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When the Rev. Kevin Cameron, pastor of Our Lady of the Americas parish in east Des Moines, looks out over the congregation at Sunday Mass, he can see the pain caused by the U.S. immigration system reflected in the faces of many of his parishioners.
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The growing disconnect between the reality of immigrants' lives and the federal immigration system has led Roman Catholic Bishop Joseph Charron to take a stand to encourage priests in the Des Moines Diocese to educate parishioners about the plight of immigrants and the church's stand on immigration reform.
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Charron asked priests to distribute the Iowa Catholic Conference statement on immigration reform to parishioners. In it, the conference, which represents the state's four Catholic diocese politically, states that immigration debate lacks the Christian mandate to "welcome the stranger."
"The love of God does not stop at national boundaries," the statement reads. "Immigrants crossing into the United States are in need of the love of neighbor that was commanded by Jesus."
The statement, reflecting the thinking of Charron, Dubuque Archbishop Jerome Hanus, Davenport Bishop William Franklin and Sioux City Bishop J. Walker Nickless, agrees that the United States has a right to secure its borders and that illegal immigration creates difficulties for people on both sides of the border.
"But efforts to patrol and secure our borders must be balanced with careful attention to protect the human rights of all immigrants," the statement said. [snip] DesMoines Register
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