No American patriot should have failed to study the recent New York Times cheerleading reportorial Catholic Push to Overhaul Immigration Goes to Pews (by Ashley Parker and Michael D. Shear, August 21 2013). A huge offensive is about to be launched against US citizens by a (tax-exempt) church, led by a foreign power, for its own secular and selfish motives:

Catholic bishops and priests from major dioceses across the country will preach a coordinated message next month backing changes in immigration policy, with some using Sunday Masses on Sept. 8 to urge Congressional passage of a legislative overhaul that includes a path to citizenship for unauthorized immigrants.

The decision to embrace political action from the pulpit is part of a broader effort by the Roman Catholic Church and other faith groups that support President Obama’s call for new immigration laws…

"We want to try to pull out all the stops," said Kevin Appleby, the director of migration policy at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, who said the immigration issue was at a now-or-never moment. "They have to hear the message that we want this done, and if you’re not successful during the summer, you’re not going to win by the end of the year."

Catholic leaders, who have tried to wield their clout against Mr. Obama on issues like abortion, birth control and same-sex marriage, are betting that their congregations will be able to exert pressure on reluctant Republicans and wavering Democrats to support the president on immigration. They say they are motivated by the Bible’s teachings and by the reality that many Latino immigrants are Catholics and represent a critical demographic for the church.

[Emphases and links added throughout].

This Appleby point man [email him] makes clear the rhetoric will be emotional and manipulative:

Underlying an effort by U.S. bishops to coordinate messages on the need for comprehensive immigration reform is a profound sense of pastoral care, said an official at the bishops’ conference.

‘Sometimes [the bishops] are criticized that they're encouraging lawbreaking, but the fact is, these folks are here, and their families are getting separated, and what the bishops are trying to do is change the law so they can help them,’ said Kevin Appleby, director of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' migration policy and public affairs office.

Bishops' immigration outreach based on 'pastoral' concern, by Carl Bunderson, Catholic News Agency, Aug. 30, 2013

Whoa! Come here illegally and that gives you the right to stay?

Pass this kind of legislation and the U.S. on the way to becoming a banana republic.

And note that there’s no discussion of overall numbers, of unemployment—or anything resembling a concern for America’s national interest.

CNA even tells us that the appalling Appleby implicitly concedes that patriotic American Catholics aren’t buying their Bishops’ baloney:

Appleby described a disconnect between the polling which has overwhelming support among Catholics for a comprehensive bill with a path to citizenship and action.

"We've had a hard time transitioning from 'I support the bishops on this issue,' to people picking up the phone, sending an email, writing a letter, being active on it? With this push we're trying to change that a bit, we'll hopefully get more Catholics to speak up, and say, 'we want this done.'

Maybe that “hard time” is because the “polling” was just pollaganda?

CNA also reports that Awful Appleby implicitly concedes that there’s actually nothing in Catholic doctrine to support the bishops’ position on the Schumer-Rubio Amnesty/ Immigration Surge Bill. It falls into the area of “prudential judgment,” where laymen can make up their own minds.

But Arrogant Appleby still tries to bluster a way out for the bishops:

He explained that it is important for Catholics to read Church documents, and the writings and homilies of bishops on the issues. While “we can sit here and have an argument over whether something is a prudential judgment versus a doctrinal issue,” he said, it is important to remember that a bishop’s teaching, even on matters of prudential judgment, “calls for careful consideration by Catholics.”

Wow, let’s get it from on high, ignore the secular reality, and vote for more unemployment and cultural disarray!

And don’t think the bishops won’t be pushing the guilt trip on their flocks.

To disregard—refusing to even consider—the bishops' position on immigration reform because it is a matter of prudential judgment is a disconnect, Appleby explained.

“Even under a prudential judgment analysis, someone is required to at least consider the arguments being put forth by the Church, to take them into consideration there is a responsibility to at least consider what the Church is saying, and then incorporate it into their position to the degree that they can."

He added that the tendency of Catholics in America to put their party affiliation, be it Republican or Democrat, ahead of their faith, means that “there's a lot of education to be done.”

Translation: Catholics in America are behaving like Americans—difficult for their Leftist church bureaucrats to manipulate.

You really have to be impressed by this slick attempt to use religious arguments for blatantly secular ends!

CNA quotes Kim Daniels, spokesperson for the U.S. bishops' conference president, Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York:

“We support immigration reform as a response to Pope Francis' call to resist indifference and to regain a sense of 'fraternal responsibility' regarding the suffering of immigrants,” she told CNA Aug. 27….

In a July 21 homily, Archbishop José Gomez taught that “God comes to us in the person of the stranger,” that hospitality is a “sacred duty,” and that immigration is “not only a matter of politics,” but is “a matter of our relationship with God.”

Archbishop Gomez, now enthroned in Los Angeles, is an immigrant from Mexico. Why doesn’t he urge Mexico to show more “hospitality” to immigrants, and stop mistreating illegal immigrants?

Even more important: did Gomez truly “abjure foreign potentates” when he took the U.S. Oath of citizenship?

VDARE.com has for years exposed the forces advocating Open Borders for legal and illegal migrants: Big Business; ethnic advocacy groups; religious lobbies like the Catholic Church, the Evangelical Immigration Table etc.

Tellingly, that we are mired in the worst economic situation since the Great Depression simply does not to matter to those forces.

It’s obvious that many faithful Catholics have been deeply affected by their church’s ongoing pedophiliac scandals and (I believe as a long-time liberal Democrat) its inflexible views on family planning, abortion, gays and divorce. By evading these issues, and instead speaking from its pulpits all over the US about “social justice” a.k.a. Amnesty, these prelates show they are just the same sort of self-interested crooks as the Latino tribes and the greedy business types who want cheap labor.

The New York Times piece tells us how powerful this push will be:

"The political campaign by Catholic priests is certain to catch the attention of Catholic members of Congress. Catholics are the largest single religious group in Congress, making up just over 30 percent of the members, according to the Pew Research Center’s Religion and Public Life Project. The current House has 136 Catholic members, including Speaker John A. Boehner and 60 other Republicans, according to Pew.

For some Republican members, vocal support by local priests and bishops could provide the religious rationale they need to support an overhaul in the face of criticism from conservatives.

The Catholic Church has what are supposed to be deep differences with Obama over abortion, homosexual marriage and other matters. But, paradoxically, the New York Times article noted:

"White House officials said they were counting on Catholics and members of other religious groups to help pass an immigration overhaul through a Republican-controlled House that is filled with members fighting against one. Cecilia Munoz, the director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, said Catholic leaders had participated in outreach meetings at the White House.

"It’s pretty rare for the Catholics to take on an issue like this straight to the pews," said Ms. Munoz, who is leading Mr. Obama’s immigration effort.

When you add the fear, which I believe is vastly overrated, that Republicans must completely kowtow to Latinos, it adds up to trouble.

How can so many be so stupid, greedy, selfish—and blind to how this must inevitably appear to American patriots?

Donald A. Collins [email him], is a freelance writer living in Washington DC and a former long time member of the board of FAIR, the Federation for American Immigration Reform. His views are his own.