Catholic immigration

"We realize that you can't open up any country to everybody else," said Bishop Gregory Aymond of the Austin diocese. "There has to be limits, but we're calling for limits that are just and generous and would give a deep respect for the life of other human beings who are looking for justice and a better way of life."

The campaign mirrors themes of a landmark 2003 statement the bishops issued with their counterparts in Mexico, urging Presidents Bush and Vicente Fox to enact policies respecting the dignity of immigrants.
The statement embodied the spirit of Pope John Paul II's 1999 exhortation for church leaders to do more to help the poor and oppressed, including immigrants and refugees.

Nationally, the Catholic Charities social services network for the poor reaches out to immigrants. Locally, Catholic Charities' Office of Immigrant Concerns helps those who qualify establish legal status in the country, and the Office of Hispanic Ministry serves ministerial needs.

But local Catholic leaders privately admit that some Catholics harbor strong anti-immigrant feelings, and a recent pastoral letter from Catholic bishops in Arizona noted mounting hostility toward illegal immigrants.

"They get involved in political stuff that doesn't concern them," said Lupe Ortegon, an Austin Catholic.

Outside the church, advocates of stronger immigration controls charge that the church wants open borders, an accusation Catholic leaders strongly deny. Still other critics suggest that the church is pandering to immigrants, the majority of whom come from heavily Catholic Mexico and Latin America. The pope's 1999 apostolic exhortation was widely seen as a move to reverse Catholicism's decline in the Americas.

"Although I don't condone coming into the country illegally, we have to look at the reasons and be humane about how we treat (immigrants) and how we deal with the problems," said the 43-year-old organizer for Austin Interfaith.

But Ortegon, another St. Ignatius member who was not in the Dolores audience, said she resents illegal immigrants, doesn't agree with the church's outreach to them and won't support Justice for Immigrants.

"God teaches us to love one another and to share what we have with each other," said Ortegon, a 69-year-old retired state worker. "But why should I share everything I have with these people when they really are not doing anything for me?"