Archbishop Jose Gomez is a passionate advocate for immigrants, illegal or otherwise, Cardinal Roger Mahoney said about his replacement to the LA Times yesterday:
“Over the years he has been a most effective leader working with priests serving the Spanish-speaking communities across the country, and his leadership in proclaiming the dignity and rights of our immigrant peoples has helped motivate many people to advocate for our immigrants,” Mahony said.
Gomez voiced his unequivocal support for immigration reform and said he wholeheartedly supported Mahony’s advocacy for immigrant rights.
The Catholic Church, in general, is one of the staunchest advocates for immigration reform in the United States. It may take conservative positions on many many other issues, but on illegal immigrants, it has been unequivocal in demanding that we treat them with dignity, respect and understanding and give them a path forward to legal residency.
But you wouldn’t know that if you just looked at the various parishes in Santa Clarita.
Back in 2007, the Daily News reported on an ICE raid in the Valle Del Oro neighborhood of Newhall. Reportedly, some 50 individuals were arrested in the raid. It was, or should have been, a big news story, especially because some of the immigrants had families, children in school etc. One man was arrested on his way to pick up his daughter at a local school. He was gone, just like that.
The Signal didn’t report much on the matter, nor did KHTS or other local outlets. I thought it was potentially a big story, so I called OLPH, the church that the detained immigrants likely went to. I called several times, asking to speak to the Pastor or anyone about the raid. I never got a response; indeed the feeling I got was that the church didn’t know or wasn’t especially interested, despite the fact that it ministers to a huge local Latino population that had to be frightened at the moment.
In other parts of Los Angeles, that wouldn’t have been in the case. Priests often get out in front of such stories and advocate for their parishioners here legally or not. They engage in that “social justice” Glenn Beck has been railing about recently. Mahoney himself has lead immigration protests.
Zoom forward to winter 2010 when illegal immigration was again the hottest topic in the SCV. Our Councilman made national news with his remarks, and for weeks this blog, the newspapers and other outlets were filled with the debate. It was open season on illegal immigrants and day laborers.
Again local Catholic churches could have stepped up and provided some input. They could have spoken out on behalf of their poor, voiceless parishioners, the people who fill their pews week after week and hand over money to Holy Mother Church. They could have defended these people when no one else was.
But they didn’t. Nary a word came from any of the three parishes here in town, even when you had Christian preachers from the Antelope Valley telling us how evil illegal immigrants were, even when the City of Santa Clarita voted to support the most draconian Congressional bills, bills that would strip babies of American citizenship if their parents were illegal. Even when George Runner, of all people, thought the rhetoric was too hot and controversial.
Indeed, the only person who stood up and said that illegal immigrants deserved to be treated with dignity and respect in accordance with Catholic doctrine was Frank Ferry, principal of Alemany High School and a City Council member. And he was roundly mocked and derided for it.
But he had more courage than local Catholic churches, apparently.
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