Catholic Values Inconsistent In Immigration Debate
President Obama’s recently unveiled comprehensive immigration proposal could be an answered prayer for the Catholic Church, which has long pushed for immigration reform. However, the U.S.’s Roman Catholic bishops have responded to the proposal by sending an unpublished letter of protest to the President.
In Obama’s proposal, the President treats “same-sex families as families;” a spokeswoman for the bishops says this decision “jeopardizes passage of the bill.”
The problem with the bishops’ chosen stance is twofold. First, the Catholic Church has been fighting for reform for decades. Jeopordizing the fate of 12 million undocumented immigrants over a disagreement about gay rights is incomprehensible. However, this isn’t simply a potential case of the Catholic Church throwing out the baby with the bath water.
The Catholic Church has made its support for immigration reform a moral argument, basing the desire for reform on Catholic social teachings. In a 2003 pastoral letter, Strangers No Longer: Together on the Journey of Hope, the U.S. Catholic Bishops state, “We, the community of faith, are judged by the way we treat the most vulnerable among us.” Further, they specifically encourage a focus on family values in immigration policy.
Unfortunately, the Catholic definition of family values does not extend to same-sex spouses.
The immigrant families that are most vulnerable among us are people such as Becky and Sanne and their two-year-old daughter, Willow. Their rights and protections are denied due to both the Defense of Marriage Act and current immigration policy, as Sanne is from the Netherlands and Becky is unable to sponsor her for a green card.
Becky and Sanne are one of many families in limbo; they are committed to one another and their child but denied this family status by federal law.
Gay marriage is a divisive issue in churches across the country, and the Catholic Church is no exception to this rule. Even without supporting same-sex marriage, though, the church should maintain its commitment to family values.
Recognizing the value of all families, including their right to equal protection, should be consistent with the family-oriented teachings of the Catholic Church.
As Pope Benedict XVI has said, “A modernity that is not rooted in authentic human values is destined to be dominated by the tyranny of instability.” By failing to recognize same-sex spouses as families, the Catholic Church singles them out for continued instability and leaves them at the mercy of an immigration system that tears families apart.
Same-sex families might not fit the “ideal” standards propogated by the Catholic Church, but there’s no question that the “authentic human values” the Pope spoke of are present in committed and loving gay relationships.
If the Catholic Church refuses to recognize the family values that are present in same-sex unions, they stand to lose credibility in their family-based stance on immigration reform.