(Vatican Radio) Monsignor Arturo Bañuelas serves as parish priest at St Marks’ in El Paso Texas. Living right across the border from Ciudad Juarez, like many others in his diocese, he's involved in the pastoral ministry to migrants. A ministry which goes beyond the physical needs of those who reach El Paso: “ We try to be a family for them while they’re separated from their loved ones, we also celebrate with them most of our cultural traditions, it’s a very rewarding ministry...”Listen to Monsignor Arturo Bañuelas of El Paso speaking to Veronica Scarisbrick about issues relating to migration: El Paso, Monsignor Bañuelas goes on to say, is a place where all the myths relating to immigrants are challenged. For migrants are perceived here not as a burden to society but as a blessing.Asked by Veronica Scarisbrick whether the trend for migration has undergone an evolution because o...
(Vatican Radio) Monsignor Arturo Bañuelas serves as parish priest at St Marks’ in El Paso Texas. Living right across the border from Ciudad Juarez, like many others in his diocese, he's involved in the pastoral ministry to migrants. A ministry which goes beyond the physical needs of those who reach El Paso: “ We try to be a family for them while they’re separated from their loved ones, we also celebrate with them most of our cultural traditions, it’s a very rewarding ministry...”
Listen to Monsignor Arturo Bañuelas of El Paso speaking to Veronica Scarisbrick about issues relating to migration:
El Paso, Monsignor Bañuelas goes on to say, is a place where all the myths relating to immigrants are challenged. For migrants are perceived here not as a burden to society but as a blessing.
Asked by Veronica Scarisbrick whether the trend for migration has undergone an evolution because of the financial crisis in the United States coupled with the improvement of the economic situation in Mexico, Monsignor Bañuelas confirms that there are currently more Mexicans returning home than those entering the United States. There are several reasons for this he says: ‘..among these the declining economic opportunities for immigrants and deportations fueled by anti- immigrant rhetoric’. Another reason that plays into this, Monsignor Bañuealas adds, is the impossibility for immigrants to be joined by their family members.
But while Mexicans are returning home, immigrants from Central America are now arriving in great numbers, crossing Mexico to reach ‘El Norte’ in an effort to flee violence and poverty in their home countries. Among these many are unaccompanied minors, those who manage to avoid predation on the part of the drug lords as they cross Mexico. Monsignor Bañuelas explains how the majority of immigrants from Central America are mothers and children who've endured harsh journeys battling cold and hunger and the fear of being caught by gangs along the way.
Asked if he believes more could be done to help alleviate the plight of these people, Monsignor Bañuelas replies that there needs to be a serious, just and comprehensive immigration reform that enables people to migrate without all the difficulties relating to paperwork. Sometimes, he specifies, it can take up to eighteen years to become legally present in the United States’.
The stepping up of this legal process would avoid, he affirms, the culture and sub-culture of people living in hiding with the looming fear of being deported. But beyond reform, he specifies, there also needs to be some kind of negotiated treaty between nations, both bi-national or multi-national, as well as solutions to combat poverty and crime in the home countries of these people.
Families, donors, and others gather with Bishop Erik Pohlmeier for the dedication of the "Precious Ones Baby Mausoleum" at the San Lorenzo Cemetery in St. Augustine, Florida, on April 23, 2024. / Credit: Fran Ruchalski/courtesy of the Archdiocese of St. AugustineCNA Staff, Apr 26, 2024 / 09:51 am (CNA).Families gathered with St. Augustine Bishop Erik Pohlmeier on a sunny Tuesday this week for the dedication of the "Precious Ones Baby Mausoleum" at the city's San Lorenzo Cemetery.Six years in the making, the 44,000-pound granite mausoleum is designed for babies lost at a young age through miscarriage, sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), or stillborn births. A brick walkway marked by a charcoal cross leads up to the brilliant white mausoleum, which is full of burial spaces that are ready to honor little ones. Miscarriages are common events, and women often suffer through them quietly, one 2018 study found. About 10% to 20% of known pregnancies end in miscarriage, usually be...
Kennedy opened up to veteran EWTN News anchorman Raymond Arroyo about his family's strong faith growing up, how his faith helped him overcome drug addiction and how it impacts him in his day-to-day life in the travails of U.S. presidential politics. / Credit: EWTN News "The World Over with Raymond Arroyo" / ScreenshotWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 26, 2024 / 06:30 am (CNA).Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. discussed the importance of his Catholic faith in his daily life, his plan to reduce abortions without federal restrictions, and his opposition to biological males playing in women's sports during an exclusive interview on "The World Over with Raymond Arroyo" Thursday night.Kennedy, son of the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and nephew of former President John F. Kennedy, is running a vigorous independent campaign to be the next president of the United States. He launched an independent bid for the White House last October after initially challeng...
Pope Francis prays during his Wednesday general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican on April 24, 2024. / Credit: Vatican MediaACI Prensa Staff, Apr 25, 2024 / 16:10 pm (CNA).Asked during a new interview if he has any message for Vladimir Putin, the Russian president who instigated the war in Ukraine, Pope Francis stated that "a negotiated peace is better than an endless war."CBS News broadcast some excerpts April 24 from a new interview conducted by journalist Norah O'Donnell with Pope Francis at St. Martha House, the pontiff's residence in the Vatican.During the exchange, the full version of which will be released on May 19, the Holy Father reflected on world conflicts and especially on the suffering of children during wars.O'Donnell asked the Holy Father if he had any message for Vladimir Putin regarding Ukraine, to which the pontiff replied: "Please, countries at war, all of them... Stop the war. Seek to negotiate. Seek peace. A negotiated peace is better than an e...