Irish bishops to issue statement on country's immigration policy

Published: 2004-06-23

DUBLIN, Ireland (CNS) -- The Irish bishops' conference will prepare a position paper on the country's immigration policy following a vote to end the automatic constitutional entitlement to Irish citizenship afforded to children born in the country. Martin Long, spokesman for the Irish bishops' conference, said the "paper will present principles of Catholic social teaching" relevant to Ireland's immigration policy and will provide an examination of the policy to ensure that it protects the rights of migrants. "It will reject as un-Christian any racist tendencies toward migrants," Long said. By a margin of almost 4-to-1 June 11, Irish voters chose to end a constitutional guarantee that automatically granted Irish citizenship to anyone born in Ireland. Voters approved the 27th amendment to the Irish Constitution, which allows the government to regulate the citizenship rights of children born in the country.

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