Pelosi to Bishops: Use Pulpit to Promote Immigration Reform

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said she has told Catholic cardinals, archbishops and bishops to use the pulpit to promote immigration reform. Amazing!
http://www.eyeblast.tv/public/video.aspx?v=Xd6UkUSUZu

Immigration reform should be called correctly amnesty for illegals. The Dems when they were in control actually made it harder for people to come in on student visas and worker visas.

Pelosi should find a sympathetic ear with the bishops who aren't as big on national borders and just want to help out their flocks, or add to thier congregations.

The immigration reform movement in churches has been going on for some time...

A group of Christian leaders gathered at Duke Divinity School last summer to explore how the church can be more present and engaged in the struggle of racial brokenness that exists in the world.

Here's what they came up with:

Declaration on Immigration and the Church

Believing that God’s people are shaped by memory to imagine new possibilities, we refuse conformity to this world’s systems and commit ourselves to concrete practices of God’s beloved community.

• We remember that our father Abraham was called to leave his homeland and live as a sojourner in a strange land (Genesis 12:1).

• We remember God’s instruction to our fore-parents after their liberation from slavery under Pharaoh: “Do not mistreat an alien or oppress him, for you were aliens in Egypt” (Exodus 22:21).

• We remember Jesus teaching that we welcome him when we welcome the stranger (Matthew 25:35).

• We remember that those of us who are Gentiles by birth were at one time “excluded from citizenship in Israel” (Ephesians 2:12), but that we are now citizens of God’s kingdom by grace.

• We remember the early church’s experience of showing hospitality to strangers and “entertaining angels without knowing it” (Hebrews 13:2).

• We remember that this land now called the United States of America was once home to indigenous peoples who were displaced by European conquest.

• We remember that the peoples who now live on this nation’s southern border practiced seasonal migration for generations before the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1994.

• We remember that the injustice of racial inequality in this country demanded both civil disobedience and legislative reform in the Civil Rights movement.

Shaped by these distinct memories in this particular place, our eyes are open to the plight of immigrants and “undocumented” workers.

• We recognize that many who are considered “illegal” by our nation’s laws are our brothers and sisters in God’s family.

• We recognize and celebrate the gifts that our brothers and sisters from Latin America bring into the Christian family.

• We recognize the suffering of families who are presently being separated by arrests and deportation.

• We recognize a gap between this nation’s business practices and its immigration policy that creates a space beyond the rule of law where modern day slavery is accepted and overlooked.

• We recognize an urgent need for acts of hospitality, solidarity, and advocacy for comprehensive immigration reform in this country.

Seeing these things, we are compelled to say no and stand against ideas and practices that are hurting our brothers and sisters.

• We refuse to accept a wall on this nation’s southern border as a solution to the challenges presented by immigration.

• We refuse to let any law prevent us from welcoming brothers and sisters and offering to them from our own resources those things which are required for health and well-being.

• We refuse to let political persuasions, be they conservative or liberal, trump our Christian identity.

• We refuse a cynical concession to the economic necessity of labor that allows immigrants to be here without welcoming them as equals.

Because our refusal is grounded in hope that a new creation is possible, we recommit ourselves to practices that build the beloved community in the places where we live, shaping a place where all people can enjoy together the life we were made for.

• We recommit ourselves to the practice of hospitality as we welcome brothers and sisters into our homes and congregations without regard to their immigration status.

• We recommit ourselves to the practice of listening as we pay attention to the stories of those who have died in the desert, who have suffered modern day slavery, who have been separated from family by deportation, who are denied education and other services, who live in daily fear.

• We recommit ourselves to solidarity with undocumented brothers and sisters in our daily lives, believing that when they weep, we must weep, so that when they celebrate, we too can celebrate.

• We recommit ourselves to advocacy for legislation that will make it easier for people to live together peacefully in this country.

• We recommit ourselves to a vision of the beloved community, rooted in God’s vision of new creation, that gave life to the Civil Rights movement and continues to inspire God’s movement toward justice and peace in the world today.

We the undersigned make this declaration together and invite others to join us in the proclamation and practice of the good news of reconciliation through these concrete steps:

• Pray and ask your congregation to pray for new imagination about the challenge outlined here.

• Write to your representatives in Congress and tell them immigration reform is a priority for you as a citizen.

• Support the Dream Act as the most achievable next step toward achieving comprehensive immigration reform.

http://faithandimmigration.org/blog/dur ... astellanos

(This material was for public dissemination and was not copyrighted.)

Wayne, this is the catholic stand,and not many catholics agree with it. radical catholics do..most evangelicals do not agree with the the catholic position..

There is another thread on this. Pelosi doesn't believe in Separation of Church and State. She is a total Hypocrite!

Here it it. And even though 22 people looked at it not one person responded to it.

<!-- l --><a class="postlink-local" href=" 285bound.com/Forums/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=...si+separation#p70394 " onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">viewtopic.php?f=6&t=6303&p=70394&hilit=pelosi+separation#p70394<!-- l -->

I will repost the video and my comments here......

Nancy Pelosi instructing churches to preach the gospel of illegal immigration. She said the chruch is going to have to play a major role in helping pass illegal immigration. They won't allow the 10 commandments or Christmas songs in any government building because they say it violates the first amendment, but now she wants the Church to have a role in the Government in helping to pass her policies. Where is the outrage from the left about separation of church and state on this issue? Hypocricy 101!


[youtube:24i0d37b][/youtube:24i0d37b]

The Viking wrote: I will repost the video and my comments here......

Nancy Pelosi instructing churches to preach the gospel of illegal immigration. She said the chruch is going to have to play a major role in helping pass illegal immigration. They won't allow the 10 commandments or Christmas songs in any government building because they say it violates the first amendment, but now she wants the Church to have a role in the Government in helping to pass her policies. Where is the outrage from the left about separation of church and state on this issue? Hypocricy 101! ]

I can't watch the video wright now. Please bear that in mind while I make these ignorant comments.

Has she introduced legislation to make this happen or is she just asking the churches to support an idea? Can you point out specifically where is her violation of the church/state?

Where was the outcry about separation of church and state when the religious right advocated the election of George W. Bush? Or when religious leaders regularly met with various presidents on both sides to counsel them on issues of concern

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... efeat.html

PrestoChango wrote: Where was the outcry about separation of church and state when the religious right advocated the election of George W. Bush? Or when religious leaders regularly met with various presidents on both sides to counsel them on issues of concern

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... efeat.html

Actually there was an outcry, and threats from the IRS that churches could lose their tax exempt status if they campaigned from the pulpit.

The Catholic bishops? I think they will have some influence in Hispanic dominated parishes but their message will be ignored for the most part. There is a long tradition of US Catholics picking and choosing what they choose to obey from their priest and bishops. they are sometimes called cafeteria Catholics for this.

Pelosi needs to talk to Rev. Wright. lol He is a liberation theologian.