October 08, 2003
An Open Letter to Edward Cardinal Egan, Archbishop of New York
From: Howard Sutherland,
a
Roman Catholic American in New York
[Previously
by Howard R. Sutherland
More On The Mexodus: Parasite Nation]
“Cardinal
Edward M. Egan, the
archbishop of the Roman Catholic
Archdiocese of New York, was welcomed with heavy
applause and spoke
for 10 minutes in Spanish before turning to English.
“‘We cannot go on
simply ignoring and tolerating the plight of our
brothers and sisters,’ Cardinal Egan said. ‘Families are
being damaged by
cruel separation and in all too many instances shameful
advantage is
being taken of men and women in the work force who do
not have proper papers.’ ”
[Immigrants
Rally in City, Seeking Rights
by Steven
Greenhouse. New York Times, October 5, 2003]
Your Eminence:
I
am a faithful Roman Catholic, loyal to the
Magisterium and the doctrines of our Church. I am
also an
American whose family on both sides has been here
since Colonial times.
With great sadness, I must express my disagreement with,
and indeed disgust at, your singularly ill-chosen
remarks at the
mendaciously-misnamed “Immigrant Workers Freedom
Ride” rally this past Saturday at Flushing Meadows Park.
The rally you shamefully dignified with your presence
was, in truth, an enormous gathering of people in
criminal violation of the immigration laws of the
United States—and of those who, for
political or
business reasons, support the continued importation
of these illegal aliens.
By addressing this mob in Spanish (a language I speak
fluently and greatly admire; nevertheless the American
vernacular is
English) you contribute to the multicultural
balkanizing that is fracturing our country.
By endorsing the claim that illegal aliens are what they
are not—immigrants—you both insult legitimate immigrants
and undermine the democratically enacted laws of your
own country.
You encourage illegal aliens to break American law; next
will you be exhorting New York’s Catholics to stop
paying their taxes?
The organizers of this celebration of criminality try to
draw an analogy with the Freedom Rides of the 1960s.
This comparison is not merely strained, it is utterly
false. The Freedom Riders of the 1960s were Americans
seeking the
equal protection of American law. Today’s bogus
“Freedom Riders” are not. They are
criminal interlopers, rudely
demanding that laws they are breaking—our laws—be
ignored for their convenience.
Were the situation reversed, were a
group of Americans in Mexico loudly demanding that
Mexico’s (very
strict) immigration laws be set aside so they could
squat there, your voice would no doubt be loud among
those denouncing their Yanqui imperialism.
The illegal alien marchers should have been met at
Flushing Meadows not by a prince of the Church, but by
the Border Patrol.
All that American law should guarantee illegal aliens is
humane treatment as they are removed expeditiously from
our country.
You are a prince of the Church, a preacher of our Lord’s
Gospel and a minister of His Sacraments. As such, I
appreciate your concern for the “plight of our
brothers and sisters.” But your solicitude in this
case is largely misplaced. The brothers and sisters to
whom you referred are criminals. The “cruel
separations” to which you alluded occur only because
illegal aliens choose to
leave their
homes and families to break into the United States.
To hint, as you did, that these separations are somehow
caused by heartless Americans is not merely
disingenuous, it is—again—insulting. Those cruel
separations can end as soon as illegal aliens return to
their own countries.
As New York’s Archbishop, your primary duty is to your
flock, the Roman Catholics of your Archdiocese.
Has it not occurred to you that many of the illegal
aliens whose presence here you so thoughtlessly
celebrate are putting many of New York’s Catholics out
of work?
That their presence here, their
demands on our
schools and
hospitals, expenses to which most illegal aliens do
not contribute through taxes, erode the living standards
of your Catholic flock, both native-born and
legally-immigrated?
As with most of the country, Roman Catholicism is in a
crisis in New York. Mass attendance has plunged. The
practice of regular Confession has practically vanished.
You may
suppose that by importing millions of
nominal Catholics you will retain the Church’s
power base, and perhaps even “re-evangelize”
American Catholics.
That is a mirage. I humbly suggest that you study the
history of the
Church in Mexico since that country’s independence,
to give only the most important example, to determine
how
unlikely it is that mass immigration from there
might revitalize American Catholicism.
Of course, I am not asking that the Church turn its back
on
illegal aliens. But I do ask only that you, and the
Church, not violate the Church’s own history and
teachings by openly advocating the breaking of
legitimately-enacted
civil and
criminal laws.
Devoutly though you might wish it,
everyone in the world cannot move to the United
States.
Firmly though you might deny it, Americans have the
right to live in their own country with as many, or as
few, immigrants as they choose.
Your Eminence, please concentrate your efforts on
ministering to your American flock. Instead of betraying
them for the politically-correct pottage of illegal
alien amnesties, stand firm on the Church’s
teaching about
law and the
legitimacy of the national community.
Personally, I long for the day when you, or any bishop
of this state, will hold an elected official who calls
himself Catholic accountable for flouting the Church’s
authoritative teaching in the matter of abortion. You
might start with our own Governor Pataki.
When you do that, and when you cease to abet the
violation of law that coddling illegal aliens is, you
will regain my respect.
As matters stand, I must say with great regret that you
have lost it.
Yours in sorrow,
Howard Ramsey Sutherland
Howard Sutherland (email
him) is an attorney in New York. To contact the
Archdiocese of New York, click
here.
