In homily at Mass, Cdl. McElroy said Americans can no longer ‘pass on by’ ignoring how U.S. is treating immigrants
WASHINGTON — Rather than passing by a suffering victim like the priest and the Levite did in the parable of the good Samaritan, Americans need to take action to support immigrants who are in this country without documents and are suffering under the government’s mass deportation policy, Washington Cardinal Robert W. McElroy said.
“For us as a nation we can pass by no more. We must stop, recognize the evil that is being carried out in our name, and fight every dimension of it,” Cardinal McElroy said at a Mass marking the 112th World Day of Migrants and Refugees on Sept. 27 at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in Washington.
“We must shed our identities as priests and Levites and become like the good Samaritan who recognized no boundaries in rescuing the victim by the side of the road,” the cardinal said.
In the homily, Cardinal McElroy tied the parable of the good Samaritan, heard in the Gospel reading, with what has unfolded in the United States under the government’s mass deportation policy since last year.
Cardinal McElroy said that in the past 18 months in the United States, the biblical mandate of welcoming the stranger and respect for the American heritage of immigration “have been replaced by suspicion, division, cruelty and violence.”
The parable of the good Samaritan “is clear,” he said. “Both the priest and the Levite witnessed the suffering and pain of the robbers’ victim. They recognized what was happening; they heard the call of pain; and they moved carefully to the other side in order to insulate themselves from having to take any action. They simply passed on by.”
He linked that to the current climate, saying that the people of the United States have witnessed the suffering of undocumented people in our midst, and “and for the most part, we have simply passed on by.”
Abp. Rozanski: Archdiocese committed to walking with migrants, refugees
Archbishop Mitchell T. Rozanski conveyed his blessings and prayers on “all who have fled poverty and violence to secure a better life for their families” in a statement for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees.
Pope Leo’s chosen theme for the day, marked on Sept. 27 this year, was “Even Just One of These Children.”
The archdiocese is “committed to walking with migrants, refugees and their loved ones, regardless of their legal status, and supporting them in their quest for justice and dignity,” Archbishop Rozanski said in his statement.
“As people of faith, we call upon our leaders to end the program of indiscriminate detention and mass deportation and establish a path to legal status for those currently without documentation,” he said. “We ask that undocumented children living in the United States and adults who were brought by their parents to this country as children be provided a means of attaining citizenship. We pray that avenues be provided so mixed-status families who have long contributed to our communities and our country can remain together.”
The archbishop also called for prayers for law enforcement officers and for conversion of hearts, transformed by God’s mercy.
“As a Church, we are called to follow the words of Pope Leo and regard every child in such circumstances as our own sons and daughters,” he said. “Anything less is a betrayal of the Gospel.”
Read Archbishop Rozanski’s full statement in English at stlreview.com/46MjqQS and in Spanish at stlreview.com/4rLuG9S.
Laura Kosta contributed to this report.
