Immigrants aren't the enemy, priests say at Chicago press conference

Published: 2007-12-20

CHICAGO (CNS) -- Responding to what they called the increasingly harsh political rhetoric directed at undocumented immigrants, Priests for Justice for Immigrants held a Dec. 18 press conference to mark International Migrants' Day with a pastoral "invitation and challenge" to the people of the Archdiocese of Chicago. "Society has taught us that we need an enemy," said Father Larry Dowling, pastor of St. Agatha Parish on Chicago's West Side, "and that enemy has come more and more to be the undocumented." Crowded around the altar in a small chapel at Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago, the priests, along with members of Sisters and Brothers of Immigrants, said the church has a duty to stand up for the dignity of all people. They also emphasized how Americans benefit from the presence of immigrants -- with documents or not -- while at the same time putting them in danger of being torn from their families. The Dec. 18 press conference was timed to coincide with similar efforts in Los Angeles; San Antonio; Newark and Trenton, N.J.; Lexington, Ky.; San Jose, Calif.; and other dioceses.

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