Hispanic immigrants delivered a letter to the Vatican embassy in D.C. asking Pope Benedict XVI to intercede in “mean-spirited” policies that they say have destroyed thousands of families.
Ricardo Juarez of Mexicans Without Borders led about 30 immigrants, some of whom were here illegally, past the carefully manicured lawns along Embassy Row to the front door of the Apostolic Nunciature.
The pleadings of the 30 Hispanic immigrants highlight a critical issue for the Vatican. Hispanic Catholics have been filling the pews in the D.C. area. In Arlington County, nearly half the diocese is Hispanic.
“Our voice is not strong enough,” Juarez said. “We believe [the pope] has a strong voice to call attention tothe federal government to recognize our human contributions and dignity. We are suffering.”
The letter asks Pope Benedict to step in and ask the government to end immigration raids and stop the division of immigrant families by raids and deportation.
Pope Benedict will likely address immigration, as well as poverty, abortion and racism, during his visit next week.
The immigration issue has long been an important one to the church, especially in the United States, where millions of Catholic immigrants in the 19th and 20th centuries faced discrimination, said the Rev. Thomas Reese, a senior fellow at theological center at Georgetown University.
“The Catholic Church has been an immigrant church from the very beginning,” Reese said. “We have a special obligation to defend the new Catholic immigration.”
The Vatican’s position on immigration is that countries should be welcoming to people looking for employment and refugees fleeing despotic governments for being religiously or politically persecuted.
Pope Benedict won’t wade into the details of the U.S. immigration policy, said Reese, but he will likely express support for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which advocates for laws that promote legalization of the millions of immigrants who are here illegally. President Bush will host the pontiff Wednesday at the White House.
