LR Bishop Releases Pastoral Letter On Immigration

Arkansas' bishops says Catholics should embrace all immigrants as they would the parents of Jesus on the night of his birth, regardless of how they came to the country.

Bishop Anthony B. Taylor issued his first pastoral letter this week to Catholic churches in the state, calling on the Diocese of Little Rock's more than 116,000 parishioners to understand that people have a "God-given right to immigrate."

Though the nation's borders protect its citizens, Taylor warned that federal laws only "impede human migration rather than facilitate it for the common good."

Taylor's pastoral letter, his first since being named bishop in April, was written in both Spanish and English and serves as an authoritative teaching for the diocese. The Little Rock diocese, which covers the entire state, is 55 percent Hispanic.

The pastoral letter, posted on the diocese' Web site, will be distributed to parishioners November 23. That Sunday, a recorded homily from the bishop on immigration will be played at Masses throughout the state.

Click here for a link to the entire pastoral letter (pdf download).