Welcoming Immigrants and Entertaining Angels

Immigration is a big story unfolding in the neighborhoods and parishes of our Archdiocese of Los Angeles: It changes the face of the country and speaks of the vitality of American society.

On balance, the experience of our history and the conclusion of experts find that a positive contribution is made by immigrants even today. Uneasiness, however, surfaces on occasion perhaps due to fear of unknown cultural groups, and of the possibility that asylum seekers, refugees and the poor may limit our comfort and remind us that we are not alone in an increasingly interdependent world.

In the public-policy debate, specific signs of anxiety are frequently headlined in the media and a concern emerges which calls for a thoughtful and cooperative search for fair solutions to a number of issues.

-- Large numbers of individuals and families are without documents for legal residence in this country. Pushed out of their countries by violence and hunger, they are unable to return home and yet have not benefitted from legalization provisions of the immigration law. More vulnerable than ever, this subclass of the poor cannot be written off without serious social and moral costs to their--and our-- human dignity.

-- Surveys of implementation of current immigration laws find widespread discrimination against legalized aliens and American citizens who appear foreign, a situation worsened by lack of information on the exact provisions of the law.

-- Undercurrents of ethnic and religious prejudice exist in the push for “English only” as the official language for public services and programs. Yet our experience in the archdiocese shows that hundreds of thousands of newcomers are most anxious to learn English. They come to classes day and night in our parishes since they realize how essential it is to know our country’s language.

-- In an effort to cap immigration, little attention or priority is being given to family unity and family reunification. An immigration legislation reform that does not respect this basic American tradition would be a step backward.

-- The thousands of undocumented immigrants who received amnesty under the 1986 immigration law need support in meeting the education and documentation requirements of the law: English and civic classes, access to legal services and timely information are essential.

-- In many corners of the world, refugee camps still overflow with people hoping for return to a more peaceful homeland or for acceptance in a new land; their plight and their voices reach out to all of us.

These complex human, social and political issues confront the community of faith as it reflects on Jesus’ message of reconciliation and on its relationship with Him. This relationship makes the church a sacrament of unity for the entire human family.

As Pope John Paul II said in a recent encyclical letter, “Solidarity helps us to see the ‘other’--whether a person or nation--not just as some kind of instrument, with a work capacity and physical strength to be exploited at low cost and then discarded when no longer useful, but as our ‘neighbor,’ a ‘helper,’ to be made a sharer on par with ourselves in the banquet of life to which all are equally invited by God.”

A protagonist, therefore, in the immigration debate, the Catholic Church follows the example of Christ and welcomes all newcomers--not just for the economic contribution they make through their work--but because they add an element of social enhancement.

The church sees in all immigrants, refugees and displaced persons an avant-garde that builds a world family and, often through pain, witnesses the interdependence of the contemporary world. Surely immigrants arrive among us with their needs but they also bear gifts of energy, resourcefulness and hope that contribute to the renewal of both society and the church.

In a complex world, the encounter with newcomers reminds us of a simple fact: We are all brothers and sisters, one family. In this way, isolation and hostility are impractical and misdirected attitudes.

Lay men and women, pastors and religious, natives and immigrants are called and empowered to heal the breaches in human solidarity. In fact, we are all instruments through whom God’s work of creation, redemption and sanctification is brought together on earth. His plan is for a world family where the earth’s resources are for the common good, where barriers fall and a special blessing and care go to the poor.

Most people do not migrate because they want to. Immigrants are transnational actors crossing from less developed to richer countries, and even if they are not aware of it, they show the interdependence of the world economy. A sense of moral responsibility for the countries of emigration can transform interdependence into solidarity. The impact, therefore, of our national decisions and policies goes beyond our borders and can affect all along the journey of migrants from the start in their native countries to the point of integration into our society. To enable the weaker countries to develop and to participate in making a contribution of their own to the common good becomes an effective remedy to forced migrations.

The temptation to confuse ethnic origin with religion could block the way of solidarity and allow the tyranny of lesser loyalties to stifle the bonding together of natives and newcomers in the common task of developing another creative moment in the growth of the church and of the country. Different cultural traditions and pastoral structures become as many valuable paths leading to the acceptance of diversity within a basic Gospel unity.

The positive lesson the immigrants’ presence teaches comes from the heart of the Gospel, that we are one world family. The expression of this conviction is in mutual knowledge, respect and love that enable us to find the fullness of ourselves in solidarity with others. We learn intercultural relations not just to fight prejudice or to manage interethnic relations with less conflict, but rather, as a way to live solidarity in our environment, as a new style of community needed now more than ever for the development of a pluralistic society.

Projections indicate that immigration will continue due to economic disparity, a chronic lack of jobs, persistent political upheavals--and hunger.

Our pastoral response has been moving on the twin track of justice and evangelization articulated in policy advocacy, and the delivery of services within our church structures.

Together with the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, the archdiocese’s policy for undocumented persons includes support for expansion of legalization, a commitment to change the employer sanctions of the immigration law, safe haven for displaced persons and the development of poorer countries. We stand firm on the priority right of family reunion within a reasonable time. Immigrants and refugees will continue to find a voice in the church where acceptance and love have no borders.

Day after day, and with exceptional generosity, our archdiocese advises newly arrived immigrants and refugees, sponsors family reunification, provides legal assistance and teaches English. At the regional and parish levels a variety of services are offered that witness our concern for the total person.

Allow me to stress the irreplaceable role of the parish where multicultural communities of faith can flourish. A “policy of inclusion” should be part of the pastoral plan of each parish.

In our parishes geographical distance has given way to the actual presence of people from every continent and culture. Newcomers must be welcomed as Christ is welcomed.

Mutual participation in the development of the parish future will succeed if there is a warm, loving and exciting attitude of acceptance; if time and space are made available to people to meet one another at their leisure in friendship, if expressive, person-centered and vibrant liturgies teach as much as they touch the heart.

In moments of rethinking, retrenching and anxiety in the public debate on the presence and meaning of newcomers and their cultures, we are reminded that “hospitality” is the most concrete example of our solidarity with the world family.

The Scriptures state, “continue to love each other like brothers and sisters, and remember always to welcome strangers, for by doing this, some people have entertained angels without knowing it.”