By Bishop Dennis Walsh
Guest Column
(Bishop Dennis Walsh gave the following remarks during a prayer vigil July 6 at St. Joseph Parish in West Liberty for Pascual Pedro Pedro, a 20-year-old immigrant detained by Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) authorities after his July 1 check-in. In the hours after the prayer vigil, Pascual Pedro was deported to Guatemala, his home country.)
What makes us great in America? There has been a shift in American values. At one time, our greatness was measured by an unrestrained hope in the future. It was the knowledge that regardless of our birth, our race, our poverty, our language, everyone had an equal opportunity — an opportunity to live in peace and in prosperity. It came with the knowledge that our children would have a better life than we would. That was the cause of our joy and happiness. More importantly, we had the structures and institutions to ensure that everyone was treated with justice and dignity. That is no longer the case.
Now our hope has been replaced with fear. Politicians have learned that people can be manipulated by fear. Pope Benedict XVI sounded the alarm when he was pope. He said that without truth and moral clarity, societies risk losing their freedom to narratives of fear and ideological control. Politicians want us to look to them to save us. But we already have a Savior — Jesus Christ. Our Savior tells us over again: Do Not be Afraid. I am with you always.
When Pope John Paul II came to the United States in 1987, he reminded us of what is most beautiful about this land: “Your greatest beauty and your richest blessing is found in the human person: in each man, woman and child, in every immigrant, in every native-born son and daughter. The best traditions of your land presume respect for those who cannot defend themselves. If you want equal justice for all, and true freedom and lasting peace, then, America, defend life! All the great causes that are yours today will have meaning only to the extent that you guarantee the right to life and protect the human person:
- feeding the poor and welcoming refugees.
- reinforcing the social fabric of this nation.
- promoting the true advancement of women.
- securing the rights of minorities.
All this will succeed only if respect for life and its protection by the law is granted to every human being from conception until natural death. This is the dignity of America, the reason she exists, the condition for her survival — yes, the ultimate test of her greatness: to respect every human person, especially the weakest and most defenseless ones, those as yet unborn.”
Brothers and Sisters, I have great admiration for your courage. You are not alone in your struggle for justice. Jesus, who himself experienced injustice and suffering, walks with us. The Kingdom of God is not built without tears and without martyrs.
In this cause, we ask for not only a just process and a respect for the dignity of Pascual. We ask for mercy and compassion, the same mercy and compassion that welcomed all of our ancestors to this great land. We come not only to support Pascual and his family. We fight also for the soul of this nation. We pray that in this land, in this time of our history, we are not driven by fear and false narratives. But that we are led to a future that is formed by our hopes and dreams.
