Bishops leading the Phoenix and Tucson Catholic dioceses have been challenged by Somos America to speak out stronger for immigration reform issues and on behalf of migrants, many of whom they say are staying away from church services for fear of being arrested and deported. Hector Yturralde of Scottsdale, president of Somos America, the "We Are America" coalition of about 30 groups, sent three-page letters this week to Bishop Thomas Olmsted of the Catholic Diocese of Phoenix and Bishop Gerald Kicanas, who leads the Diocese of Tucson.
While he praised both leaders for what they have written on immigration, Yturralde said, "Most people of faith have felt let down and abandoned by their high-ranking religious leaders when the words do not specifically address the local lived experiences that church-going family have here in Arizona."
He called on the bishops to meet with "some of the most devastated families" affected by immigration laws and enforcement.
"This is basically to get the bishops to be more visual, more active in this issue," Yturralde said in an interview. "We don't see them," he said. "You see our bishop (Olmsted) down protesting abortion clinics, at least once a week, but we have never seen him at one of our meetings. We have never seen him at one of our marches ... We want him to walk the talk."
In December 2005 and last January, the two bishops co-authored pastoral letters on immigration and the treatment of immigrants. In the first, they said, "The Catholic Church speaks up about immigration because it is committed to the protection and dignity that all persons are entitled to ..." It addressed "deep concerns about the tragic deaths of migrants in the desert, the growing fear felt by citizens and non-citizens in our state and the increasingly hateful and hostile rhetoric."
The January letter said the new state employer sanctions laws were not solutions and could bring greater hardship. It talked of "alienation and fear" that those of "Latino origin are experiencing because of a hostile public environment that is fueled by the rhetoric of some state and federal officials."
Phoenix Diocese spokesman Jim Dwyer said Wednesday that Olmsted intends to share the letter with his diocesan leadership team and would respond to Somos America. "He has done a lot of things" regarding immigration, Dwyer said.
"The last thing he wants to do," Dwyer said, "is to get into personalities" or "go after (Maricopa County) Sheriff Joe" Arpaio, who has carried out a series of sweeps through Valley cities where undocumented people have been arrested. Dwyer said Olmsted, who speaks fluent Spanish, has traveled to Mexico to talk to Catholic leaders "to help each other out and make it better for everyone."
Bishops want a comprehensive plan "because a lot of people are getting hurt. People are dying in the desert who are trying to better their lives," Dwyer said.
But Yturralde said there is more the bishops should do. He said he's been told the bishops "don't want to get political. It is not a political situation. This is a human rights situation."
"We have had evangelistic preachers come to our meetings and say, 'My congregation is half of what it was before,'" Yturralde said. "'They are not coming to church, they are afraid.'"
He said pastors have reported sheriff's deputies "parking their cars across the street from the church just to intimidate the people."
Yturralde acknowledged he was speaking of Arpaio and County Attorney Andrew Thomas in the letter when he wrote, "...some of the most prominent voices in Arizona public life claim membership in a Catholic Church and act directly against the teachings of the Catholic Church. Please, Bishop, your voice is needed to call this behavior out and decry it."
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