Somos America / We Are America Coalition

July 28, 2008Most Reverend Thomas J OlmstedDiocese of Phoenix400 East Monroe StreetPhoenix, Arizona 85004-2336Dear Bishop Olmsted:Your Excellency, I am contacting you as the elected leader of Somos América/We AreAmerica, a broad coalition of community organizations that focus on immigrant, civil,and human rights. Members of the Somos América coalition have asked me to representthem in contacting you regarding the human and civil rights crisis that has beenescalating specifically in Maricopa County, and, more broadly, the territory covered bythe Diocese of Phoenix.Many of the coalition’s members adhere to a Catholic faith life, and are deeplyappreciative of the materials that you have published in the past, such as “Catholics in thePublic Square,” the Pastoral Letter on Migration that you co-signed with the otherArizona Bishops, and more recently, the USCCB effort on Faithful Citizenship. Theyappreciate your words in the Catholic Sun:Conversely, immigration laws badly in need of reform are used today as anexcuse not to welcome the stranger, even to refuse humanitarian assistance towomen and children. It is true that a nation has the right to enact laws thatregulate immigration but those laws are always subject to the greater laws of God.They must be just and must preserve the dignity of each human person.Furthermore, there are certain natural rights of the human person that must beprotected and which no man-made law may usurp.Bishop Olmsted, these words are deeply meaningful to people who live their lives asCatholics, and more broadly to people who live their faith traditions holding humandignity as core to their beliefs. Yet, most people of faith have felt let down andabandoned by their high-ranking religious leaders when the words do not specificallyaddress the local lived experiences that church-going families have here in MaricopaCounty.

PO Box 15363 • Scottsdale, AZ 85267

Members of our coalition ask: What is dignified about children being held at gunpoint bySheriff’s Deputies? What is dignified about families being rent in the name of LawEnforcement when felons not only roam the streets but exploit with impunity decent,hard-working people of faith? What is dignified about living a life of fear to the level of being unable to go to the store or to school without fear of never seeing some of yourloved ones again? What is dignified about a legal permanent resident of the UnitedStates being told by hospital personnel that he will be sent to Mexico unless the familyagrees to disconnect him from life support because he has no health insurance? YourExcellency, these are daily occurrences in the lives of people of Hispanic descent in thisDiocese, and they only touch the surface of examples of the current assault on HumanDignity that are excused as basic law enforcement and being “tough on crime.” Yourpeople are suffering, Bishop, and according to the writings in “Welcoming the Strangerin America”, the People of Faith who follow you are called to respond:“Some of them came with proper papers, others did not. Whatever the case, theChurch has always felt obliged to extend a warm welcome and helping hand….We cannot forget Jesus’ words (Mt 25:35), “

I was a stranger and you welcomedme.

”“John Paul II spells out the kind of attitude we should have towards these recentarrivals (Ibid.), “

Migrants should be met with a hospitable and welcomingattitude, which can encourage them to become part of the Church’s life, alwayswith due regard for their freedom and their specific cultural identity.

”“What we are dealing with here is more than a matter of justice, even though itcertainly is that. It is also a matter of love.

No man-made law

, [emphasis added]no circumstance, no custom can excuse us from the obligation to love ourneighbor, whether the neighbor is a Samaritan or a Hispanic, whether he speaksour language or not. The demands of Christ’s call to love our neighbor are greatindeed.”So much of your booklet “Catholics in the Public Square” talks about how people of Catholic faith are called to live a different life – even public life – than the status quo.Yet, some of the most prominent voices in public life claim membership in a CatholicChurch and act directly against the teachings of the Catholic Church. Please, Bishop,your voice is needed to call this behavior out and decry it. Your faithful are hurting inthe wake of such hypocrisy: they are afraid to go to Church; they are afraid to go towork; they are afraid to seek medical care for their family members; they are afraid totake their children to school. Your voice is needed in our midst, not only to comfort theafflicted, but to afflict the comfortable.

PO Box 15363 • Scottsdale, AZ 85267