Bishops Take Position Against Immigration Reform

Hyphen at Excessive Catholicism has a post about the USCCB's taking a position on the matter of illegal immigration reform, including this little gem from Cardinal McCarrick:

"The Catholic bishops and especially those of us here . . . have been very concerned about this," said Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, archbishop of Washington. "We're afraid that if this goes through, it could close the door all the way for everybody. You take what is illegal and make it criminal, and that's a frightening thing for us."

(emphasis added)

Huh?

To which Hyphen responds:

Um, isn't illegal activity per se criminal activity? And way to insinuate that the Church is already involved in illegal activity.

Sheesh.

As Dr. Jeff Mirus has written, the more the bishops grandstand on issues of prudential judgment -- over which Catholics may legitimately disagree -- the less they will be listened to when it comes to non-negotiable issues of central importance to Catholics.