Bishop Kevin Farrell

The Chief Shepherd of the Catholic Diocese of Dallas

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The irony we face this Independence Day

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The irony we face this Independence Day

Isn’t it ironic that as we celebrate our freedom and independence as American citizens we are having to deal with an influx of children from Central American countries who have risked their lives in perilous journeys to share in what we celebrate.

In a sense they are not unlike the millions who set out for America in the hope of finding freedom and independence. They also risked their lives in perilous journeys and, when they arrived, faced hostility and discrimination because of their religion or ethnicity. I wonder how many of those who are so outraged at the number of children seeking refuge had ancestors who experienced the same type of unwelcome when they arrived.

It occurs to me that a special patron of these children is Jesus the immigrant, whose family fled to Egypt to protect him from terrorism of the time.

Something must be done to address the cause of this influx and make it manageable. In the meantime, we must look after these children with love and compassion and not hostility and hatred.

Let us thank God for the sacrifices of our forefathers and that we are blessed to live in a country so great that people risk life and limb to try to live here. Let us also pray that our Heavenly Father will guide our leaders, keep our men and women in the Armed Services safe and bring peace and comfort to our veterans and their families. May God always bless America!

 

 

On This World Refugee Day Unaccompanied Minors Seek Refuge

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Unaccompanied migrant children

Hope of refuge drives people to take incredible risks. For most us, the idea of sending a child alone on a trek of thousands of miles across a strange country is incomprehensible. However, thousands of parents in Central America are doing just that in hopes that their children will find a safer and better life than theirs.

So far this year, more than 40,000 unaccompanied children, mostly from Central America, have entered the United States illegally. This deluge of refugee children has overwhelmed Border Patrol and Health and Human Services facilities and the flow is unceasing.

Obviously, the cause of this flood of refugee children — the unstable and unsafe conditions of some Central American countries — must be addressed, but the immediate problem is the children who are being warehoused in overcrowded and unsafe temporary facilities by the government.

I am working with Catholic Charities of Dallas to move quickly to work with the government and other non-governmental agencies to provide safe havens for these children. Catholic Charities has expertise in working with refugees from generations of experience, but the unaccompanied children present unique problems —both legal and protective.

Our diocese has no residential facility, but individual placements have already begun. We are gearing up to provide safe refuge for additional children pending judicial action. Already this calendar year, 1,000 unaccompanied refugee children were released to family members who reside in the Dallas Immigration Court jurisdiction.

This tragic situation must be addressed with prayer, wisdom and compassion. As we observe World Refugee Day today, I ask that you please join me in praying for the welfare of these youngsters and that leaders on both sides of the border will work to address this issue.

Image Credit: Unaccompanied migrant children seen at a U.S. government facility in south Texas (CNS photo/ handout, Reuters) (June 16, 2014)

 

Other

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Other

There’s something about Other that frightens Us.  Other may have different eyes or different hair or skin or maybe Other doesn’t talk like Us. We, of course, are normal and Other, being different, is not normal…and that frightens Us. We are more comfortable with those like Us. That’s the way it is supposed to be. “Birds of a feather flock together” you know.

In America there has always been a fear of Other. Early on, Other had a different religion or spoke a different language. Later, Other had a different color skin. We tried to keep Other out by making laws. After all, we had to protect the way we were meant to be. So we made it against the law to be Other, then we could keep Other out because Other was a criminal and not because of Otherness.

Funny thing, some Others who became like Us forgot they had once been Other themselves and worked even harder than the rest of Us to keep Other from doing what they had done.  But, they don’t say they are frightened of Other, they say they are protecting the border and preserving law and order.

Sometimes I think they are really afraid that if there are too many Others, they will become Us and we will become Other.

Image Credit: Niccolò Caranti on Flickr