The Catholic Church Begs Mimi Walters And Ed Royce For Compassion

Earlier today, we looked at how Trump and Ryan are leading a war against Jesus' message to mankind. It looks like every Catholic pastor in CA-39 and CA-45 (mostly Orange County) is concerned about the same thing-- except they're focusing on Republican members of Congress Ed Royce and Mimi Walters, both lockstep rubber-stamps for Trump and Ryan. The Orange County Register piece over the weekend was devastating. All the pastors signed a letter to Walters and a letter to Royce about DREAMers-- and the letters were followed by Sunday sermons along the same lines. The sermons will be ongoing throughout Advent.

The bishops of the Diocese of Orange are calling on their clergy and parishioners to pray for the young undocumented immigrants, and to advocate for them with their elected leaders.

Catholic leaders see an urgency in finding a permanent solution to the plight of young people brought to the country illegally as children. Their temporary legal status through President Obama’s DACA program is being phased out under the Trump administration.

Led by bishops in Orange County, San Bernardino and the San Gabriel region, 26 pastors urged Walters (R-Laguna Beach) and Royce (R-Fullerton)-- both Catholics-- “to actively support” passage of legislation that would allow the children to have a path to citizenship.

“It is essential to move beyond general statements of support,” read the Dec. 1 open letter, signed by the pastors and Rev. Kevin Vann, bishop of Orange, Gerald Barnes, bishop of San Bernardino, and David O’Connell, auxiliary bishop in the San Gabriel region of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.

The letter requests a meeting with the Republican leaders. It is the first time in recent memory that bishops and all pastors of an Orange County congressional district have called on legislators for action.

“It’s a somewhat unique letter,” said Greg Walgenbach, director of the Office of Life, Justice and Peace for the Diocese of Orange.

Walters, who has expressed sympathy toward DACA recipients, has seen an uptick in rallies calling for her to support one of the bills floating in Congress on the issue. Her vote is considered by some a key Republican swing vote.

Earlier this week, Walters signed a letter calling on Congress to pass legislation before the end of the year to protect those under DACA, or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.

“I appreciate the passion that some members of the church have shown on this issue, and I share their urgency,” Walters said in an e-mail Friday to the Southern California News Group. “Caring for all of God’s children is at the core of our Catholic faith.

“DACA recipients enrich our community and are building their American dream,” she said. “That is why I signed a letter this week calling on Congress to pass bipartisan legislation that would allow DACA recipients to remain the United States, and continue their great contributions to Orange County.”

Royce could not be reached for comment Friday. He has previously said he supports legal residency but opposes including a path to citizenship.

Royce has been a target for years of immigrant-rights advocates, who regularly rally outside his Brea office. In 2013, some 1,500 Catholics prayed outside his closed office for the congressman to “have a change of heart” and support undocumented immigrants seeking citizenship.

As Catholics gather this month to celebrate the Christmas season, Orange County’s top bishops are calling on their pastors and congregants to pray for DACA youth and other immigrants.

A second letter, sent to parishes Friday, includes an Advent prayer which in part says: “Grant, O Lord, unto the leaders of the United States the wisdom and teachable spirit to recognize the good gifts that we receive from DACA youth and other immigrant Dreamers, the conviction to respect their life and dignity, and the courage to pass legislation to protect their stay here and offer a path to eventual citizenship.”

The same letter asks Catholics to contact their representatives, and includes a sample message. That letter was shared on the website of a national Catholic nonprofit that advocates for low-income immigrants and is headed by Bishop Vann.

Katie Porter is one of the two progressives taking on Mimi Walters. Katie told us "It's been three months since Donald Trump announced he would end protections for Dreamers and my Republican opponent Mimi Walters has continued to do nothing but offer empty platitudes. It's unacceptable. I have spent my career fighting for people who don’t have a voice in our system, and I intend to do the same in Congress by standing up for immigrant families. We must pass a clean Dream Act Now."

The other excellent progressive Democratic candidate running for the seat Mimi Walters is occupying is Kia Hamadanchy. Just a few hours ago he told us that "Right here in California’s 45th district, we have DREAMers who are doing nothing but chasing the American Dream-- whether it is as a student at UC Irvine or as an employee of a small business or tech startup. Mimi Walter’s inaction on behalf of her constituents has been so terrible that it took urging from every Catholic leader in the district to get her moving. That’s not leadership. It’s time for a Representative in CA-45 who actually cares about the people here and will really fight to protect our DREAMers."

Sam Jammal is the one non-multimillionaire running for the Orange County seat occupied by Ed Joyce. Recently Frank Schaeffer went to meet him and made this clip [below] about the race and about Sam-- a very different kind of person than Ed Royce. This morning Sam addressed the GOP's DREAMers problem. "DACA really comes down to what's right and what is wrong. It's a moral question. The right thing to do is give young people-- who only know this country and are doing everything right-- the chance at the American Dream. The wrong thing to do is fall in line with Trump and hardline anti-immigrant voices. Once again Ed is on the wrong side of the issue. Instead of focusing on what we can do to integrate immigrants and build up communities, he prefers to divide families and work against young people who are doing everything right, but have a President and politics seeking to do them wrong. Ed just doesn't share our values here in the 39th. We believe in the American Dream and are a welcoming community."