Proposed Immigration Bill Calls for Prayer and Justice

WASHINGTON – Bishops in various parts of the country joined the chorus of reactions to the preliminary version of a comprehensive immigration bill set to be considered before the Senate takes a weeklong break for Memorial Day.

Debate in the Senate opened May 21 even before the legislation designed by a bipartisan negotiating team was turned into bill form and introduced.

Bishop Gerald R. Barnes of San Bernardino, Calif., chairman of the bishops’ Committee on Migration, said that the important considerations for the bill include that it “is workable and includes family unity and a fair and realistic path to citizenship, a new worker program which provides participants a meaningful opportunity to obtain permanent residency, and the preservation of family unity as an integral part of the U.S. immigration system.”

Leaders of Catholic Charities USA said they would also push for a bill that “sustains and reunites families, promotes the security of the nation ... (and) improves the economic prospects, health, labor protections and stability of all U.S. residents, including newcomers,” among other criteria.

Catholic Charities joined the USCCB in saying the compromise bill is a good starting point, albeit not the optimal approach.

Brazilian Bishop Pleads to Stop Rain Forest’s Demise

APARECIDA, Brazil – Saying “it’s five minutes to midnight” for the Amazon, a bishop from Brazil made an impassioned plea for all the countries of the world to join forces to stop the destruction of the rain forest.

German-born Bishop Erwin Krautler of Xingu, in northern Para state, said that when he arrived in the area 42 years ago, “the Amazon was more or less intact and now it is threatened with destruction.”

Clearing and burning the rain forest to plant soy and sugar cane “will be a fatal blow for the Amazon,” he said.

“If things continue as they are, in another 30 years the Amazon will not exist anymore.”

Destruction of the rain forest has accelerated since the 1970s with the construction of highways that have given ranchers, loggers and miners access to untouched land.

Environmental issues have been high on the Brazilian Catholic Church’s agenda in recent years, and many pastoral workers, including Bishop Krautler, have received death threats for their advocacy.

Lebanese Cardinal Calls for Calm After Internal Violence

BEIRUT, Lebanon – The patriarch of Lebanon’s Maronite Catholic Church has appealed for calm after internal violence in northern Lebanon left dozens dead.
“These clashes are threatening the country’s stability (and) are the product of enemies to the country and the truth,” said Cardinal Nasrallah P. Sfeir.

Raging street battles broke out May 20 between the Lebanese army and militants from the Sunni, al-Qaida-linked Fatah Islam group in the northern port city of Tripoli and the nearby Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr el-Bared.

Thick smoke billowed from the camp as sporadic clashes continued into the next day after a brief cease-fire to allow the evacuation of wounded civilians.

Pope: Violence in Media Is Aimed at Young People

VATICAN CITY – Portraying violence, antisocial behavior and vulgar sexual content in the media is unacceptable, especially when aimed at a young audience, Pope Benedict XVI said.

The pope appealed to both media magnates and workers in the field of communications to “safeguard the common good, respect truth and protect the dignity of the person and family.”

The pope’s remarks May 20 commemorated World Communications Day, which is celebrated in most countries on that day.

He made his comments before praying the “Regina Coeli” from the window of the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican.

Today’s mass media have to help make programming and entertainment an educational experience that promotes “the dignity of the human person, marriage and the family, and the accomplishments and aims of civilization,” he said.

The pope, who chose this year’s theme, “Children and the Media: A Challenge for Education,” said parents, teachers and parish communities “are called to collaborate to educate children and young people to be selective” in their viewing and to develop “a critical attitude” toward what is offered in the media.

Iraqi Bishop: Kidnappers Set Ransom for Priest’s Return

ROME – A Chaldean Catholic bishop in Iraq said the Church is being asked to pay a “very high” ransom for the return of a priest kidnapped May 19 in the Iraqi city of Baghdad.

“We are in constant contact with the kidnappers, and we pray for his release,” Chaldean Auxiliary Bishop Shlemon Warduni of Baghdad told the Rome-based AsiaNews service.

Father Nawzat Hanna, a pastor in Baghdad’s Baladiyat neighborhood, had been visiting a sick parishioner when he was seized by a group of men who apparently had been waiting for him, Bishop Warduni told the news agency.

Almost immediately, the kidnappers contacted the Chaldean Catholic Patriarchate of Baghdad, letting Church leaders know they had the priest and expected a ransom.
“We have maintained telephone contact and have received guarantees of the good health of our priest,” the bishop said.

Bishop Warduni asked “the whole world” to pray that God would enlighten the hearts of the kidnappers and that Father Hanna would be returned safely.

Calls Amnesty International Abortion Stand ‘Outrageous’

WASHINGTON – Rep. Chris Smith has called Amnesty International’s new position on abortion “outrageous” and said it creates a “major credibility gap” for the widely respected human rights organization.

The New Jersey Republican said Amnesty’s new position makes it “just another pro-abortion organization.”

Amnesty’s claim that it takes no position on whether abortion should be legalized, when it calls for complete decriminalization of abortion, is “totally contradictory.”