A group of leaders of the Catholic church have told Catholics in Congress to forget about partisan issues and give their support to the efforts of bishops in the United States with regard to comprehensive immigration reform, declaring that this is vital in creating a culture of life and that the issue is really that of the sanctity of this life.
In a letter released on January 20th, nearly two decades after the legalization of abortion by the Supreme Court, the group declared that the flawed and inhumane immigration system in the United States has left immigrant families, including women and children, “abandoned by the side of the road”. Among those who signed the letter were former US Conference of Catholic Bishops staff members, bishops, several Catholic university presidents, the heads of numerous social action agencies and institutes, and various men and women with religious sensibilities.
The signees point out that there are more than a couple of dozen Catholics with pro-life beliefs in the House of Representatives and urge them to join others of faith at Washington’s March of Life, which will be held on January 22nd.
“As brothers and sisters in faith, we urge these elected officials and all Catholics to defend the sanctity of human lives at all stages,” the letter states. “We recognize the image of God in the migrant at the border, in the prisoner on death row, in the pregnant woman and in the hungry child.”