel all those who have not followed the proper legal process. It sounds like a great theory. But in actuality, we have seen where it has lead. There are many people who have founded a great life, and who have done no wrong, and this is what Pope Leo has said, and which Bishop Barron here says similar.

America, is a nation built on immigrants. A nation that has long respected the traditions and cultures of the people who have entered here. An anti-immigrant view, is an anti-American view. For myself, my family came from Europe, they immigrated here, as did so many. They came here seeking new opportunities, finding new places to live, finding new jobs to work, opening new places, sharing their culture, etc.

ICE has existed as an organization to help prosecution of criminals who have committed crimes and who are from other nations. Often, this has been subject to deportation, for both legal and illegal immigrants, who have committed crimes.

However, how ICE has turned in Minneapolis and Minnesota, simply is not right, as we have seen most recently. Certainly, there has been a fear created in the hearts of citizens, and it is clear to see why people have been protesting these acts.

ICE should back down. I ask you, what has been done is Minneapolis? So far, we have had four killings happen. “Execution” has been used, but I don’t think this is a fair term to use. These were killings, murders, even, but execution is not a fair way of putting it. Executions are thought out ways of dealings with criminals. Killings are unjustified.

As Bishop Barron says, the comparisons of ICE and Trump to Nazi’s is also unfair and wrong. If Trump were truly a dictator, if ICE were truly some kind of Nazi police, we would see a truly effortless and complete wiping away of all protestors and opposition. We would see the removal of leadership in Minnesota, not just simply insults of the governor. We would see Trump having a much more tight grip on the media, and opposition media removed.

But this has not happened. Trump is not Hitler, and as other’s have said, this only makes Hitler more mild, than it makes Trump more of a villain.

I hope I have given a fair look at this. This truly is a complex issue, and I want to reitterate, hopefully clearly, what the church teaches in the midst of such an unclear topic.

What has happened recently, as I hope all people can see, is wrong. What has happened in Minnesota, especially with the most recent killing at the hands of an ICE agent, is not right. Something should be done.

We have a more secure border, and our minds should be with expelling those who have come to America with ill intent, as Bishop Barron says, “I think that ICE operations should be limited to rounding up only undocumented people who have committed serious crimes. I understand that anyone who has entered the country without documentation has committed a crime, but I believe that ICE raids against such people are simply too blunt an instrument.”

These ICE raids are truly unjustifiable, as Barron says. These are not how we should deal with these issues. As Pope Leo said in the first clip I shared, there are plenty of people who have come to the US illegally, but who have only come seeking refuge and a better life.

But what has been achieved by these ICE raids? Only preventable deaths. Senseless killings at the hands of agents whose jobs should be to protect American people, and not kill American citizens.

I want to look at the readings from Sunday, as our priest touched on this, and as a priest online touched on:

“Do you belong to Fox or Alpha News? Do you belong to Mamdani? Was Trump crucified for you? Our country has failed because we have centered ourselves on the political rather than on Jesus Christ” (I apologize, this was left out on the video)

Who do we belong to? Ultimately, as Catholics, we must belong to Christ. We truly should not unite ourselves to any passing nation. Look at what has happened to nations of the past. Even the strongest of empires, all of them have passed away. What about all the strong leaders of old? All of them are dead, are history. But what about Christ? What about his Kingdom? In the very person of Christ, he established a kingdom, a kingdom that has yet to pass away, a church that remains to today, sharing his message, that he is still alive, and we have hope to live with him.

“Do you belong to Fox or Alpha News? Do you belong to Mamdani? Was Trump crucified for you?”

We are not called to belong to any political message or person. We are called to belong to Christ.

Ultimately, this tangent leads me to tell you this, we are called to have compassion to the widow, to the orphan, to the young, to the old. There are those who want to attack the rights of humans, the unborn, and old, and weak. Who want to see these terminated, in what they perceive as mercy.

Ultimately, we are called to have mercy by giving people true freedom. We are called to allow people to have a right to life, not a right to death. More than that, we must care too for the poor one, who has not place to lay his head, no meal to feed himself. We must care also for the alien, for the immigrant. Like Pope Leo said, we must care for all of these, if we are to call ourselves, “pro-life”.

If you are Catholic, I want you to consider, can you stand for what is happening in Minnesota? Alone, with what we have seen with four senseless killings, we cannot stand for these ICE raids. We cannot stand for the inhuman treatment of migrants, we cannot stand for these raids.

I hope this is a good look at this issue that is currently on going. God Bless, and I will see you next time.

Addendum:

Hi everyone, this is an addendum to the original script. I had written this script this weekend, following the events that happened. But I wanted to add this little bit at the end. Today, or yesterday for you, today for me, we had a mass celebrated by the pastor, and he said something similiar about immigration and other such things, including abortion, and care for creation, which, I wish I remember exactly what he said, but I don’t take notes during homilies. But anyways, today he talked about immigration again. He talked about when he was in high school, not long after the Vietnam war, and he had someone talking about conscientious objection. He thought that this was terribly un-American, his father was a marine in the Korean War. But in recent events, and protests, which he mentioned in this homily, and he sees these as being American. Especially exercising the right to freedom of speech. Regardless, I think the idea of a priest talking politics can be kind of upsetting to some people. But I don’t think this was exclusively political. He never said the word Trump. He did mention ICE, and a family in Chicago who was helped by a Catholic Church, while the mother was detained. She was an immigrant who escaped violence in her home country of Guatemala to America, searching for a better life. He said these protests are truly American. And spoke about the issues we see in the world. He told us that we should be open to God’s call.

My only complaint about this homily, was that it was not about Thomas Aquinas. Aquinas’s feast was yesterday, when mass was celebrated. But, I think these are issues that need to be talked about. And that is why I discussed them here.

We should stand for the rights of all people from womb to tomb, and everything in between. We need pastors like our’s who is willing to discuss these issues. I dare say, he was not political. We did not speak against Trump, rather, he stood with protestors, and called us to be open to God’s voice. We need to listen to God’s voice. And I wish I could remember every detail, but I think these were two of his most important messages, and they stuck out with me.

Also, I want to add, I saw one video, and in this video, I saw there were four killings in Minnesota. The priest discussed two of them, by name, in fact this was the second thing he mentioned in his homily, following talking about the parable of the sower, which was the gospel. According to Wikipedia, there are three. To be clear, regardless of number, these were preventable. And I just want to reiterate the words of Bishop Barron, because I think his words are very good. I don’t know if I shared this article or not.

Additionally I wanted to share that I saw a Jewish Rabbi who said that comparing the Holocaust and Nazis to what Trump is doing is not right.