The Diocese of Providence, Rhode Island was built upon and prospered
because of the faith, sacrifices and contributions of many ethnic
communities, Bishop Thomas J. Tobin explained during a recent symposium
entitled, “Immigrants and Immigration in the 21st Century,”at Brown
University.
According the U.S. Census Bureau, 133, 000 Rhode Island residents are
foreign-born. According to the Pew Center, 20,000-30,000 of the state’s
foreign-born residents are unauthorized immigrants.
Brown University
offered an opportunity for researchers, faith leaders and policy makers
to come together as a community to discuss local views and attitudes
toward immigrants and immigration policy in the state in hopes to work
toward a greater awareness of the issue.
The daylong conference focused immigration issues inspired by a new
survey conducted by the A. Alfred Taubman Center for Public Policy and
American Institutions, and the John Hazen White Public Opinion
Laboratory at Brown.
The survey reflected the views of Rhode Islanders
on issues of immigration in their community and beyond.
Bishop Tobin served as the keynote speaker for the conference,
offering his reflections on the issue. He emphasized that the Catholic
Church has been concerned with the immigration question and responding
to the needs of the immigrant community for a long time and added that
the Church has continued to be blessed and enriched by the immigrant
community.
“Throughout its history in our nation and in this community the
Church has welcomed and ministered to the historic immigration of these
cultures,” he said. “Despite the various languages, cultures and
traditions of these very diverse immigrant groups, they were united by a
common Christian faith and the desire to improve their lives and
contribute to the well-being of their new home in the United States and
the State of Rhode Island.”
The bishop explained that the church's dedication to the immigrant
community is an act of faith grounded in several important fundamental
principles, including: the dignity of each and every human person as
created in the image and likeness of God; the teachings and example of
Jesus Christ; the Christian principle that recognizes the strength and
value of unity in diversity; and the wide-ranging testimony of the
Sacred Scripture and teaching tradition of the church.
The bishop referred to the Statement of the United States Conference
of Catholic Bishops, entitled “Welcoming the Stranger Among Us,” to help
summarize the Catholic views relative to immigration.
“Without condoning undocumented migration, the church supports the
human rights of all people and offers them pastoral care, education and
social services, no matter what the circumstances of entry into this
country, and it works for the human dignity of all - especially those
who find themselves in desperate circumstances,” Bishop Tobin shared.
“We also recognize and assert that all human persons, created as they
are in the image of God, possess a fundamental dignity that gives rise
to a more compelling claim to the conditions worthy of human life.”
Alexandra Filindra, researcher at the Taubman Center at Brown
University expressed the important need to invite the faith leaders of
the community to the symposium.
“We really need to hear what Bishop Tobin and the faith leaders have
to say because it is very divisive issue in our state,” Filindra said.
“I think that the Bishop’s message was very important. We need to follow
the principled ways that have been set out for us on this issue.”
Lucy Boltz, a junior at Brown University, said that it was a great
idea to involve policy makers, religious figures and the community in
the symposium to get a variety of perspectives on the issue and to
promote immigration reform that is good for the immigrants and the
United States.
“We are trying to work against the narrative of hate,” said Boltz, an
Ethnic Studies major from Southern California. "There are skewed views
as to how many undocumented immigrants there are. The more information
people have about immigrants and what they have contributed to the
state, the better off we will be."
As the debate on immigration continues, Bishop Tobin expressed the
need for fair, effective and comprehensive immigration reform and
encouraged respectful and productive discourse, avoiding stereotyping of
either side.
“The footprints of the historic immigrant Church in this community,
as they are throughout our nation, are all around us,” he said.
“The
Church continues to welcome, work with and be blessed by the immigrants
coming to our nation and state. It is a phenomenon we shouldn't fear or
reject, but rather welcome and embrace.”