IMMIGRATION REFORM DOABLE: COALITION NEEDED

Now that our national fiscal issues have been resolved for at least a few months, it's time to enact solid comprehensive immigration reform.

It's interesting that here in California more Republican House members are moving towards a comprehensive approach.  Why?  Because so many of them represent agricultural areas of the State, and their farmer constituents are begging for help because they can't find enough local labor to help with all aspects of the agricultural year, especially at harvest time.

We need to reach out more proactively to all of our House members, including more conservative members--Democrat or Republican.  Our best allies will come from the broad agricultural community:  individual growers, farm organizations, State Farm Bureaus, and the like.

Perhaps we have been too narrow in reaching out to diverse groups to form a broader coalition to get comprehensive immigration reform.  It's interesting that several States which have passed local restrictive laws dealing with immigrants have found great opposition from their agricultural groups.  A few examples:  Colorado, Arizona, Alabama, and Georgia.  We have achieved new partners from those State Farm groups, as well as other Church communities.  In the South, many Evangelical Churches have rallied in support of our immigrants and immigration reform.

Let's proceed forward actively to recruit new partners and collaborators as we make a renewed effort to pass decent and comprehensive immigration reform.

NOW IT'S TIME FOR IMMIGRATION REFORM

With the fiscal crisis in Washington now resolved for at least a few months, now it's time for Congress to move forward with immigration reform.

The Senate has passed a comprehensive Bill to fix our broken immigration system.  Now it's time for the House to take up that same Bill and vote on it.  Many Congress-watchers believe that the House has enough votes to pass the Senate Bill if the Speaker would abandon his stated goal that a majority of House Republicans must agree to the Bill before he brings it up for a vote.  On Wednesday night he suspended that informal rule to pass the fiscal package.

I urge him to do the same with the pending Senate Bill that is now in the House.

Our brothers and sisters who live and work in our midst, albeit in the shadows of our society because of their unauthorized status, deserve respect and dignity as human beings.  They are here because there are low-skilled and low-wage jobs which Americans will simply not do.  We have created a magnet to attract them here, and having benefited from their hard labors, we now have an obligation to offer them an earned path to full legal status.

You and I still have work to do:  send an email to your Representative in the House urging them to put aside petty objections and to vote for the Senate Bill which is now before them.

May the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph intercede for us on behalf of all immigrants in our midst!

GOVERNOR JERRY BROWN ON ABUSE VICTIMS

October 12, 2013

To the Members of the California State Senate:

I am returning Senate Bill 131 without my signature.

This bill makes amendments to the statute of limitations relating to claims of childhood sexual abuse. Specifically, it amends and significantly expands a 2002 law to "revive" certain claims that previously had been time barred.

Statutes of limitation reach back to Roman law and were specifically enshrined in the English common law by the Limitations Act of 1623. Ever since, and in every state, including California, various limits have been imposed on the time when lawsuits may still be initiated. Even though valid and profoundly important claims are at stake, all jurisdictions have seen fit to bar actions after a lapse of years.

The reason for such a universal practice is one of fairness. There comes a time when an individual or organization should be secure in the reasonable expectation that past acts are indeed in the past and not subject to further lawsuits. With the passage of time, evidence may be lost or disposed of, memories fade and witnesses move away or die.

Over the years, California's laws regarding time limits for childhood sexual abuse cases have been amended many times. The changes have affected not only how long a person has to make a claim, but also who may be sued for the sexual abuse. The issue of who is subject to liability is an important distinction as the law in this area has always and rightfully imposed longer periods of liability for an actual perpetrator of sexual abuse than for an organization that employed that perpetrator. This makes sense as third parties are in a very different position than perpetrators with respect to both evidence and memories.

For claims against a perpetrator of abuse, the current law is that a claimant must sue within eight years of attaining the age of majority (i.e. age 26) or "within three years of the date the plaintiff discovers or reasonably should have discovered that psychological injury or illness occurring after the age of majority was caused by the sexual abuse, whichever period expires later?" However, for claims against a third party ? e.g. an organization that employed the perpetrator of the abuse ? the general rule since 1998 was that a claimant must sue before he or she turns 26. A later discovered psychological injury ? no matter how compelling ? could not be brought against a third party by a person older than 26.

When a number of high profile sex abuse scandals in both public and private institutions came to light, many felt that the third party limitation rule described above was too harsh and that claimants over 26 should be able to recover damages for later discovered injuries from certain, more culpable entities.

In 2002, the California Legislature weighed the competing considerations on this issue and enacted SB 1779, which did the following: (1) It identified for the first time a new subcategory of third party defendants which no longer would have the protection of the age 26 cutoff for claims. Going forward these defendants ? entities who knew or should have known of the sexual abuse and failed to take action - now could be sued within three years of the date of discovery of a claim. (2) Looking backwards, SB 1779 also revived for one year only (2003) all claims that had previously lapsed because of the statute of limitation. This very unusual "one year revival" of lapsed claims allowed victims relief but also set a defined cut-off time for these lapsed claims.

In reliance on the clear language and intent of this statute, the private third party defendants covered by this bill took actions to resolve these legacy claims of victims older than 26. Over 1,000 claims were filed against the Catholic Church alone, some involving alleged abuse as far back as the 1930s. By 2007, the Catholic Church in California had paid out more than $1.2 billion to settle the claims filed during this one year revival period. Other private and non-profit employers were sued and paid out as well.

For the public third parties covered by this bill, however, a very different result occurred. There is no doubt that in 2002, when SB 1779 was enacted, it was intended to apply to both public and private entities. Indeed, it would be unreasonable, if not shocking, for the Legislature to intentionally discriminate against one set of victims, e.g. those whose abusers happened to be employed by a public instead of a private entity. However, due to a drafting error, the California Supreme Court held in 2007 that SB 1779 did not actually apply to public or governmental agencies. So, unlike private institutions, public schools and government entities were shielded from the one year revival of lapsed claims. As a result, the similarly situated victims of these entities were not accorded the remedies of SB 1779.

In 2008, the Legislature addressed this unfair distinction between victims of public as opposed to private institutions. Note, however, that the bill enacted, SB 640, did not restore equity between these two sets of victims. Instead of subjecting public/governmental entities to all of the provisions of the 2002 law, the Legislature only allowed victims of public institutions to sue under the new rules prospectively-from 2009 forward-and provided no "one year revival" period. In passing this 2008 law, I can't believe the legislature decided that victims of abuse by a public entity are somehow less deserving than those who suffered abuse by a private entity. The children assaulted by Jerry Sandusky at Penn State or the teachers at Miramonte Elementary School in Los Angeles are no less worthy because of the nature of the institution they attended. Rather, I believe that legislators, in good faith, weighed the merits of such claims against the equities of allowing claims to be brought against third parties years after the abuse occurred. The Legislature concluded that fairness required that certain claims should be allowed, but only going forward.

This brings us to the bill now before me, SB 131. This bill does not change a victim's ability to sue a perpetrator. This bill also does not change the significant inequity that exists between private and public entities. What this bill does do is go back to the only group, i.e. private institutions, that have already been subjected to the unusual "one year revival period" and makes them, and them alone, subject to suit indefinitely. This extraordinary extension of the statute of limitations, which legislators chose not to apply to public institutions, is simply too open-ended and unfair. For all these reasons, I am returning SB 131 without my signature.

Sincerely,

Edmund G. Brown Jr.

Governor of California 

DRIVERS PERMITS FOR CA IMMIGRANTS

Governor Jerry Brown signed into law a provision allowing unauthorized immigrants across California to apply for and receive State-issued drivers permits.

I applaud this new law since it accomplishes many positive goals:  it recognizes the presence of many brothers and sisters among us without proper legal papers, and extends to them respect and dignity; it will ensure that all drivers on California roads will have studied for testing, and have taken a driving exam; it will require all such persons to have proper automobile insurance; and it will make our roads safer for everyone.

Some 1.4 million California immigrants would be eligible to apply for the new driving permits.

The new driving permits will appear differently from regular California drivers licenses which bear the logo "DL" for Driver's License.  These special permits will bear the logo "DP" for Driving Privilege, thus reducing their possible usage for other identification purposes.

It is expected that the Department of Motor Vehicles will start issuing the new driving permits by September or October of 2014.

While this step forward for our immigrant brothers and sisters is important, it does not address all of the other major stumbling blocks facing unauthorized persons in our country.  We must still insist on comprehensive immigration reform to bring all immigrants out from the shadows where they now live in fear, hardships, and discrimination.

POPE FRANCIS: WORLD DAY OF MIGRANTS & REFUGEES

The Vatican has just released the Message from Pope Francis for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees observed this coming January.

Pope Francis offers us the context for looking at this issue today:

"From the Christian standpoint, the reality of migration, like other human realities, points to the tension between the beauty of creation, marked by Grace and the Redemption, and the mystery of sin.  Solidarity, acceptance, and signs of fraternity and understanding exist side by side with rejection, discrimination, trafficking and exploitation, suffering and death.  Particularly disturbing are those situations where migration is not only involuntary, but actually set in motion by various forms of human trafficking and enslavement.  Nowadays, 'slave labor" is common coin."

He points out that so often the scandal of poverty is the root cause of mass migration of peoples around the world--some 400 million people on the move each year.  Pope Francis notes:

"While encouraging the development of a better world, we cannot remain silent about the scandal of poverty in its various forms.  Violence, exploitation, discrimination, marginalization, restrictive approaches to fundamental freedoms, whether of individuals or of groups:  these are some of the chief elements of poverty which need to be overcome.  Often these are precisely the elements which mark migratory movements, thus linking migration to poverty.  Fleeing from situations of extreme poverty or persecution in the hope of a better future, or simply to save their own lives, millions of persons choose to migrate.  Despite their hopes and expectations, they often encounter mistrust, rejection and exclusion, to say nothing of tragedies and disasters which offend their human dignity."

The Pope then acknowledges yet another obstacle encountered by peoples on the move:

"Finally, in considering the situation of migrants and refugees, I would point to yet another element in building a better world, namely, the elimination of prejudices and presuppositions in the approach to migration.  Not infrequently, the arrival of migrants, displaced persons, asylum-seekers and refugees gives rise to suspicion and hostility.  There is a fear that society will become less secure, that identify and culture will be lost, that competition for jobs will become stiffer and even that criminal activity will increase."

Our Holy Father points to the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph as examples of migrants and refugees--forced to flee their homeland because of death threats.

He calls us to see our brothers and sisters to be welcomed, respected and loved.  This attitude is so essential in our own country as the House of Representatives crafts legislation to help our 11 million unauthorized persons achieve full dignity, respect, and opportunity.

POPE FRANCIS' VISION FOR ALL OF US IN THE CHURCH

America magazine has published an extraordinary interview with Pope Francis by Rev. Antonio Spadaro, S.J., editor in chief of La Civilita Cattolica conducted in August.  One can easily find the entire interview on-line, and I encourage you to read it--actually, to reflect upon it deeply since Pope Francis signals his vision for all of us in the Church today.

While I am struck by many elements of the interview, the following are the ones which most captivated me:

I.  The Pope's Jesuit Formation       When Fr. Spadaro asks Pope Francis to identify who he is, he responds "I am a sinner.  This is the most accurate definition.  It is not a figure of speech, a literary genre.  I am a sinner."  But he hastens to add that he is a sinner with hope:  "I am one who is looked upon by the Lord." 

Pope Francis early on felt the need to be a part of a dynamic community.  He did not envision himself living alone; he loves people and needs to be in their midst.  This is the reason he resides at the Santa Marta hotel in the Vatican. 

The notion of discernment which was highlight by St. Ignatius in his Spiritual Exercises also plays a large role in the life and ministry of Pope Francis.  "Discernment is always done in the presence of the Lord, looking at the signs, listening to the things that happen, the feeling of the people, especially the poor.  My choices, including those related to the day-to-day aspects of life, like the use of a modest car, are related to a spiritual discernment that responds to a need that arises from looking at things, at people and from reading the signs of the times.  Discernment in the Lord guides me in my way of governing."

He offers a good example in the life of Pope John XXIII who had as a motto:  "See everything, turn a blind eye to much; correct a little."  Living that out for all of us would create enormous positive changes in all of us!

II.  Church Government      Pope Francis explains how as a young Provincial for the Jesuits he did not carry out sufficient and broad consultation.  He points out two attributes to a fine leader:  broad consultation, and entrusting a task to someone with total trust in that person.

The image of the Church he favors "is that of the holy, faithful people of God....The people itself constitutes a subject.  And the Church is the people of God on the journey through history, with joys and sorrows.  Thinking with the Church, therefore, is my way of being a part of this people....When the dialogue among the people and the bishops and the pope goes down this road and is genuine, then it is assisted by the Holy Spirit.  So this thinking with the Church does not concern theologians only."

III.  The Church as Field Hospital      "I see clearly," the Pope continues, "that the thing the Church needs most today is the ability to heal wounds and to warm the hearts of the faithful; it needs nearness, proximity.  I see the Church as a field hospital after battle.  It is useless to ask a seriously injured person if he has high cholesterol and about the level of his blood sugars!  You have to heal wounds.  Then we can talk about everything else.  Heal the wounds, heal the wounds.... And you have to start from the ground up."

"I dream of a Church that is a mother and shepherdess.  The Church's ministers must be merciful, take responsibility for the people and accompany them like the good Samaritan, who washes, cleans and raises up his neighbor.  This is pure Gospel....The first reform must be the attitude.

"Instead of being just a Church that welcomes and receives by keeping the doors open, let us try also to be a Church that finds new roads, that is able to step outside itself and go to those who do not attend Mass, to those who have quit or are indifferent.  The ones who quit sometimes do it for reasons that, if properly understood and assessed, can lead to a return.  But that takes audacity and courage."

Pope Francis then continues to spell out how the Church must know and love Jesus, must live out the Gospels, and must be the beacon for forgiveness, mercy, acceptance, and hope for the world.

IV.  Collegiality      The gift of collegiality is very important for Pope Francis, not only in the reform of the Curia but in the right relationship among all of the Particular Churches with the See of Peter.  He explains:  "We must walk together:  the people, the bishops and the pope.  Synodality should be lived at various levels.  Maybe it is time to change the methods of the Synod of Bishops, because it seems to me that the current method is not dynamic.  This will also have ecumenical value, especially with out Orthodox brethren.  From them we can learn more about the meaning of episcopal collegiality and the tradition of synodality.  The joint effort of reflection, looking at how the Church was governed in the early centuries, before the breakup between East and West, will bear fruit in due time.  In ecumenical relations it is important not only to know each other better, but also to recognize what the Spirit has sown in the other as a gift for us."

He emphasizes how the Second Vatican Council was a re-reading of the Gospel in light of contemporary culture.  The Council's "renewal movement simply comes from the Gospel.  Its fruits are enormous.  Just recall the liturgy.  The work of liturgical reform has been a service to the people as a re-reading of the Gospel from a concrete historical situation.  Yes, there are hermeneutics of continuity and discontinuity, but one thing is clear:  the dynamic of reading the Gospel, actualizing its message for today--which was typical of Vatican II--is absolutely irreversible."

 

**********

 

Pope Francis gives his views on many other important issues, such as the important role of women in the Church; the value of art, music, and plays in bringing Christ to the world;  the need for genuine "hope" over optimism; the triumph of Jesus Christ over the mediocrity of today's culture.

 

Our Holy Father has given us a splendid panorama of the Church as we move forward, his vision statement, if you will.  I find his vision appealing, captivating, and inviting!  I am enthralled with how Pope Francis continues to show us the way forward towards the fullness of Christ, especially in his daily homilies and his many addresses which are filled with discernment and hope.

 

I hope that you reflect deeply upon this interview, and you will also capture the depth and wonder of the Successor of Peter whom the Holy Spirit has given to us.

 



POPE FRANCIS & SYRIA

Principles for a Just Solution to the Conflict in Syria

Vatican City, 6 September 2013 (VIS)

Yesterday Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, secretary for Relations with States, met with ambassadors to the Holy See to express the concerns of the Holy Father and the Vatican regarding the unstable situation of peace throughout the world, with special attention to the Middle East and Syria in particular.

The prelate remarked that the Holy Father has on various occasions publicly denounced the conflict in Syria which has so far claimed the lives of over 110,000 civilians, caused innumerable casualties, created four million refugees within the country, and provoked an exodus of more than two million into neighboring countries.  "Faced with facts of this type, one cannot remain silent," he said, "and the Holy See hopes that the competent institutions will clarify the situation and those responsible will be held accountable."

Archbishop Mamberti reiterated that the cessation of violence is an "absolute priority," and made an appeal to the Parties not to remain "wrapped up in their own interests, but to take with courage and decision the path of encounter and negotiation, overcoming blind opposition", and added a second plea to the international community "to make every effort to promote, without further delay, clear initiatives for peace in the Nation, always based on dialogue and negotiation."

He emphasized the importance of "the necessity and urgency of respect for human rights," and "the urgent need for humanitarian assistance for the majority of the population."  In addition he gave thanks for the generosity of many governments in favor of the suffering Syrian population.

Mamberti underlined that the Catholic Church, for her part, is committed with all the means at her disposal to the humanitarian assistance of the population, Christian or not, and mentioned some matters that the Holy See considers to be of importance in an eventual plan for the future of Syria.

The general principles he proposed for arriving at a just solution to the conflict include:  striving for the reinstatement of dialogue between the Parties and for the reconciliation of the Syrian population;  the preservation of the unity of the country, avoiding  the creation of different zones for the various components of society;  and guaranteeing, alongside the unity of the country, also its territorial integrity.

The secretary also referred to the importance of asking all groups to offer guarantees that, in tomorrow's Syria, there will be a place for all, especially minorities including Christians.  Mamberti mentioned the importance of respect for human rights and religious freedom, and he emphasized the equal importance of the concept of citizenship, on the basis of which all, independently of their ethnic origin or religious beliefs, are citizens of equal dignity, with equal rights and duties.

He concluded by drawing attention to the particularly worrying phenomenon of "the growing presence of extremist groups in Syria, often originating from other countries.  It is therefore important to urge the population and also opposition groups to distance themselves from such extremists, to isolate them and to oppose terrorism openly and clearly."