Catholic leaders are calling for peace the day after a second person was killed by federal agents this month in Minneapolis. The deadly shooting of Alex Pretti, 37, comes amid increased federal immigration enforcement actions in the Twin Cities metro area
Foreign-born Catholic priests and religious brothers and sisters whose futures in the U.S. have become uncertain in recent years amid a federal immigration processing backlog have received some long-awaited relief.
Marking the Jan. 19 Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City, president of the U.S. bishops’ conference, urged Catholics to reflect on how they are called to be “drum majors for justice” in their own communities.
The Cabrini Pledge invites Catholics to pray, reflect, and act on behalf of migrants, writes Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio, guided by St. Frances Xavier Cabrini and Catholic social teaching.
For the first time in more than a decade, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a “Special Message” at their fall general assembly. The special message was on immigration, and described as a “a message of solidarity of us bishops together, and solidarity with our people” by Bishop Robert Brennan.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops approved a “special pastoral message on immigration” Nov. 12, voicing “our concern here for immigrants” at their annual fall plenary assembly in Baltimore.
As they gathered for their annual fall meeting in Baltimore, the nation’s bishops considered possible revisions to their guiding document on Catholic health care — with protocols on the issue of gender dysphoria being “especially relevant in our day,” said the bishops’ doctrinal committee chair.
From the opening gavel to adjournment Nov. 11, the immigration issue was at the forefront for much of the first day of public sessions of the U.S. bishops’ fall plenary assembly in Baltimore.
At the start of National Migration Week, taking place this year Sept. 22-28, the chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Migration invited the faithful to join “The Cabrini Pledge” and be guardians of hope for migrants and refugees.
The nation’s Catholic bishops have launched a new effort to more closely engage the faithful in addressing the issue of mental health, particularly at the local level.
