Whatever it takes: the Bishops on the refugee crisis

An important aspect of the Declaration is the joint commitment to eradicate the structural causes who provoke the irregular migration of underage children, creating programs of social and economic development in the communities of origin…

Photo: Dr. Juanita Sunberg, U of British Columbia

John Donaghy of Santa Rosa de Copán has posted an unofficial translation of the “Joint Delcaration of the Bishops of the United States, Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras on the Crisis of Child Migrants”.

The Bishops’ quote Pope Francis… “Inequality is the root of social ills.”… and ask the Virgin of Guadalupe for her intercession. Certainly, the refugees can use all the help they can get, but one certainly hopes that those of us here on Earth also respond to the Bishops’ “call upon business owners, especially Catholics, to investing [in] and contribut[ing] to the promotion of justice and equity…. but again, this depends on the governments, which are (and have been) have been remiss in putting foreign investment before the needs of their own peoples.

And, Your Excellencies… might you ask the Virgin (and the people) if they might not least consider tossing out the CIA, the School of the Americas, somehow convincing U.S. consumers not to buy narcotics (along with stolen timber and overusing fossil fuels), stopping arms exports, paying a fair price for agricultural commodities, and getting the Canadians to live up to their obligations in the mining industry … things that would be a miracle, but may require more than prayer, I’m afraid.