| July 16, 2007 | Volume 82, Number 19 | |
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Illegal aliens break the lawYour article, Basic Information on Immigration, in The Catholic Virginian of July 2, 2007, is confusing. You described an “immigrant” as “a foreign-born individual who has been admitted to reside permanently in the United States as a Lawful Permanent Resident.” Breaking down your statement, an immigrant must be (1) an individual, (2) foreign-born, and (3) admitted to the U.S. You then describe an “undocumented immigrant” as “a person who is present in the United States without the permission of the U.S. government! If a foreign-born person is in the U.S., but has not been admitted (i.e., is “without the permission of the U.S. government”), then he cannot be an “immigrant.” Part of being an “immigrant” requires “admission,” that is, permission to be in the U.S. The correct terms used in the United States Code are “illegal alien” or “undocumented alien.” In the United States Code, the term “alien” means any person not a citizen or national of the United States. 8 U.S.C. Sec. 1101(a)(3). The term “illegal alien” is used three times in the U.S. Code, twice in Title 8 and once in Title 18, the general criminal portion of the Code. The new and more politically correct “term du jour” appears to be “undocumented alien.” It is important to remember that the people who are coming across our borders without first being lawfully admitted, thereby breaking our just immigration laws and threatening our security, are not immigrants; they are “illegal aliens!” Let’s call them what they really are according to our laws.
Immigrants make wrong choicesI would like to comment on the July 2 article (“Immigrant family makes desperate choices”). This story of mistakes and misfortune makes me wonder why so many people in this country are trying to make the illegal immigrants out to be the victims. Although the story points out some of the shortcomings and the bureaucracy of government, it is a story of twisted facts and logic. Patricia Zapor (the reporter) tries to blame the government for all of Mr. Solis’ troubles. She says his troubles “began in December 2005, when he was stopped by police for driving a car that hadn’t been properly cleared of ice on the windows.” Here Ms. Zapor attempts to excuse the offense by letting us know that he “rarely drove” and that it was a “bitterly cold morning.” Still the law is to remove the ice and snow to protect you and other drivers. Then we find out that Mr. Solis was driving without a license. But it is not his fault, it is the state of Idaho’s fault because you need proof of legal residency to obtain one. The fact is Mr. Solis broke several laws. One, he illegally entered the country. Two, he apparently disregarded a law that requires motorists to properly remove snow and ice from their vehicle as not to endanger their lives and the lives of others. Three, he was driving without a license. And four, he made his way back into Idaho before his two year probation was up. And now Mr. Solis is being made to take responsibility for his choices. The process of getting into this country legally may need to be looked at and changed. But the process of letting people in should begin on the other side of the border with honest people that are willing to do it right. The best thing we can do to help these people is to encourage them to go back to their country of origin and start the process for legal entry. Anything short of that is doing them a disservice.
The article mentioned in this letter did not appear in the web edition of The Catholic Virginian.
NFP can help in male infertilityI would like to reply to the letter in the July 2 issue of The Catholic Virginian asking about the role of Natural Family Planning (NFP) technologies (more specifically NaPRO) in infertility evaluation and treatment, particularly regarding male-related infertility. I am a board-certified family physician and diocesan NFP instructor/trainer, and use NFP technologies in my own medical practice. Infertility is estimated to affect between 10–15 percent of couples. About 1/3 of these are due to female factors, 1/3 due to male factors, and the other 1/3 either due to both male and female combined, or unknown causes. In the cases where infertility is due to male factors, NFP technologies can still be used to help achieve pregnancy, by helping the couple time intercourse to optimize relations during the wife’s fertile time. There are cases where this alone has helped couples with marginal male fertility achieve pregnancy. In addition, NaPRO physicians can use other medications to help improve sperm counts and increase odds of achieving pregnancy. The couple can be comfortable that any of these medications and NFP technologies will not be against the Church’s position on reproduction technologies, as opposed to those traditionally offered by infertility specialists, such as artificial insemination and in-vitro fertilization (IVF.) Although I have not completed the NaPRO physician training course in Omaha, I do frequently use their textbook to assist couples with marginal fertility in my own family medicine practice. I have had several patients achieve pregnancy by use of NFP charting, timed hormonal blood work, and appropriate medical therapy. I would encourage couples with infertility to more closely investigate NFP-related technologies as a morally acceptable alternative to artificial insemination and IVF.
Death penalty opposed by churchIn response to “Death Penalty said Justified” (Bob Haugh, July 2, 2007), I would like to not only disagree with his words but express outright dissension over his sophomoric position and its opposition to Church teaching. I was among the 21 persons who journeyed to the fields at Greensville, to attend a vigil of protest of Emmett’s execution, only to find out two hours before the scheduled execution that it had been postponed so that it may be examined by the U.S. Supreme Court (which recently voted 5–4 to rehear the case of a mentally incompetent man in Texas sentenced to die). First off, opponents of the death penalty are often taken as sympathetic to wrongdoers. This is not the case. We, as Catholics and Christians believe in “alternatives” to the death penalty — viz. life without parole. Such restitution is appropriate in this case and in every pending execution in the country. Life in a Level 5, supermax facility such as Red Onion Correctional Facility is punishment to fit such a crime. Second, Haugh failed to indicate that two of the jurors who sentenced Emmett to die by lethal injection submitted affidavits stating that had they known the circumstances of Emmett’s upbringing they would have never voted as jurors for his execution. Jurors stated: “It was a waste of our tax dollars and a waste of my time to have listened to such a one-sided case. Mr. Emmett’s lawyer should have done so much more for him,” said one juror. She added, “if I had been presented with the evidence [of Emmett’s background], I would not have voted for the death penalty.” (Chris Emmett — Appeal before governor in death-row case by Frank Green, Richmond Times Dispatch, 10 June, 2007) Your response to Haugh, from the Virginia Catholic Conference cites Virginia bishops, the U.S. Council of Catholic Bishops, Pope Benedict and the late Pope John Paul II‘s encyclical Evangelium Vitae — who all deemed the death penalty extremely rare, if non-existent. I remind Haugh and some 48 percent of Catholics who still advocate the death penalty to remember the good thief at Golgotha (St. Dismas) who was crucified beside Christ for a true crime, and who couldn’t reckon with the severity of Jesus Christ’s wrongful execution in light of his own circumstances. Yet, Jesus Christ promised immediate eternity to this wrongdoer. Remember too, the spirit of forgiveness that pervades in our scripture; turning the other cheek, treating our neighbor as we shall be treated; being “kind and merciful;” being “dead” to the law through the body of Jesus Christ; vengeance being left to God; the non-violence of Jesus Christ. Let us remember that the fabric of human life extends from the unborn to the guilty. The death penalty costs more than life without parole, goes against the teachings of the Gospel, and does not deter crime.
The article mentioned in this letter did not appear in the web edition of The Catholic Virginian.
Mega-parishes said not the answerIf you cannot envisage life without the Eucharist, the prospect of the worsening priest shortage described in CV 7/02 issue is scary. My young parish of some 70 families looks particularly vulnerable. It is reassuring, however, to learn that active planning is going on, following a healthy “bottom up” approach. The editorial invites people in the pews to contribute their thoughts and ideas on how parish ministries can be maintained. May I offer my thoughts. First, I feel it is crucial to safeguard the integrity of parishes. In some dioceses the response to the priest shortage is the dismantling of parishes and their merger into megaparishes. If this approach is taken to its logical conclusion, those dioceses will eventually end up with a handful of hyper-parishes. I know of a formerly vibrant parish that has been merged into a mega-parish. There has been a clear drop in Mass attendance and the community has lost much of its spirit. The community life is now controlled from a distant central office. This is why the idea of clustering parishes (that remain parishes) has so much more merit. Second, we know that priests are increasingly overextended. We in the pews rely on them for spiritual leadership and the sacraments. In my humble view, this should be their foremost mandate. There are ample reserves of administrative competence and dedication in the pews to handle the bulk of administrative matters. In Acts 6:2–4 the apostles say “It is not right for us to neglect the preaching of God’s word in order to handle finances. So then, brothers, choose seven men among you…and we will put them in charge of the matter. We ourselves, then, will give our time to prayer and the word of preaching.” It looks like the apostles are showing the way.
Indulgences said to have powerFather John Dietzen’s July 2 answer to “Virginia” missed a great teaching opportunity to inform Catholics about the remedial power of indulgences. While a priest can forgive the eternal punishment in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, there remains a temporal punishment that must be satisfied before one’s soul can enter the Kingdom of Heaven. To obtain remission of the temporal punishment of our already forgiven sins, one can do either of the following. 1. Participate in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, receive the sacraments, prayer, the performance of good works, alms-giving, charity towards the living and the dead, mortification and obedience, confidence in the divine mercy. 2. Indulgences either partial or plenary, conditional upon the works done and meeting the following conditions: sacramental confession, Eucharistic communion and one Our Father and one Hail Mary for the Pope’s intentions. Father Dietzen explains why Catholics of advanced age and their deceased relatives will have to suffer in purgatory because the Church ceased informing them of the remedial powers of indulgences because indulgences will result in misunderstandings that will interfere with the communion among Christians. If you or your readers have any doubts about the power of a plenary indulgence to remove vestiges of sin, ask your pastor.
The article mentioned in this letter did not appear in the web edition of The Catholic Virginian.
CV column has impact on reader(The following email letter to Barbara Hughes, Hampton Roads correspondent for The Catholic Virginian, is printed with the permission of the writer.) Dear Ms. Hughes, As is often the case, The Catholic Virginian arrives in the mail and makes its way to the never ending pile on our kitchen table where it remains until the pile’s size is sufficient to demand attention. At that time I or my wife go through the pile, reviewing, reading, and in some cases, discarding the contents until once again this section of the table becomes clutter free so that the cyclical process may begin anew. Such was the case yesterday evening. Picking up the CV, I stopped to read those articles whose headlines grabbed my attention and in so doing, read your article. I write you today to tell you how timely the piece was in my life and how much of an impact it had on me. The following leapt from the page and sunk deep into my consciousness: “In order for faith to be real, faith must be lived. Real faith takes us beyond our comfort zones, plunges us into the unknown and demands that we trust God when we are neither reassured by his presence nor comforted by his embrace.” Thank you.
Chaplain responds to previous letterIn response to Donald Williams’ letter (June 18th, 2007), ‘War in Iraq not a Just War’, I wish to point out he ignores several facts in his letter. Mr. Williams glosses over the fact Saddam murdered an estimated 500,000 of his own people. Mr. Williams does not mention that most of the civilians killed in the war have been killed by terrorists and insurgents of Iraq, not the U.S. military. These terrorists will continue to kill innocent civilians in Iraq with or without the coalition forces present just as they did before the war. One wonders how many Americans they would kill if it weren’t for our military there trying to stop them? Unlike the cowardly priest in the Good Samaritan parable (Luke 10: 25–37) who walked by the injured man and did nothing to help him, those serving in our military are the Good Samaritans trying to help the people of Iraq secure a free nation as well as stop the terrorists’ threat to America. All freedom loving people should be grateful to the heroic military personnel who sacrifice so much for the safety of all Americans.
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