Cardinal Rivera calls border wall an “error”

Mexico City, Mexico, Jan 26, 2006 / 22:00 pm

During the III National Congress of the Mexican Bishops’ Committee on Culture, Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera of Mexico City, called the decision by the US government to build a wall on border with Mexico an “error” that harkens to “other eras in history that have already been overcome.”

During the congress, which is focusing on “Migrations, Multiculturalism, and Ministering to the Culture,” the cardinal said the Church is “pilgrim by nature” and that “authentic Catholicism implies an appreciation of all cultures.”

Cardinal Rivera said the phenomenon of immigration is occurring because of economic, family or religious reasons, and that the solution requires the consensus of the affected nations and not unilateral decisions.

Likewise, the cardinal stated that in recent years the immigration of women has increased, making women the breadwinners of their families, with all of the problems that their distance from the home implies.”

Mexican Chancellor Luis Ernesto Derbez Bautista said this week construction of the wall was “unacceptable” because “it will only lead to the degradation of the human condition.” 

Bishop Renato Ascencio Leon, president of the Bishops’ Committee on Human Mobility, invited Mexicans to participate in a day of prayer on January 29 to pray that “the walls not be built, and that instead bridges be established that will lead to better relations.”

In this sense he called on the country’s presidential candidates to include in their proposals “the creation of well-paid jobs so that our countrymen will not have to look for work in other places.”