In an interview applauding the election of Donald Trump,
Cardinal Burke spoke about immigration.
National Catholic Register: What about immigration, where
his views diverge with the common position taken by U.S. bishops? Pope Francis
also said, in comments perceived as criticism of Trump’s plan to build a wall
on the Mexican-U.S. border to keep out illegal immigrants, that we should build
bridges rather than walls.
Cardinal Burke: I don’t think the new president will be
inspired by hatred in his treatment of the issue of immigration. These are
prudential questions — of how much immigration a country can responsibly
sustain, also what is the meaning of immigration, and if the immigrants are
coming from one country — questions that principally address that country’s
responsibility for its own citizens. Those are all questions that have to be
addressed, and, certainly, the bishops of the United States have addressed them
consistently, and I’m sure they will with him, too. He has these Catholic
advisers; and at least some of them, I know, are very well aware of these
questions, and I can’t imagine that they’re not speaking up.
[Cardinal Burke continued]
A Christian cannot close his heart to a true refugee, this
is an absolute principle, there’s no question about it, but it should be done
with prudence and true charity. Charity is always intelligent; it demands to
know: Exactly who are these immigrants? Are they really refugees, and what
communities can sustain them?
Let me annotate his remarks.
“I don’t think the new president will be inspired by hatred …”
If people are fleeing from barrel bombs and you refuse to
help them, I don’t really care much whether your heart of full of flowers and
pretty things: that’s called hatred. It’s murderous. Refusing to notice that
they are humans does not make your inaction better; it makes it worse. I note with
interest that in Greek, phobia means hatred OR fear; it’s a single word. The
fear of Muslims can be indistinguishable from hatred, and can be gravely evil.
“These are prudential questions …”
No, they are not, or not primarily. These are questions of
justice. Unless you are afraid of ghosts, which is irrational and can be
gravely evil, indistinguishable from hatred. In the middle of a campaign of genocide,
“prudence” is likely to be a cover for cowardice.
“… how much immigration a country can responsibly sustain …”
If an empty continent which in justice should take about a
quarter of the refugees offers instead to accept refugees at a rate of about
0.1% of the total refugee population, this is indefensible. Raising this
question is at best gross ignorance. And I note that despite Cardinal Burke’s rosy
prognostications, Trump has worked hard to reduce the rate from trickle to
zero.
“ … questions that principally address that country’s
responsibility for its own citizens …”
We are in the middle of re-definition of our nation. It’s
not immigrants who are re-defining it; it’s nativists who are abandoning our
traditional hospitality, driving us below ZPG, refusing to uphold human rights,
turning their backs on the poor of God’s world, abandoning the heart and soul
of our defining Declaration. This is the destruction of our nation, and a
leader who refuses to protect the nation from such destruction is – to put it
mildly – not meeting his responsibility to that nations citizens.
“A Christian cannot close his heart to a true refugee …”
Yes, he can, and Cardinal Burke has shown exactly how to do
it. Raise the question, after 18 months of vetting: “Is this refugee a ‘true’
refugee?”
“ … it should be done with prudence and true charity.
Charity is always intelligent …”
True charity. You know, the smart charity, that finds ways
to exclude refugees and feel good about it. Where I come from, when people talk
about true charity, I want to hear about people laying down their lives to
protect the helpless.
I note further: charity doesn’t start until you have
fulfilled the demands of justice. In international law, let alone God’s law,
refugees have rights. A refugee from a civil war is defending his (and his
family’s) right to life – an absolute right. It is gravely wrong, a sin against
justice, to refuse to help a refugee. So, again, NO: this is not a matter of charity,
neither true nor “true.” It’s about justice.
“Exactly who are these immigrants?”
Jesus. Exactly. Who are you to overlook this? How in hell do
you do that?
“what communities can sustain them?”
Ask King Abdullah. He accepted refugees at a rate of 3% of
his total population annually. Can we do half as well as a Muslim? Ask the
Scandinavians, whose rate is half of the Jordanians’ rate. Can we do half as
well as the post-Christians?
Who can sustain them? I dunno, maybe God and his people, the
poor of Yahweh, whose love knows no bounds?