BEING CATHOLIC
MAZUR/CATHOLIC CHURCH OF ENGLAND & WALES
Roll out the welcome mat by Alice Camille
Alice Camille is the author of 20 books, including Fearless: Stories of the American Saints and other titles at alicecamille.com.
138 | VISION 2018 | VocationNetwork.org
THE CATHOLIC CHURCH in the United Kingdom, much like the church in the United States, is made up of immigrants from around the world. Pictured here is Bishop Nicholas Hudson at a Way of Mercy World Youth Day celebration in Westminster Cathedral, London.
Catholic teaching clearly informs us how to treat the “stranger”—migrants, immigrants, and refugees— in our midst.
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OMETHING EXTRAORDINARY happened at Standing Rock, North Dakota in December 2015. Defending their water supply and burial grounds made vulnerable by the Dakota Access Pipeline, the Sioux began a protest blocking the construction. That’s not the remarkable part. What is unusual is that more than 2,000 U.S. military veterans joined in to defend them against violence by U.S. law enforcement. Some veterans knelt before Standing Rock leaders in a reconciliation ritual, asking forgiveness for crimes committed against native peoples by the U.S. government throughout history. “We took your land” was among the sobering injustices the veteran spokesperson confessed.
