JSRI signs that Immigration Reform is a Pro-Life Issue

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Catholic Leaders to Congress: Immigration Reform is a Pro-Life Issue [01/20/15]

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Tue, 01/20/2015 - 19:00

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As Catholics committed to building a culture of life, we write to urge our fellow Catholics in Congress to support the U.S. bishops’ effort to pass comprehensive immigration reform. Our nation’s inhumane and flawed immigration policies leave migrant women, children and families abandoned by the side of the road. As Cardinal Séan O’Malley put it in a homily at the US-Mexico border last year: “We know that the border is lined with unmarked graves of thousands who die alone and nameless.” Immigration is “another pro-life issue,” the cardinal reminds us, echoing our Holy Father Pope Francis, who views abortion, extreme economic inequality and the death of migrants as part of a “globalization of indifference” and a “throwaway culture” that treats human beings as disposable.
There are more than two dozen pro-life Catholics in the House of Representatives. Many of them will join thousands of people of faith, including some of us, at the March for Life in Washington later this week. As brothers and sisters in faith, we urge these elected officials and all Catholics to defend the sanctity of human lives at all stages. We recognize the image of God in the migrant at the border, in the prisoner on death row, in the pregnant woman and in the hungry child.
The immigration crisis will not be solved by threats to shut down government agencies, enforcement-only strategies or piecemeal approaches. Breaking up immigrant families and denying protection to those fleeing gang or cartel violence, as just one example, is neither a humane or effective strategy. Comprehensive immigration reform that would create an earned path to citizenship for those in the shadows, expedite family reunification, strengthen refugee protection, and address why desperate people reluctantly uproot and cross borders, deserves a vote now.
Delay and partisan bickering will only lead to more hardship, suffering and death.
(Schools named for purposes of identification only, not endorsement)
 
Rev. Larry Snyder
President, Catholic Charities USA
 
Archbishop Joseph A. Fiorenza (retired)
Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston
 
John J. DeGioia
President, Georgetown University
 
Bishop William S. Skylstad (retired)
Diocese of Spokane
Former President, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops
 
Donald M. Kerwin, Jr.
Executive Director, Center for Migration Studies
 
Michael Galligan-Stierle
President, Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities
 
Rev. Michael Sheeran, S.J.
President, Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities
 
Rev. Michael J. Graham, S.J.
President, Xavier University (Ohio)
 
Rev. Robert L. Niehoff, S.J.
President, John Carroll University
 
Rev. Michael J. Garanzini, S.J.
President, Loyola University Chicago
 
Rev. Kevin Wildes, S.J.
President, Loyola University New Orleans
 
Thomas W. Keefe
President, University of Dallas
 
Rev. James J. Greenfield, OSFS
President, Conference of Major Superiors of Men
 
Sr. Sharon Holland, IHM,
President, Leadership Conference of Women Religious
 
Rev. Timothy Kesicki, S.J.
President, Jesuit Conference USA
 
Armando Borja
National Director, Jesuit Refugee Service/USA
 
Stephen Schneck
Institute for Policy Research and Catholic Studies
The Catholic University of America
 
Frank Monahan
Former Director, Office of Government Liaison
U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops
 
Francis X. Doyle
Associate General Secretary (retired)
U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops
 
Sr. Simone Campbell, SSS
Executive Director, NETWORK, A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby
 
Sr. Patricia Chappell
Executive Director, Pax Christi USA
 
Rev. Joseph M. McShane, S.J.
President, Fordham University
 
Rev. Philip L. Boroughs, S.J.
President, College of the Holy Cross
 
Rev. John P. Fitzgibbons, S.J.
President, Regis University
 
Patricia McGuire
President, Trinity Washington University
 
Antoine M. Garibaldi, Ph.D.
President, University of Detroit Mercy
 
Rev. Thomas B. Curran
President, Rockhurst University
 
John J. Hurley
President, Canisius College
 
Linda M. LeMura, Ph.D.
President, Le Moyne College
 
Sr. Candace Introcaso
President, La Roche College
 
Rev. Bernard O’Connor
President, DeSales University
 
Dr. Francesco C. Cesareo
President, Assumption College
 
Donna M. Carroll
President, Dominican University
 
Thomas W. Keefe
President, University of Dallas
 
Thomas Kunkel
President, St. Norbert College
 
Rev. Jeffrey von Arx, S.J.
President, Fairfield University
 
Moya Dittmeier
Executive Director, Conference for Mercy Higher Education
 
Rev. Allan Figueroa Deck, S.J.
Rector of the Jesuit Community
Loyola Marymount University
 
A. Gabriel Esteban
President, Seton Hall University
 
Nancy H. Blattner
President, Caldwell University
 
Br. Norman Hipps
President, Saint Vincent College
 
John Smarrelli Jr.
President, Christian Brothers University
 
Mary A. Meehan
President, Alverno College
 
Donald P. Taylor
President, Cabrini College
 
Rev. Timothy Lenchak
President, Divine Word College
 
Anne Munley
President, Marywood University
 
Sharon Latchaw Hirsch
President, Rosemont College
 
Jim Collins
President, Loras College
 
Br. John R. Paige
President, Holy Cross College
 
Kathleen Maas Weigert
Professor of Women and Leadership
Loyola University Chicago
 
Timothy Matovina
Executive Director, Institute for Latino Studies
University of Notre Dame
 
Rev. Daniel G. Groody
Director of Immigration Initiatives
Institute for Latino Studies
University of Notre Dame
 
Rev. T. Michael McNulty, S.J.
MacLean Professor of Philosophy
St. Joseph’s University
 
Helen Alvare
Professor of Law
George Mason University School of Law
 
Jeannine Hill Fletcher
Professor of Theology
Fordham University
 
John Sniegocki
Associate Professor of Christian Ethics
Xavier University
 
Suzanne C. Toton, Ed.D.
Associate Professor of Theology and Religious Studies
Villanova University
 
Tobias Winright
Maeder Endowed Chair of Health Care Ethics
Saint Louis University
 
Paul Lakeland
Director, Center for Catholic Studies
Fairfield University
 
Terrence W. Tilley
Professor of Catholic Theology
Fordham University
 
Vincent Miller
Gudorf Chair in Catholic Theology and Culture
University of Dayton
 
Kathryn Getek Soltis
Assistant Professor of Christian Ethics
Villanova University
 
Hosffman Ospino
Assistant Professor of Theology and Education
Boston College
 
Kelly S. Johnson
Associate Professor, Religious Studies
University of Dayton
 
Una M. Cadegan
Associate Professor, Department of History
University of Dayton
 
Charles T. Strauss
Assistant Professor of History
Mount St. Mary’s University
 
Ron Pagnucco, Associate Professor
Department of Peace Studies
College of St. Benedict/St. John’s University
 
Rev. Fred Kammer, S.J.
Director, Jesuit Social Research Institute
Loyola University New Orleans
 
Alex Mikulich
Jesuit Social Research Institute
Loyola University New Orleans
 
Leadership Team, Sisters of Mercy of the Americas
Sr. Pat McDermott, RSM President
Sr. Eileen Campbell, RSM
Sr. Anne Curtis, RSM
Sr. Deborah Troillett, RSM
Sr. Mary Pat Garvin, RSM
 
Rev. Raymond Finch, MM
Superior General, Maryknoll Fathers & Brothers
 
Thomas Allio, Jr.
Diocesan Social Action Director (retired)
Diocese of Cleveland
 
Rev. Sean Carroll, S.J.
Executive Director, Kino Border Initiative
Nogales, AZ
 
Charles C. Camosy
Associate Prof. of Theological and Social Ethics
Fordham University
 
Peter H. Beisheim
Director, Catholic Studies Department
Stonehill College, MA
 
Christopher G. Kerr
Executive Director, Ignatian Solidarity Network
 
Gerry Lee
Director, Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns.
 
Karen Clifton
Executive Director, Catholic Mobilizing Network
 
Patrick Carolan
Executive Director, Franciscan Action Network
 
Kerry A. Robinson
Executive Director, National Leadership Roundtable on Church Management
 
John Gehring
Catholic Program Director, Faith in Public Life
 
Walter Grazer
Former Policy Advisor for International Religious Freedom and Human Rights, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops
 
Christopher Hale
Senior Fellow, Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good
 
Richard R. Gaillardetz
Joseph Professor of Catholic Theology
Boston College
 
Mark J. Allman
Chair of Religious and Theological Studies
Merrimack College
 
Dolores Christie
Executive Director (retired)
Catholic Theological Society of America
 
Christopher Pramuk
Associate Professor of Theology
Xavier University
 
Kevin Ahern
Assistant Professor of Religious Studies
Manhattan College
 
Daniel Finn
Professor of Economics and Theology
St. John’s University (MN)
 
M. Shawn Copeland
Professor of Theology
Boston College
 
Rev. John A. Coleman, S.J.
Associate Pastor, St. Ignatius Church (San Francisco)
 
Rev. Joseph Nangle, OFM
Washington, DC
 
Eugene McCarraher
Associate Professor of Humanities
Villanova University
 
Sr. Paulette Skiba, BVM
Professor of Religious Studies
Clarke University
 
Thomas Ryan
Director, Loyola Institute for Ministry
Loyola University New Orleans
 
Billy Kangas
Writer, Patheos Catholic
 
Peter H. Beisheim
Director, Catholic Studies Department
 
Lisa Sowell Cahill
Monan Professor of Theology
Boston College
 
*Signers as of 01/20/15. For an updated list please click <a href="http://www.faithinpubliclife.org/immigrationlife/">HERE</a>