Many Catholics in Chicago are addicted to the Democratic Party the same way a Hollywood actor may be addicted to heroin.  For some, this addiction is so strong that it may be said, to turn a phrase, that the Catholic Church in Chicago is the Democratic Party at prayer.

Consider the recent statement by Chicago's Francis Cardinal George.  Ellyn Fortino reports in Illinois Progress that "Cardinal George, the archbishop of Chicago, joined Former House Speaker Hastert in support of a pathway to citizenship. He also called on the federal government to halt deportations. 'We should end deportations because they break up families, and the family, not the individual, is the basic unit of our society,' George told reporters in remarks after the event, held at DePaul University."

Francis Cardinal George is not alone in his support for an end to deportation and for amnesty for illegal aliens.  Timothy Cardinal Dolan of New York holds a similar view.  Perhaps he too suffers from a Democratic Party addiction.

In a letter to Congress, Cardinal Dolan writes, "As we have communicated in the past, we urge you to pass in its final form immigration reform legislation that ... establishes a fair and achievable path to citizenship [amnesty] for the 11 million undocumented in the nation."

With all due respect, Cardinal Dolan writes this no doubt knowing that using Leviticus 19:34 to support amnesty for illegal aliens in the United States is to base a policy on a faulty translation.  The Hebrew world "lagur" means "to reside temporarily," "to sojourn," or "to stay for a time."  It does not mean that an invader must be allowed to stay indefinitely, or be granted citizenship.

Illegal is illegal

What is it the cardinals do not understand about "illegal" in the designation "illegal alien"?  Francis Cardinal George must know that it is not the immigration laws of the United States that break up families, but rather the actions of parents who violate those laws that cause the breakups.  An individual is at fault when someone comes to the United States illegally.  We do not blame the money in a bank for the crimes of a thief.

Furthermore, it is not "we" who have created the underclass they speak about, but the Democratic Party policies that further amnesty and support sanctuary cities.  Are Cardinals George and Dolan going to argue next that convicted drug dealers with children should not go to prison because a prison sentence will break up their families?  Or will they argue that if a car thief steals a car and keeps the car long enough, his children should be allowed to drive it?

We should also remind the cardinals that illegal aliens in the United States often do more than just break our immigration laws.  Many may be guilty of identity theft, tax evasion, driving without a license, and other crimes.  Members of the Catholic clergy should preach against all criminal activity, not encourage it or offer amnesty for it.

Illinois has an estimated illegal aliens population of about 525,000.  No doubt the number is higher.  An estimated half of those illegal aliens live in the Chicago area.  What would Cardinal George say if 250,00 Mexicans were to suddenly take up illegal residence in Vatican City and then demand free social services?

Why does the hierarchy of the Catholic Church want amnesty for illegal aliens if they know it is against biblical and theological principles?  David Gibson thinks it's money that motivates the Church's pro-illegal immigration policy.

He writes, "The coffers of U.S. Catholic churches have been running on empty and the church sees the pocketbooks of illegal immigrants as its only hope."  This accusation, if true, makes Church officials no better than the unscrupulous businessmen who exploit poor illegal aliens for their cheap labor.

Mexicans are not Italians

Often, an addiction makes someone see what is not really there.  When Catholics look at illegal aliens, they should see that many are not like the Italian, Polish, and Irish Catholics who immigrated legally to the United States centuries ago.  The new immigrants are often from non-Western cultures and have no interest in converting to Catholicism.

Likewise, many Mexicans who come to the United States illegally have no intention of assimilating or giving up their socialist beliefs for the beliefs of the Catholic Church.  Mexicans are not Italians.  The failed conversion of Mexico will not lead to a successful conversion of Mexicans in the United States.

Add to that the differences in culture and language the Church ought to respect, along with the destruction of hospitals, neighborhoods, and schools that is the result of uncontrolled immigration, and we have to wonder why the Church comes down on the side of increased human suffering.

It is a mistake to think that adding illegal Mexicans to the United States will help the Church gain ground lost to the African-American inner-city invasions.  Brad Miner, writing in the Catholic Thing, points out the fallacy of that reasoning.

And the sourest point is this: for their 'outreach' to immigrants who have entered the U.S. illegally, the bishops will get the same sort of thanks the Church has been receiving from Catholics in those Central and South America nations that are the wellspring of immigration: Gracias y adiós.

The cardinals ought not forget the case of Elvira Arellano.  She is a good example of what to expect from those who want amnesty for illegal aliens.  She used her young son as a human shield and sought refuge in a Chicago church in an attempt to stay in the United States and not be deported.

Elvira Arellano was a single mother.  The whereabouts of her husband were never disclosed.  Her main supporter was the Harvard-educated son of a well-to-do family, the Rev. Walter (Slim) Coleman.  A longtime Democrat-supporter, Coleman is an alleged communist and "a self-described community organizer."

Are these typical representatives of the immigrant rights movement the ones Catholics should support?  These activists do not care about uniting broken families.  They care about uniting the workers of the world in a revolution that always ends by attacking the Catholic Church.

What should be done

There is a better way to deal with the human problems of illegal immigration than the way proposed by the Democratic Party.  We know from the history of African-American segregation in Chicago that Democrats are not interested in diminishing human suffering.  They are interested only in increasing their number of votes.

In opposition to the political motives of Democrats, the Catholic moral principles of subsidiarity encourage us to solve human social problems at their sources.  By applying the moral principle of subsidiarity, the problems of illegal immigration can be solved in Chicago and elsewhere.

The problem of illegal immigration to the United States must be solved where in most cases it begins: in Mexico.  Sending families back to their homes with the social and religious support to help solve the problems at their source should be both a government and Church policy.  Add to that that we must prosecute U.S. employers who violate employment laws by hiring illegal aliens.

Both the US and Mexican governments, along with the Catholic Church, have the resources to apply the principles of subsidiarity to solve the problems that give rise to illegal immigration.  Anything else exploits the poor for political, economic, or religious reasons.

Agents of self-destruction

No one likes to see someone he loves destroyed by an addiction.  To forestall that destruction, Catholics must ask for an open debate on the issue of immigration reform.  They must confront, also, the clergy who are progressives or adherents to the Babylonian heresy and ask that they renounce their addiction.

Bishop Thomas Tobin has ended his lifelong association with the Democratic Party.  Others should follow Bishop Tobin's example.  Nothing good will come from an addiction.  Most addictions become agents of self-destruction.

Economist James Simpson warns us what an addiction to the Democratic Party may lead to: "[t]he purpose is plain: Communists seek to use amnestied illegals to build a "permanent progressive majority[.] ... Most thinking Americans know that Democrats only care about illegals for the winning voting bloc they can provide, but most are unaware that this idea was hatched and developed by the American Communist Party."

One example Simpson could point to is "Antonio Villaraigosa (a Roman Catholic), and former Los Angeles mayor and 2012 chairman of the Democratic National Convention ... was also a former member of the Communist Venceremos Brigades ... in Cuba. As mayor of Los Angeles, he was 'the most pro-illegal immigrant mayor the city has ever seen.'"

Before Catholics who are addicted to the Democratic Party commit to comprehensive immigration reform, they should be reminded about The Decree Against Communism.  Issued in 1949 by Pope Pius XII, the decree excommunicates all Catholics collaborating in any communist organization.