Catholic empathy needs to be lauded

As a Catholic, I’ve always admired the efforts of one organization that remains true to the mission of preserving all life. I’ve never heard of an instance where Catholic Charities has turned away anyone seeking help. They might have redirected someone they did not have the resources to help, but they never abandoned people in their pursuit of life.

So it was heartening to see the courageous move by an attorney with Catholic Charities of Milwaukee who in a video articulately outlined the rights of refugees and undocumented immigrants who may be about to have an encounter with immigration authorities.

Not surprising, the backlash on social media has been fierce, some calling the video a treasonous act while others want to defund the organization.

In Oklahoma City, Catholic Charities also appears undaunted by bigotry and courageously promotes a Know Your Rights app, which is available in 16 different languages.

During a week of Holocaust remembrance, the delight among many throughout the country in support of rounding up and the deportation of undocumented workers was an eerie reminder of German attitudes toward Jews in the 1940s. Surely, I can’t be the only one who sees that.

To Catholics calling for the demise of Catholic Charities, shame on you. The organization’s mission is “to make Christ’s love for all human beings a visible and living reality for those in need.”

Too many of us – Catholic and non- Catholic alike – have become so selfabsorbed that we can’t see ourselves in someone else’s circumstances. If something doesn’t affect us, we don’t care. But the sun shines on the just, as well as the unjust; it rains on the natives, as well as the immigrants. And if we learn anything from Mother Nature, it’s that when she spews her wrath, it matters not who is in the way. All that is to say, we never know when any of us will need the services of organizations like Catholic Charities. So ignorant calls to defund it are unwise.

Where systems of the state and federal government fail, nonprofits across this country step in to fill the gap for a variety of humanitarian needs. Church organizations play a huge role in filling that need. Informing fearful undocumented immigrants of their rights is the least anyone could do. No one would argue against the removal of criminals. The state of Oklahoma has about 525 people detained courtesy of Immigration Customs & Enforcement (ICE), costing taxpayers about $36,000 a day. But in the general population, it’s likely many of those chastising Catholic Charities of Milwaukee sit in pews shared with undocumented immigrants on their day of worship.

In Oklahoma, they may be among the 98,000 undocumented immigrants who have $2.2 billion in spending power and who contribute $586.8 million in state and federal taxes, according to the American Immigration Council. About 10,500 of them are entrepreneurs who may have provided services to you or someone you know. What’s so wrong with helping them make informed decisions that would affect their families? And why should the Church not stand up for immigrants? Arguably, without the immigrant population, the Catholic Church and many other denominations in this country would be looking at empty pews during worship.

In recent years, many have tried to remind us about “the most important commandment” – loving your neighbor as yourself – and treating “the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you.” Those of us who still believe in practicing those endearments will have to drill them into kids today in the hope of a more empathetic next generation, because grownups now – many who clamor for Bibles in schools – seem unfazed about reinforcing bigoted behaviors.

My Catholic Charities contribution for the year has not been renewed yet, but it’s on the way.

Republished with permission, courtesy of The Oklahoman.