Catholic nuns who have worked to feed, shelter, and welcome asylum-seeking families allowed into the U.S. by the federal government have become the target of hateful vitriol, including from a Republican congressman, Jesuit magazine America reports. Sister Donna Markham said phone calls have come “in language that I would never repeat and threatening our agencies.”
But the sisters are also refusing to back down. “It’s Matthew 25,” Sister Markham told America, referencing scripture about welcoming the stranger. “And Catholic Charities in particular has been doing this since 1910. This is really our identity, and we don’t have any intention of stopping this ministry.”
Both national Catholic Charities and Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley have been deluged by hateful attacks following right-wing media hits and a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit from conservative groups Judicial Watch and CatholicVote, which recently sued the federal government for supposed communications between government officials and the faith-based organizations.
Sister Markham told America she was “mystified by any group that would call itself Catholic that is attacking the Catholic Church and its ministry.” But CatholicVote appears to be blatantly political group, both in name and action, and in a 2020 blog post clearly pushed for the insurrection president to win reelection.
“Our work with those who are poor takes its impetus, really, from our Catholic faith, and the Gospel mandate that calls all of us for over 2,000 years, especially as Catholics, to care for those who are vulnerable, homeless, hungry and suffering,” Sister Markham continued in the report.
Specifically named in this right-wing lawsuit is Sister Norma Pimentel, who heads Catholic Charities Rio Grande Valley. Sister Pimentel was among those who welcomed the first asylum-seekers allowed into the U.S. after being previously forced to wait in Mexico by the previous administration. Photographs showed the sister greeting families as they disembarked from buses, clearly smiling behind her mask.
These are vulnerable folks who have already been allowed into the country by officials, yet Catholic Charities leaders have been accused by the right-wing of being smugglers. Meanwhile, Texas Republican Rep. Lance Gooden has stooped to calling the organization the “biggest villain of them all,” America reported. He’s also tweeted ugly attacks against asylum-seeking children, referring to them as “illegal immigrants.”
“The claims made by the congressman show a lack of knowledge and understanding on his part of immigration law and our work here on the U.S.-Mexico border,” Sister Pimentel told America. “I invite the congressman to come here and visit with me and see what we do firsthand.” He won’t. Meanwhile, as he makes despicable attacks on vulnerable kids and the humanitarians who aid them, Gooden was among the dozen House Republicans who voted against honoring officers who protected the U.S. Capitol from insurrectionists.
This isn’t close to the first time that Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley and its volunteers have been targeted.
In April, Alex Jones of garbage site InfoWars terrorized a mom and three children being transported by a Catholic Charities worker. “I urge you to look past the fear-mongering and mischaracterizations,” Sister Pimentel said at the time. “Remember to actually see the human beings fleeing persecution and their need for human dignity, which mirrors our own.” Then in August, right-wing media tried to blame migrants for COVID-19 after a migrant family being sheltered by Catholic Charities got hungry and went to a fast food place to eat.
“As a Catholic, I firmly believe that God desires that we care for our brothers and sisters in need, those who are suffering,” Sister Pimentel told America. “My focus remains unshaken. I refuse to be distracted from helping others. I am consoled and inspired by those who do support the work we do, who care for those who suffer and who stand up and protect and defend those in need.”
“There is nothing wrong with feeding the hungry and providing care for those here in our country. We do it because the Lord asks us to,” she continued. Said Sister Markham: “Our work is humanitarian. It is not political. It is grounded in our faith.”
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