[Peter Brimelow writes: VDARE.COM's Christmas Meditations have all been written by Catholics and we've carried a number of articles by Catholics challenging the immigration stance of their own Bishops (for example here and here). For some reason, we've never succeeded in getting any Protestant immigration patriots to fulfill assignments to criticize their own churches—which are equally awful, although perhaps not as outrageous—but National Migration Week was too good a target for one non-observant Protestant to miss).
In a cathedral near you, open-border-loving Catholics may be even now celebrating their annual National Migration Week (January 8-14). The occasion is not as spectacularly colorful as, say, Groundhog Day (February 2), but it does function as a handy organizing device for shredding American sovereignty.
These days, job one for Catholic hierarchy—one of the loudest voices for open borders—is to destroy the Sensenbrenner bill (HR 4437), in which the U.S. House of Representatives took the first small steps toward retrieving immigration from chaos.
The New York Times reports that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has "called on President Bush to oppose the measure publicly." [Bill on Illegal-Immigrant Aid Draws Fire, December 30, 2005, By Rachel L. Swarns]
Bishop Gerald Barnes of San Bernardino launched a major salvo by writing to Congress, "The legislation would place parish, diocesan and social service program staff at risk of criminal prosecution simply for performing their jobs."
A Washington Times editorial responded pointedly that there is no such provision in the legislation: it targets alien smuggling rings.
In other words, don't expect the Bishops to tell the truth about immigration.
Forget all the fake piety and good-works nonsense. Immigration is entirely a self-interest project with Vaticrats, particularly to populate empty pews. According to the National Conference of Catholic Bishops Office of Hispanic Affairs, Hispanics accounted for 71 percent of the growth in the U.S. Catholic Church from 1960 to 1999.
Many rank-and-file Catholics have become displeased with the world-class hypocrisy of an institution that has protected pervert priests for decades, but condemns to hell anyone who uses birth control. Apparently, as good authoritarians, the Catholic hierarchy prefers passively obedient parishioners—rather than educated Americans who are capable of critical analysis. Credulous Mexicans fresh from the pueblo are seen as ideal fillers of pews.
Immigration's unforgiving math looks good to the Catholic Bishops. By holding the door open, they hasten the day when America will become a majority Catholic country, probably later this century if Hispanic immigration continues at its current rate.
Throughout its history, the United States has been a Protestant nation. That culture is reflected in the choices made by the Founders in shaping the country. As Professor Samuel Huntington, the master analyst of culture and critic of Mexican immigration, has observed:
"If America had been settled not by British Protestants but by French, Spanish, or Portuguese Catholics, it would not be America; it would be Quebec, Mexico, or Brazil."
Now America is being resettled via immigration that is reversing the culture which built one of history's most successful societies. The progress-prone values of Americans are being displaced by members of progress-resistant cultures—in the compelling analysis of Prof. Lawrence Harrison—and the results are seen in shocking rates of school dropouts among Hispanic high schoolers, elevated crime and gender violence.
Some in the Church have been so bold as to speak openly of a "peaceful conquest" by Mexican Catholics whom they prefer to America's current residents:
"...America is a dying nation. I tell the Mexicans when I am down in Mexico to keep on having children, and then to take back what we took from them: California, Texas, Arizona, and then to take the rest of the country as well." (The Wanderer, St. Paul, MN May 6, 1987, citing Father Paul Marx)
The immigration strategy of the Catholic Council of Bishops is as much a subversive enterprise as that of La Raza, but the church designation saves them from the opprobrium they deserve.
Let us not forget that the Catholic Church in America is still in the middle of a multi-year legal struggle, fighting against the victims of sexual abuse by pedophile priests, as it tries to avoid financial collapse. Payouts in the Los Angeles Diocese alone could surpass $1 billion. The Portland Diocese declared bankruptcy in 2004.
The diminished respect Americans have for the Catholic Church is shown by late-night television commentary:
And yet the Vaticrats still act like they have moral authority. In their spiritual arrogance, they continue to scold law-abiding American citizens who merely insist that immigration be legal, controlled and reduced.
The Church drones on about "welcoming to the stranger," one of its beloved catch-phrases and a rare reference to scripture, [VDARE.COM note: see Matthew 25, " I was a stranger, and ye took me in" but compare Deuteronomy28:43-44; "The stranger that [is] within thee shall get up above thee very high; and thou shalt come down very low"] though it seems uninterested in Jesus' admonition to "render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's."
Many Catholic priests obviously regard immigration as a right, not a privilege granted by the American people. In Brownsville, the Church busied itself in September with attacking Texas Minutemen, whose only sin was protecting their country.
Organizing in conjunction with the Catholic Church makes sense because the church's position is pro-immigration, said Father Michael Seifert of San Felipe de Jesús.
"Any family in economic need has a right to immigrate, that's our posture, if a family is hungry and the family needs work, then society should provide a way for people to do that," Seifert said. [Church organizing anti-Minuteman campaign, By Sara Inés Calderón, The Brownsville Herald September 5, 2005]
Since there are literally billions of people "in economic need" across the world, following the Church's teaching would result in political, economic and social anarchy that would make Camp of the Saints look like Disneyland. On a crowded planet of six billion souls, genuine humanitarians should work in the home countries to improve lives.
In addition to its part in Catholicizing America, the Church also benefits by raking in big money for providing "immigrant" services. As a result of faith-based dispensation of money, Migrant and Refugee Services receives more than $40 million in taxpayer funds (according to a sizable PDF report on the USCCB's website, see a screen snap here).
As a modern social services provider, the Church celebrates diversity (and follows non-discrimination laws) by resettling a variety of refugees, from shamanist Hmong to Muslim Somalis. Catholic Charities is in the forefront of repopulating America with immigrants, some of whom are so extremely diverse that they may not become self-supporting in their lifetimes.
It's not like there are no important challenges for the Vatican to tackle. Given the threat which radical Islam constitutes for Christianity and western civilization, the Holy See might usefully spend more time explaining the danger of the coming Muslim Europe, aka Eurabia (another demographic idiocy). There is some good news on this front, since the new Pope is apparently more realistic about Islam than his Koran-kissing predecessor. Pope Benedict has spoken more forcefully against terrorism than John Paul II, a welcome change.
Here in the United States, the Conference of Catholic Bishops has a leftist, open-borders agenda. But that's at odds with their counterparts in Europe, where many immigrants are unfriendly Sons of Allah. Cardinal Biffi caused a controversy in 2000 when he recommended that Italy "protect its national identity" and give preference to Catholic immigrants over Muslim ones.
Imagine if the U.S. suggested immigration policies that safeguarded America's historical national identity.
For that matter, the Catholic Church is not only a religion, but also an independent state with geography (Vatican City—.44 sq km), a flag and an American ambassador (Francis Rooney). But there's no immigration into the tiny territory.
Sadly, the close of Migration Week will not bring an end to the anti-borders activities of the cassock brigade.
Perhaps some patriotic friends of sovereignty might show up at the local cathedral to defend the moral high ground against the hypocrites—just as the anti-pedophile protestors did a few years back. A stronger statement of disapproval is overdue.
As its actions have shown, the American Catholic Church is just another special interest group with an immigration agenda damaging to the common good.
Brenda Walker [email her] publishes ImmigrationsHumanCost, blogs daily on LimitsToGrowth.org, and remains a cultural Calvinist.
