Thy Kingdom Come

Another Dismal Year for Refugees

10/8/2019

By Mark Peters

On Sept. 29, we marked (celebrated seems the wrong word) the 105th Global Day for Migrants and Refugees. At Mass in St. Peter’s Square that day, Pope Francis noted: “Wars only affect some regions of the world, yet weapons of war are produced and sold in other regions which are then unwilling to take in the refugees generated by these conflicts. Those who pay the price are always the little ones, the poor, the most vulnerable, who are prevented from sitting at the table and are left with the ‘crumbs’ of the banquet.”

For the U.S., a century of not caring who paid the price of corporate exploitation, political meddling and "low-intensity warfare" in Central America has led to a refugee "crisis" (in quotes since the numbers haven't changed so much as how we're handling them) at our southern border. We may worry most about the ones that arrive, but many don’t even make it that far. The group No More Deaths reports 244 migrant deaths just in southern Arizona’s brutal desert border region since January 2018. That’s about two lives lost per week, with grieving families left behind. And those are only the bodies they’ve found. Many, many more are not found. Border Angels estimates that since 1994, about 10,000 people have died in their attempt to cross our southern border.

As poverty, violence and the dramatic effects of the climate crisis increasingly worsen living conditions in Central and South America, the refugee situation at our borders will only worsen. This is a worldwide trend. As of last year, according to new statistics from the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, the population of people in the world displaced by conflict or persecution reached 70.8 million — more than double the number recorded in 2012.

The climate crisis has already created millions of invisible refugees and could create up to 1.5 billion more in the next 30 years. But under international law no country is obliged to take them in.

Catholic social teaching says that richer, larger countries that can do more to assist refugees and migrants have a moral obligation to do so. But the United States is not stepping up – last year, the U.S., with a GDP of nearly $20 trillion, took the fewest numbers of refugees in 40 years: only 22,491 people. It was just announced that this year, the limit will be 18,000 (110,000 were allowed in the last year of the Obama administration). By contrast, Turkey has been taking in over 3 million a year, and Lebanon has housed around 1.2 million Syrian refugees in its population of 4.5 million people – one in five people.

Developing countries shoulder a disproportionate amount of responsibility for hosting refugees with the poorest nations hosting 6.7 million individuals, a third of all refugees worldwide. These countries have the least resources to respond to people seeking refuge, when they are already facing structural barriers to development. Turkey, Pakistan, Uganda, Sudan, Germany, Iran, Bangladesh, Ethiopia and Jordan all took in between three-quarters of a million (Jordan) to 3.7 million (Turkey) refugees each in 2017, mainly from Syria, Sudan, Iraq, Myanmar, Afghanistan and Iritrea (UNHCR).

Meanwhile, following the administration’s decision to suspend foreign aid to Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador last April, an official with Catholic Relief Services testified that the aid had “helped Central Americans thrive in their own country, providing them with physical security and food,” and that cutting the programs “will create a vacuum for increased instability, poverty and migration.”

Many refugees are victims of war, oppression, gang violence, or domestic abuse and are deserving of asylum, but the Trump Administration is also attacking our asylum laws. Under its “Migrant Protection Protocols” (MPP), it has returned more than 48,000 asylum-seekers to await their court dates in Mexico, a country where kidnapping and assault of migrants is rampant. Over the course of two months, the Texas Observer uncovered multiple stories showing that the program includes no meaningful screening for even the most obvious threats to migrants’ safety and lives.

Then on Aug. 11, the U.S. Supreme Court gave the administration permission to enforce its toughest restriction yet on asylum seekers at the southern border. The Catholic Legal Immigration Network is now suing over this curtailing of asylum-seekers’ access to legal representation. Said a CLINIC attorney, “This is an hour of any asylum-seeker’s life that will change their life forever. If they pass this interview, they get the ability to submit an asylum application. If they fail it, they immediately get deported.”

The International Association of Democratic Lawyers recently issued a report claiming “massive and systematic human rights violations taking place at the United States of America southern border with Mexico.” They conclude that current policies are “not incidental or accidental violations of human rights, but clearly have been planned deliberately in an attempt to deter asylum seekers from requesting protection in the United States.” Another group reports that the U.S. immigration court backlog now exceeds a million cases, while The American Bar Association (ABA) concluded in a recent report on "Reforming the Immigration System" that the immigration courts are facing an existential crisis. They are irredeemably dysfunctional and on the brink of collapse.” The court backlog is on the verge of becoming so large that the government may have to suspend asylum hearings.

The administration’s changes to immigration policies and procedures, including the use of tent courts, the scarcity of immigration attorneys and a backlog surpassing 1 million cases, have led to some judges admitting that they decide certain cases “based on whether the decision would get them fired.”
The Associated Press reports that fake court dates are being issued in immigration court. A board member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association is quoted: “People have been ordered to appear on national holidays, on weekends and even at midnight — when we all know immigration court isn’t operating. They have no way of knowing without going to the immigration court if the date is real or not, spending extensive funds on counsel, and often traveling huge distances.”

On Sept. 13 the U.S.C.C.B. weighed in on immigration again, this time on plans that critics charge will mean the end of the United States as a safe haven for the world’s refugees. Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo, archbishop of Galveston-Houston and U.S.C.C.B. president, and Bishop Joe S. Vásquez, chair of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Migration, wrote: “Further reductions in the number of refugees allowed to seek freedom in the United States would be wholly counter to our values as a nation of immigrants. America welcomes refugees; that is who we are, that is what we do. Such reductions would undermine America’s leadership role as a global champion and protector of religious freedom and human rights.”

That’s the state of things today. When the 106th Global Day for Migrants and Refugees rolls around next year, will we be able to say that the Church’s teaching on migrants and refugees is any better known and accepted among Catholics themselves, let alone that our government’s policies come closer to reflecting Catholic values? And will those Catholics who stand with Pope Francis mobilize in the numbers necessary to resist immoral policies and demand justice for refugees and other forced migrants? Time will tell.

1 Comment

I AM A RECOVERING RACIST – Bob Bossie, SCJ

8/1/2019

1 Comment

Years ago I attended a workshop where I was taught to distinguish between racism and prejudice. Everyone has some form of prejudice that they carry, knowingly or unknowingly. It’s part of our culture.

As a boy of about 10-12 years of age, my dad took me and some of my siblings to the circus at Boston Garden. Like many such sport centers, it had several balconies. As we were being seated, I noticed that the top balcony was filled with, persons we call today, African Americans. I asked dad why that was so and he simply said that, that was “N____’s Heaven.” Because I had never heard that expression, or any other expression of its kind, in my family or among my friends, I sat in my seat pondered the meaning of his words. In a few moments I was distracted by the unfolding show…...

Later in life, I reflected that this discrimination was part of the culture. No more to be questioned than the air we breathe. And so, this young, white boy, and so many others like me, grew up carrying that prejudice -- as part of his DNA, you might say.

I suspect that people of color carry similar prejudices against others, be they “white”, a different religion, class or ethnic background. The workshop mentioned above, however, taught me that the difference between my prejudice and that of people of color is that, as a white, American man, I am part of society’s power structure. People of color are in positions of inferior power while I am not. In our society, it is not possible to imagine the top section of Boston Garden to be relegated to “Whites Only.”

Allow me to offer another example: a woman friend and I stopped at a gas station where she bought a candy bar. After she paid and we were about to leave, she said , “Oh, I forgot my receipt.” I said, “Linda, it’s only a candy bar.” She responded assertively, “Bob, I am black.” At that moment, her sense of her position in society became clear to me despite the fact that she was employed by a major consulting firm and commanded a six figure salary. I knew at that moment that my lacking a receipt for a candy bar would never be a concern for this white man.

That workshop taught me three facts:

1. Racism equals prejudice plus power.

2. Race is an artificial construct. Anthropologists tell us that, scientifically, there is no such thing as “race.” When people pass overland, skin color and features change gradually. The leader of the workshop I attended helped me and other attendees deal with this concept by asking us to write a list of all the things we like about being white or another race. I really couldn’t think of anything other than I seem to get a good tan when out in the sun. Then she asked us to write down a list of all the things we liked about our culture. Music, poetry, language, food, etc. immediately came to mind. Different cultures do exist but not races she reminded us.

3. By definition, all white people are racist. WHAT???? This was the hardest thing for me to accept. It took me many years to start to get my heard around this concept. This doesn’t mean I choose to be racist. Rather, as a white man, I am, by definition a racist, that is, I carry a position of power that persons of color do not. “White privilege” it’s called.

I have spent a good part of my adult years fighting against racism. But it is always true that I am part of the dominant race. For this reason, the words of a Chicago pastor continue to apply to me: My name is Robert Bossie, and I am a recovering racist. I guess the old saying bears truth day after day: if you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem.

1 Comment

Iran-Iraq Connections

7/1/2019

1 Comment

By Bob Bossie, SCJ

In 1953, at the urging of the British government, the US overthrew the democratically elected government of Iran -- yes, Iran. The reason was that Iran’s President Mossadegh nationalized the Iranian oil industry which was totally controlled by Great Britain. Mossadegh was a beloved president who had initiated many social programs for the benefit of the average Iranian. Time Magazine named Mossadegh “Man of the Year” for 1951 and called him the “Iranian George Washington.”

Britain, which lacked its own oil resources, loved the cheap Iranian oil it used to fuel its cars, industry and Navy which plied the world’s oceans in maintenance of its empire. President Truman refused Britain’s overtures for regime change in Iran but President Eisenhower complied.

The coup was led by senior CIA officer Kermit Roosevelt Jr., the grandson of U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt, using the US embassy there as his base. The US then installed the notorious Shah of Iran who brutally repressed the Iranian people for 25 years.

In 1979, the Iranians overthrew the Shah and captured the US embassy to prevent the CIA from using the embassy, once again, as a base to reverse their efforts at self determination. Fifty-two US diplomats and citizens were held hostage to ensure that the US would not try to attack. (Interestingly, Presidential candidate Reagan told the Iranians that the US would never interfere in their internal affairs if they would hold the hostages until after he defeated President Carter. Reagan feared that an earlier release of the hostages would help Carter win the election. The Iranians released the hostages just twenty minutes after Reagan ended his inaugural speech.)

Fearful that the Iranian revolution would inspire other Middle Eastern countries to seek their own self-determination, the US and other Regional monarchies/dictators encouraged Iraq to attack Iran in 1980. The Iran-Iraq war lasted eight years and took over one million lives. Because it was in its own self-interest, Kuwait “loaned” Iraq $16 Billion to continue the war. The US supported Iraq through intelligence gathering and by supplying them deadly chemical and biological materials which Iraq weaponized and unleashed upon Iranians and Iraqi Kurds. Also, the USS Vincennes shot down an Iranian passenger plane killing 290 people, including 66 children.

At war’s end, Kuwait and the U.A.E. began overselling OPEC’s agreed-upon quotas of oil, thus driving down oil prices. This greatly impacted Iraq’s oil-driven economy. Second, Kuwait demanded that Iraq immediately repay the $16B “loan” even though Iraq was struggling financially given the war’s devastating expenses. Third, Kuwait was slant drilling across the Kuwait-Iraq border into a disputed oil field inside Iraq. Fourth, Kuwait was encroaching on Iraq’s territories with farms and oil installations. These factors alone led Iraq to consider Kuwait as engaging in economic warfare against them. Fourth, Iraq had long held that Kuwait was, in fact, a province of Iraq.

Finally, as Iraqi forces gathered on the Iraq-Kuwait border, US ambassador to Iraq, April Glaspie, told Iraqi President Saddam Hussein that the US has “no opinion on the Arab-Arab conflicts, like your border disagreement with Kuwait …… we see the Iraqi point of view that the measures taken by the U.A.E. and Kuwait is, in the final analysis, parallel to military aggression against Iraq….” Many foreign policy officials said this was akin to a green light for Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait.

On August 2, 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait. On August 6, the US imposed comprehensive economic sanctions against Iraq. Later the US persuaded the United Nations Security Council to apply its own sanctions. Even so, the US population was deeply divided over a US military response, that is, until they were presented with the totally fabricated testimony that Iraqi forces removed over 300 newborn, Kuwaiti children from their incubators, threw them on the cold hospital floor and took the incubators back to Iraq.

While the US and its allies drove Iraq from Kuwait in August of 1990, these sanctions were kept in place for 13 years and took the lives of one-two million Iraqis, many of whom were children under five years of age. I visited Iraqi hospitals three times in 1996-97, including one run by the Dominican order of religious sisters, where I personally witnessed wards filled with children dying from lack of proper medicines and nutrition due to sanctions.

In 2003, the US invaded Iraq under the pretense that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. The combination of all these factors destroyed this highly educated and prosperous nation. It’s impossible to measure the number of lives that were ended or the amount of destruction reaped throughout this criminal, years-long economic and military warfare.

Now the US is engaged in just such a crime against Iran (and Venezuela, may I add) including economic sanctions which, in fact, are economic warfare that is already driving millions of people into poverty. The purpose of these crimes can best be summed up with some dark humor, “What is our oil doing under their land?”

US Forces in the Middle East Currently Surround Iran

1 Comment

The Story of Becoming Neighbours & An Interview with Peter McKenna, SCJ

10/1/2018

1 Comment

During the Fall of 2003 Sister Margaret Myatt, CSJ, Congregational Leader of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Toronto, and members of her Leadership Team, invited the leaders of other women’s and men’s Roman Catholic Religious Congregations to gather and explore how together they could collaborate to respond to some of the greatest unmet needs in the Archdiocese of Toronto. They heard many stories of the sufferings of refugees and the undocumented, and were challenged by situations of injustice.

Janet's sobs were palpable. Her body seemed wrapped in excruciating pain. Sitting beside her, Sr. Barbara gently put her arm around Janet's shoulders. Separated from her children during the genocide in Rwanda, Janet had been forced to flee the country, leaving her five children behind.

Janet heard the “nitty gritty” aspects of what it would take to be reunited with her children: $550 per adult processing fee and then an additional $490 once landed to apply to be a permanent resident, as well $150 for those under 22 years of age, then the cost of DNA testing for each child to prove parenthood, the cost of each child's medical exam, and the cost of repayment of government sponsored travel to Canada. Her sobs became louder and louder.

In November 2005, nineteen local religious congregations established Becoming Neighbours, a Joint Apostolic Ministry (JAM) in the form of a 2-year pilot project. Each participating congregation already had a rich history of accompanying and responding to the needs of immigrants and refugees – this was a conscious choice to walk collectively and collaboratively in the footsteps of our forebears in response to the new and urgent unmet needs of our times.

Consultation with agencies working with refugees and immigrants revealed that there was a tremendous need of assistance for newcomers like Janet. As a result, refugees dealing with this first stage of "adjustment" were earmarked as the target population for the ministry of Becoming Neighbours.

Father Peter McKenna, SCJ was hired as the first Ministry Director in April of 2006. In September 2007, Becoming Neighbours, was established as a permanent Joint Apostolic Ministry.

PRESENCE, PRAYER and SOLIDARITY are the underpinnings of Becoming Neighbours. It is a companion program in which refugees, during their initial adjustment to Canadian society, are matched with members of religious congregations, their associates and friends. Becoming Neighbours promotes two-way cultural enrichment and sharing while assisting refugees to become active participating members of the community. It also provides opportunities for formation through educational in-service and theological reflection. The Board of Directors, Advisory Committee and staff have been structured to reflect women and men working collaboratively in mission.

Companions who befriend commit themselves to meeting with a refugee to help develop the skills necessary for living in a new culture. Other companions include those who coordinate theological reflection sessions, those involved in administration, those who network with others to address immigration inequities, those involved in transportation, those who make a commitment to pray for refugees, and those involved as members of the Becoming Neighbours Board of Directors.

As of April 2018, 244 refugees have been matched with companions who commit themselves to accompany the newcomer in developing the skills necessary for living in a new culture. As well, there are 312 prayer partners who daily present to God the hopes, the dreams and needs of the newcomer with whom they are matched.

We interviewed Fr. Peter about his time at Becoming Neighbours:

How did you come to work at Becoming Neighbours? Did you have prior experience ministering to migrants or refugees?

When I was a scholastic in the late 1970s, I taught ESL to factory workers in Toronto. Then in 1980-1982, I worked in Times Square with street kids, some of whom were in the United States with no documentation and had been picked up by pimps. From 1982 – 1990, I worked with street people in Halifax, Nova Scotia, some of whom were migrants.

In 2004, on a sabbatical, I was living in a bachelor unit in a complex of three apartment towers each with 20 floors. It was like a mini city within a city: 1/3 of the people were seniors, 1/3 were university students and 1/3 were recently arrived immigrants and refugees. One of the neighbours on my floor died, and I sent a flyer around our floor inviting our neighbours to come and share stories about their encounters with this gentleman, named Clyde, who had lived in the building for 15 years. Over 20 people showed up, and not only did they share moving stories about Clyde, but they began to vent some of their frustrations about living in the building.

The landlord raised the rent every year beyond the municipal board levels, and we discovered that he was gradually converting the apartments into condos, charging the costs to do so to the present tenants, many of whom could not afford to complain. Three of us delivered a flyer to the 200 units in our building sharing our perception of what was happening and how our rights as tenants were being violated. We then went door to door asking each tenant for a $10 donation by which we would hire a lawyer to present our situation to the Ontario Municipal Board which controls rents in Ontario. Most tenants offered us considerably more and were more than willing to volunteer their time to this endeavour. This led to us holding focus groups on each floor of the building to discuss what they liked about living there and what could be improved.

The time of my sabbatical was coming to a close so I met with our Regional Superior to explore future ministries. He suggested that I stay put and bring a gospel perspective to the tenants and to what was happening with their lives. Then I happened to read of this new joint apostolic ministry. It was a vision that I could readily identify with: women and men religious working collaboratively to respond to the unmet needs of refugees. I applied and here I am today.

What has been your greatest learning from this ministry?

The importance of building upon peoples’ potential and strengths
Refugees’ deep and profound faith in God which offers hope in what they are experiencing
How humbling and moving it has been to be welcomed into their lives and to receive this gift of who they are
Moments marked by encounter, mutual conversion and new possibilities, in which we acted as a bridge between the culture of the other and the community in which the refugees have found themselves.

…At times I just do not understand how people can claim to be Christians and not respond to what refugees are experiencing. We have been so blessed and live in a culture of abundance yet we are consumed by a culture of fear.

What is your greatest joy and biggest frustration or challenge with the work?

The joy is being privileged and blessed to be with refugees in key moments of birth to death and everything in between. The greatest challenge has been to be present to refugees when they receive the outcomes of their hearing at the Refugee Court that they are to be deported. One of the challenges is that at times I just do not understand how people can claim to be Christians and not respond to what refugees are experiencing. We have been so blessed and live in a culture of abundance yet we are consumed by a culture of fear.

As a Canadian, what do you think about what is happening in the U.S and the rest of the world in terms of the rise of anti-immigration sentiment, and do you have any fears about the same trends in Canada?

As a Canadian I do not believe I can comment on what is happening in the United States. All I can comment about is what is happening in Canada, but yes, the same trends are emerging here.

How has your work on the North American Migration Commission impacted your thinking on this issue?

What I appreciate most about working with NAMC is the passion of the members of the committee. This passion is unleashed each and every time we spend time with a refugee or with someone living with no documentation. What was especially moving was being with Sr. Norma. We seem to function as “people of the head”, but in reality we really are “Dehonians with open heart and mind.”

With the work of NAMC, I am reminded that as a single Dehonian, yes we can make a difference, but it is together as North American Dehonians that we can have a collective presence and voice and can join with others to build the reign of God in souls and society. The social dimension of our charism is not an appendix to our charism. It is a constitutive part of who we are as Dehonians and traces of it is to be found in every ministry that each and every SCJ undertakes. One of our challenges is to make it more explicit.

…As a single Dehonian, yes we can make a difference, but it is together as North American Dehonians that we can have a collective presence and voice and can join with others to build the reign of God in souls and society.

Using the Catholic Social Teaching Methodology of “See, Judge, Act” (or as PJ McGuire once said “see, love, serve”) we can analyse and educate each other and collectively as Dehonians move to action by addressing the immigration structures that strip away the dignity of refugees.

1 Comment

Homily for June 5, 2018

7/9/2018

1 Comment

By John Czyzynski, SCJ

The incident related in today’s gospel (Mark 12: 13-17) touches on a topic we hear a lot about in this country, namely the separation of Church and state. Actually, those words: “separation of church and state” are not found in the Constitution. Here is what we find in our Constitution: Article Six of the U.S. Constitution states: “no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or pubic trust under the United States.” And the first amendment to the Constitution in the Bill of Rights reads: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.”

So although the words: “separation of church and state” are not found in the Constitution, those two statements and their interpretation by the Supreme Court have effectively mandated a separation of church and state.

That leads some people to say that we should not mix religion and politics, but that is not true. To do that would be to compartmentalize our lives. It would be like putting religion and politics in two separate boxes inside of us and think that they are not supposed to influence each other. The fact is that they do and they should.

That is part of what is going on in this wonderful exchange between Jesus and the group of Pharisees and Herodians who encounter Jesus. They are trying to catch Jesus in a trap. So they set up a question that, as they see it, will get him in trouble no matter which of the two possible choices he makes. In a way they are trying to trap Jesus into choosing whether they should give precedence to an earthly ruler or to God. Jesus’s response indicates that earthly governments and temporal leaders do have authority, have power—but as Jesus told Pilate when Pilate tells Jesus that he had power over Jesus’s life—he would have no power at all, if it were not given to him from above (John 19: 11).

When Jesus tells the group challenging him that they should give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God, what He is saying is that, Caesar (whoever Caesar is for us: be that a king/queen, emperor/empress or president/governor) this temporal, earthly ruler has power, but it is given to that person for the common good. When that person is doing things, leading in a way that promotes the common good, then we should listen to him/her, give them what belongs to them, as it were. However, if what that person is doing is not for the common good, then, we must obey the higher law which comes from God.

I heard a story that tells of a person coming before God after their time on this earth. God looks lovingly at the person and says: “where are your scars?” The person responds: “I don’t have any.” And God says: “wasn’t there anything worth fighting for??”

As we hear this wonderful exchange between Jesus and the Pharisees and Herodians, we ask, we pray, that it serve as a reminder that politics and religion can never be separated and that the ultimate rule for our conduct on this earth is doing what our well-informed conscience tells us is right as we stand before God. A well-informed conscience knows what the Church teaches about morality, social justice…. May we appear before our God wearing that “scars” we received by the way we vote and the organizations we support fighting for what is right and just and for the common good.

1 Comment

An "Impossible" Immigration System and "Decimated" Legal Rights for Domestic Violence Victims

6/5/2018

0 Comments

Attorney Barbara Graham returned to the Provincialate Offices on May 29 for an update on what is happening with immigration policy in the United States. Speaking at last June’s Provincial Assembly, she had talked about the “impossible system” of immigration law and how President Trump’s then-brand-new executive orders would only make things worse. She also humorously demonstrated the huge waste of money that "building a wall" would be.

This time out, the audience consisted of a dozen SCJs and about 20 others, mainly from parishes from Franklin to West Bend. What they got was a comprehensive explanation of what’s happened since we last heard her. One person described the experience as “taking a drink from a firehose!” From her perspective as Director of Legal Services for Catholic Charities Milwaukee, Barbara explained the many ways the Administration is radically changing our immigration system “though the back door.” She explained how – despite Congress’ inability to pass immigration reform – the statutes currently on the books must be interpreted and fleshed out by the Executive branch, and how the way President Trump and his subordinates have done so in ways that have further “decimated” the few rights granted to asylees, especially those who are victims of domestic violence.

From routinely denying stays of removal, trying to reopen 350,000 cases that were administratively closed years ago (further swelling the backlog of pending removal cases which stands at almost 700,000), to denying full hearings to asylees and suggesting that 3 year olds can represent themselves in court, the Administration has completely overwhelmed the system and effectively deprived refugees and the undocumented of any rights. Barbara explained that while 90% of those represented by nonprofit lawyers win their cases, 90% of those who are unrepresented lose (private lawyers win 74% of their cases), and the great majority are now unrepresented. Even for those who are lucky enough to find representation, the legal process is getting more complicated, slower, and more expensive. (Catholic Charities does have a list of approved attorneys on their website, and Barbara noted that the better ones are often not the most expensive.)

Many in the immigrant community now live in fear of being picked up even going to and from church or the hospital, and are too scared to pay parking tickets, report crimes, or call about domestic violence. Even ICE (the enforcement arm of the immigration system) is overwhelmed by the change in how they are expected to carry out their jobs, no longer focusing only serious criminals but anyone who is not a legal resident, no matter how long they’ve been here or how law-abiding they are. ICE is now often doing Google searches and scanning through public databases of all kinds in order to find people to be detained and put into removal proceedings. Even those who’ve been reporting in routinely for years, like Ragbir, whose story she shared, are being detained without warning and separated from their families.

Add to this the termination of DACA, the ending of Temporary Protected Status for people from Syria, Central America, and several other countries still rife with violence and chaos, and attempts to punish and sue “Sanctuary Cities,” and you have a true upheaval in this country around this issue, one which Grant Silva last year called “the civil rights issue of our time.” Many in the Church have taken a moral stance by publicly opposing the administration’s moves, condemning the President’s attempts to appeal to fear and de-humanize migrants and refugees (and most recently to immediately separate all children from their undocumented parents at the border). Our own U.S. Bishops have spoken out strongly and clearly on the issue.

Barbara concluded by talking about what we can do. First, she took a page from Fr. Dehon – promote Catholic Social Teaching, from the pulpit and through parish educational programs. She talked of her experience speaking at many white, middle and upper-class parishes about the immigration and getting a good response. One audience member, however, spoke of the many Catholics he has known whose minds seem to be closed. We have to find ways of reaching people and fostering respectful dialogue.

Obviously legal assistance is also key. The U.S. Province will be partnering with the School Sisters of St. Francis in Milwaukee to raise funds to pay DACA renewal fees for students who are eligible; people were encouraged to find other creative ways to raise funds to assist those in need. Those who wish to get involved personally can always find ways to help through local immigrant advocacy groups and their local Catholic Charities.

Beyond the limited power we have as citizens to change laws and influence politicians, some also choose to resist and protest. Barbara spent some time talking about the rise of the New Sanctuary Movement, which echoes the efforts of churches and people of faith in the 80s to harbor refugees and the undocumented, sometimes secretly, sometimes publicly. The motivation can be simply to keep someone alive, or to publicly challenge unjust policies, and the potential risk for prosecution can range from almost nil to virtual certainty depending on what you do, but simply giving moral or material support to others who are providing sanctuary is not illegal.

Barbara’s presentation came in the middle of two days of meetings for the North American Migration Commission, which sponsored the program. At their meeting the next morning, the members of the committee were unanimous in their appreciation to Barbara for presenting such a complex topic in such a dynamic and interesting way, but agreed that our next step as a Province must be to grapple with the moral dimensions of this crisis and consider all the ways we ought to respond.

Tony Russo, SCJ, offers an opening prayer

0 Comments

Why I Went to Capitol Hill

5/16/2018

1 Comment

US Province JPR Director Mark Peters (eighth from left) with other faith leaders at Bread for the World's offices in downtown Washington, where the training sessions took place

Last week, I had the privilege to travel to Washington, D.C. for a "lobby day" to protect foreign aid. CMSM is a member of the Interfaith Working Group for Foreign Assistance, which paid all expenses for the trip through a grant. Unfortunately, the organizers were not able to get me an appointment with Paul Ryan, but I did meet with my own representative, F. James Sensenbrenner, as well as Senators Tammy Baldwin and Ron Johnson.

I discovered at the training sessions before the visits that foreign aid - a miniscule part of the federal budget - has been highly effective and has enjoyed bipartisan support over the decades. But the Trump Administration is calling for deep cuts in all the accounts under this heading. However, I was gratified to discover that both my Democratic (Baldwin) and Republican (Johnson and Sensenbrenner) congressional representatives agreed that cutting foreign aid is no way to balance the budget. However, they did say that they need help from supporters in dispelling the myths about foreign aid - that it eats up a huge portion of the budget, that it doesn't work, that it gives to foreigners at the expense of Americans, etc. I told them I would pass that message along to those I work for, especially the preachers, who are influential within their parishes, apostolates and personal networks.

You can read more about the myths and realities of foreign aid at the Faith in Foreign Assistance website. Below is the op-ed I submitted to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel about my experience. Perhaps others can use it as a template for a shorter letter to the editor to your own local papers.

I recently was part of a delegation of dozens of faith leaders from across the U.S. who visited nearly 100 Congressional offices to discuss one of the most important investments the U.S. makes. In fact, it’s an untold success story, one that makes me proud to be an American.

Around the world, we are witnessing the greatest gains in child survival and health in human history, and it’s thanks in large part to U.S. foreign assistance -- our funding, leadership and influence. No part of the federal budget benefits more people, more cost-effectively, yet it's consistently overestimated and misunderstood. One aide told me that his boss’ constituents often estimate that it’s a quarter to one-half of the U.S. budget! In fact, it’s about one-half of 1%.

I went to Washington on behalf of the Interfaith Working Group for Foreign Assistance, 51 faith-based global health, development and humanitarian aid organizations united by the moral call to help the vulnerable. We urged Congress to sustain funding for “the least of these”, funding that promotes well-being both here and abroad. I wanted to assure our state’s Congressional delegation that when people of faith understand the reality of foreign assistance, they want to preserve, even increase, this funding.

I was gratified to meet with aides to Senators Baldwin and Johnson and Representative Sensenbrenner. They all saw the value of foreign development aid and humanitarian assistance, but need our help educating the American public about how critical this small amount of funding is to families around the world, including here in the U.S.

So I hope you will take a moment to consider this: Child death from preventable illness and disease is in historic decline. Six million fewer children under 5 will die this year than in 1990. 75% of countries have at least halved under-5 mortality rates, which means improving child survival is possible -- even in impoverished places.

Foreign assistance costs just pennies per American -- 50 cents a year funds America’s contribution to eradicating polio; 30 cents funds efforts to treat a collection of 7 debilitating tropical diseases that deform, blind and kill a billion people; $1 helps provide access to safe drinking water and $3 helps defeat malaria, while every federal dollar invested in stopping chronic malnutrition returns $30 in higher lifetime productivity.

The end result paints a picture which we can all support: Emaciated infants gaining weight, children tasting clean water for the first time, girls attending school, better harvests increasing food security. Death from diseases like measles have dropped by 85%, malaria by 58%, HIV by 61%, and clean water has helped to decrease deadly diarrhea deaths, the most common cause of death of children under age 5, by 57%. The list goes on.

U.S. foreign assistance also keeps Americans more secure. Pathogens like Ebola, as we saw, know no borders and foreign assistance helps keep our microscopic enemies away. It also promotes political stability and reduces the potential for war and refugee crises.

Foreign aid even strengthens the U.S. economy. Half of U.S. exports go to the developing world where developing markets are growing at a faster pace than many traditional partners. Agricultural and manufacturing exports are essential to creating more and better paying American jobs. In 2016, Wisconsin exported $21.0 billionin goods to foreign markets. 800,800 state jobs are supported by trade.

We ask Congress to preserve this tiny part of the budget knowing that faith-based organizations are also doing their part and have been valuable government partners, on the front lines, trusted by communities, and very effectively leveraging $5 for every public $1 received. But the role of the U.S. government remains indispensable, convening other governments, negotiating agreements, opening access to marginalized populations, keeping frontline staff safer, and creating opportunities for faith engagement.

Thankfully, all three members of Congress I met with understand that foreign aid works, and that important needs remain: Girls are still kept out of school; clean water remains a basic need in homes, schools and even healthcare facilities; food insecurity and famines persist; 76 million refugees are in urgent need of assistance. But they need to know their constituents continue to value this investment.

We are a blessed country. Though of different faiths and political persuasions, we are united by the common goal to help all God’s children, near and far. Our faith communities must continue to raise our voices and urge both Republicans and Democrats to make sure U.S. government foreign assistance doesn’t fall victim to politics. Ask your representative not to let this aid become a sacrificial lamb and with it, the vulnerable people whose lives it saves.

1 Comment

April 10th, 2018

4/10/2018

0 Comments

SO IT SEEMS TO ME – An Occasional Reflection by Bob Bossie, SCJ

Care for Creation: A Spiritual Activity

Stephen Hawking has died. The renowned astrophysicist lived the last thirty years of life almost fully paralyzed, but fully committed to the understanding of the world we inhabit in all its wonder. His life was a great benefit to the whole world including the world of faith, not just astrophysics. Recall that Thomas Aquinas reminded us that the natural world was a reflection of the living God. Hawking, unwittingly or not, pushed that revelation to new levels. I believe he helped us to understand better how God is present in and continuing the act of creation even now. This casts our care for creation in even deeper spiritual levels than we might have thought.

Standing on the shoulders of Newton, Einstein and other such luminaries, Hawking furthered what I call science as another form of mysticism, in ways that are more understandable to the average person. His book A Brief History of Time, which sold over ten million copies in twenty years, is testimony to his impact. For me, he also stood on the shoulders of people like Fr. Dehon who instructed us to stand in the world with the bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other; that is to say, so as to be able to show the presence of the living God in our daily life and the whole material world and universe as well. Thus, the work for justice and care for the earth are not just utilitarian. They are, essentially, spiritual activities.

This might seem a strange conflation of persons and facts especially since Hawking said he did not believe in God because he found it unnecessary to postulate a god when science could explain the natural phenomenon more than adequately enough. But, in so doing, he pushed the image of God even further than many God-worshiping persons have done. While we may believe that such thinkers as Hawking and those who are more secular in their views denounce or diminish the living God, they are saying to us that our God is not enough for them. That there must be much more than the One we tend to worship and preach or there is no God.

I personally had such an experience years ago. I lay on a couch in a friend’s basement apartment in Hollywood, California and decided to stop participating in the world unless I could find a reason to do so. I thought of the many persons who were close to me, including my dear mother, but they were all insufficient. I thought of the God whom I knew at that point but I was forced to say, “I am sorry. You are not good enough.” I thought all the way back to my birth but could not think of any reason to continue. I was about to quit when I thought, what about before you were born?

In a flash, I thought of my conception. At that very instant, all I “heard” was “God.” The word “God.” And at once I was immersed in this God beyond any understanding or words or time. I could not distinguish in any way the difference between myself and God. I was fully and completely lost in this state of being God. This God and I were one to the extent that I was God. I no longer existed. Only God. Then I knew that I was holy, good, lovable and worthy of reverence as were all other persons, creatures and things because they too were in and of the living God. This interconnectivity of all being is the ground for the work of social justice and care for creation.

It is for this reason that I have come to believe that atheists, agnostics and secularists are pushing us beyond our preconceived notions of God. I know that most often they don’t actually say these words but, to be honest, that is their message to us, we believers. And this is most challenging to churches and its members because it calls into question, yet again, the God we profess and the divisions we create in our world. Yet, did not Jesus do the same thing, that is, call into question the image of God and the social and religious divisions as was then being proclaimed?

I heard an SCJ friend say, years ago, that Jesus’ contemporaries knew he was human. They had trouble knowing he was divine. It might be said the opposite today. We “know” he is God but we have real trouble understanding he was human, like ourselves. Jesus’ incarnation revealed, yet again, that all of creation, including we humans, are in and of the living God.

In this same tradition of Jesus, Aquinas, Hawking and secularists, Pope Francis has embarked on a similar journey by calling into question the manner in which many people of faith view God’s presence in the natural world, that is, as a throw away reality. For those persons, the natural world is here simply as a conveyance for our temporal existence and not of value in and of itself. This can be said to be true, it seems, as evidenced by our behavior toward all other creatures large and small and the earth itself. They are here for our convenience.

In his encyclical on the environment, Laudato Si (On Care for our Common Home), Francis teaches us that the natural world, of which we are a part, is a real and tangible manifestation of the living God and, by necessity, worthy of love and reverence. Otherwise, the incarnation of Jesus, the second person of the Trinity, is merely a good story with no real roots in reality.

Is it any wonder, then, that Pope Francis chose St. Francis as his namesake? For it was St. Francis who spoke of Brother Sun and Sister Moon. Though these words are merely allegorical in some person’s minds, Pope Francis and other mystics, including Hawking, have shown this interconnectivity is the nature of God’s universe.

It seems to me that God is now using persons of science and religion to push us beyond our preconceived notions of God’s own self and the false divisions within society to a new level of what it means to live in community in harmony with all creation. Might I be so bold as to call them prophets or apostles of the living God? They remind us that God cannot be confined to our concepts however good and honorable they may be. For the living God is ever yet to be met anew, each and every moment of our lives. And we are invited to live this union to which we are being exposed ever more clearly each every day.
So it seems ever more clear to me that the works of science, social justice and care for creation are, essentially, spiritual activities.

0 Comments

SO IT SEEMS TO ME – An Occasional Reflection by Bob Bossie, SCJ

3/13/2018

0 Comments

FATHER DEHON'S CALL FOR UNITY IN TODAY'S WORLD
It does Trump opponents no good to disparage Trump supporters. Or for Trump supporters to disparage those who oppose his policies. Nor does it do Trump supporters any good to disparage immigrants for taking jobs, draining our social and education programs or focusing on immigrant’s, so called, criminal activity such as coming here illegally, bringing drugs or acting as terrorists.

To do so plays, intentionally or not, into the very goal of those who benefit most from this division: to divide and conquer. In doing so, the real beneficiaries of such tactics reap enormous profits, wealth and control while the rest of us fight each other for the scraps that remain.

This is not a new phenomenon. Fr. Dehon himself, grew up and ministered in the early stages of the industrial revolution which wreaked so much havoc on so many and the environment. In this unregulated, free-market environment, Fr. Dehon became the apostle of social justice, one who spoke for the downtrodden and dispossessed. Regrettably, this system has maintained its prominence, albeit with minor regulations, up to the present day.

However, beginning in 1970’s the oligarchy in the U.S. began to work to convince Americans that government was the cause of all that ailed us, and unfettered capitalism was the solution. In addition, they cut taxes (especially for themselves and corporations) and social programs and gave vast fortunes to weapons makers and for wars. Such continues to this very day. This has made it ever more difficult for government to find the resources to pay attention to the common good.

THE TRUMP ERA
The Trump ascendency is the culmination of this strategy because it radically alters the balance of power and solidifies the presence of what now must be called “the corporate-state.” This corporate-state is poised to set in stone the divisions in our society and the control of our common life which will close the political space from which many, like Fr. Dehon, have struggled for so long to achieve even modest gains. While the mainstream media distracts us by focusing on Trump’s state of mind or his tweets and constantly changing positions, in the background, political-corporate leaders are busy reshaping the country and the world in a morally misshapen image. Some say we are moving inexorably toward “neo-fascism,” that is, wherein all power resides in this corporate-state.

Trump supporters, many of whom are “the forgotten majority”, “traditional Americans”, and those who pay taxes but reap little benefits of the “welfare state”, have been gradually manipulated into the role of apologists for the corporate-state and its rulers. Meanwhile, Trump opponents play their assigned role by impugning Trump supporters, enjoying the benefits of the status quo and look for the day when Trump can be voted out or impeached and we can return to the hey-day of the real America -- as if that would really make the difference. Those who insist upon the continuation of the welfare-state ensure, by default, the continuation of the status quo.

All the while, the real culprit, unfettered capitalism, lurks in the background, ever ready to shift tactics, as the time demands, through the efforts of its priests, minions and pundits.

UNFETTERED CAPITALISM
I am not speaking here of the “mom and pop” type capitalism if such ever truly existed. Moreover, I recognize that, for many, capitalism seems to be a very beneficial system creating wealth, development and the reduction of poverty, to name a few such benefits. And, yes, I know that many if not most persons acknowledge its flaws but see no other alternative.

When viewed more closely, however, we can see that unfettered capitalism or monopoly capitalism is the world’s dominant economic order. It is ruled by mega-corporations and their political partners, pays allegiance only to itself, transcends every nation and seeks to devour all competitors.

This capitalism has a life of its own, demands obedience to its tenets and richly rewards those who have learned to do so. And we, the majority, who comprise the victims of this social and economic system, pay our homage to those who succeed under its tenets and imagine the day when we too will sit in such exalted places, perhaps dolling out our charity to the deserving poor.

Unfettered capitalism is based upon three very seductive, fundamental tenets which we worship and give our very lives, intentionally or not:

Everything is a commodity, subject to the demands of the market and the insane drive for maximum profit. This includes human beings and all earth’s creatures large and small. Now, with sights on colonizing Mars, this includes all of the solar system, the universe.

Catholic Social Teaching, however, stresses the life and dignity of every human person living in community and in harmony with creation.
Private ownership is the ultimate sacrament. Expansion and control of this ownership is the absolute necessity. Expand or die. Competition over ownership and markets is foremost. Inexorably this leads to the concentration of ownership and wealth. There is no real concern for the common good or for our common home, the earth.

Pope St. John Paul II teaches us that capital is not an absolute right but is at the service of labor and the common good.
Capitalism, by necessity, is a global system which cannot bear any opposing systems. Thus it proceeds through domination by corporate-imperial states. Today, this means the threat of nuclear annihilation.

Catholic Social Teaching instructs us that cooperation and communion are key to a healthy future.

Viewed from this perspective, this capitalism is the true "original" sin: a structure created by us which has assumed a life of its own and in which we have grown accustomed to eek out some semblance of humanity. In the end, however, it subverts our very souls, controls our destiny and brings death and destruction to all. And we allow it to do so for many reasons large and small.

It is crucial for us to realize that Jesus’ execution by the revered institutions of church and state became, by his nonviolent, self-offering love, an expose of the fundamentally violent basis of all institutions. Thus was the sin of these institutions revealed and their downfall begun. Hence, Fr. Dehon calls us to work for the reign of this Heart of Jesus in Souls and Society.

WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?
Our goal is to recognize and oppose the divisions fostered by this system itself which, as I said earlier, has reached a new level of depravity, has a life of its own, and which lures all into its web. Fr. Dehon advises us that our common goals must be sint unum (our unity) and adveniat regnum tuum (the reign of the Heart of Jesus in Souls and Societies). We must find ways to work in harmony with one another to change, as Dorothy Day would say, this “filthy rotten system.”

Is some form of socialism, as practiced in many developed countries, an answer? Perhaps. Is capitalism inherently flawed? Carried to its present logical extreme, Yes. I am very skeptical that this form of capitalism can ever be regulated to the point where it is not a grave threat to many persons in the world and the earth itself.

At this critical moment, which is marked by the fusion of the political and corporate structures, we must work to reclaim our communion with one another and the earth of which we are part. Not to do so is to lose the little political space we have which has been carved out by such luminaries as Fr. Dehon. We must do everything in our power to help everyone, including the champions of this system, to step back from the brink of ecological and nuclear extinction and to find another way based upon the common good, care for all creatures large and small, and the earth which sustains us.

Or so it seems to me.

0 Comments

Some Thoughts on Lent 2018

2/9/2018

0 Comments

by Bob Bossie, SCJ

The traditional Lenten themes of Almsgiving, Prayer and Fasting call us to a deeper relationship with God, God’s children and God's earth.

Almsgiving
Chalana stopped me in the park a few weeks ago. I have known her since she started coming to our community house for help several years ago.

We talked for a while. I gave her some money to help her with her needs.

She then told me that the government removed from the approved list of medicines the only medicine that helped her psychological needs. She didn’t know what she was going to do. Then, she told me, to make matters worse the government was also closing most of the mental health clinics in the city.

Prayer
I couldn’t find the words to respond to her except to say I knew about the closings already. Deep inside I felt the anger rising at such injustice against the most vulnerable.

The words of Rev. Cornell West came to mind: “Never forget that justice is what love looks like in public.”

The 1971 Synod of Catholic Bishops said as much in their document Justice in the World: “Action on behalf of justice and participation in the transformation of the world fully appear to us as a constitutive dimension of the preaching of the Gospel, or, in other words, of the Church’s mission for the redemption of the human race and its liberation from every oppressive situation. [#16…. [U]nless the Christian message of love and justice shows its effectiveness through action in the cause of justice in the world, it will only with difficulty gain credibility.” [#35]

Father Dehon, founder of the Congregation of Priests of the Sacred Heart, of which I am a member, said it well: "Charity is a palliative which is always welcome and often necessary; but it does not attack the root of the evil" (Social Works vol. 1, p. 366)

Prayer
    where we stand naked before God
        allowing
            even inviting
    our soul to be tested
        to be refined in fire

    to be shown things
        we’d rather not see
    to be presented with a vision
        too wonderful to attain
    yet, which ignites our hearts
        in unexpected ways.

Prayer–
    tests and refines
    our allegiance

    now
        flag
        nation
        family
        culture
    are no longer sufficient
        to claim our loyalty

    but the living God
        who sends us out
            again
        to subvert
           redeem
        all that we touch
            including our own hearts

Prayer is a subversive activity.

Fasting
For me, fasting has at least two elements to it.
First, when we fast from some or all food for shorter periods, we have chosen to live a little more closely with those who struggle each day for their daily bread.

Gandhi’s words are poignant here:

“It is good enough to talk of God whilst we are sitting here after a nice breakfast and looking forward to a nicer luncheon, but how am I to talk of God to the millions who have to go without two meals a day? To them God can only appear as bread and butter.”
Second, and this is connected with the first element. When we fast, we are not only offered an opportunity to stand in solidarity with the oppressed, but we are also invited to work with them in creating the beloved community living in harmony with all creation. Clearly, hope is in such a struggle.

Dorothy Day -- founder of the Catholic Worker community, and identified by Pope Francis as a model for us in the USA when speaking to the U.S. congress -- acknowledged that “Love in action is a harsh and dreadful thing compared to love in dreams.”

Again Pope Francis: “I prefer a church which is bruised, hurting and dirty because it has been out on the streets, rather than a church which is unhealthy from being confined and from clinging to its own security.”
The traditional Lenten themes of Almsgiving, Prayer and Fasting call us to greater solidarity with God and with those who are poor and oppressed, including the earth itself which sustains us all.
Or so it seems to me.

0 Comments

<<Previous

Another Dismal Year for Refugees

I AM A RECOVERING RACIST – Bob Bossie, SCJ

Iran-Iraq Connections

The Story of Becoming Neighbours & An Interview with Peter McKenna, SCJ

Homily for June 5, 2018

An "Impossible" Immigration System and "Decimated" Legal Rights for Domestic Violence Victims

Why I Went to Capitol Hill

April 10th, 2018

SO IT SEEMS TO ME – An Occasional Reflection by Bob Bossie, SCJ

SO IT SEEMS TO ME – An Occasional Reflection by Bob Bossie, SCJ

Some Thoughts on Lent 2018

Archives

Categories