ARCHBISHOP PIETRO SAMBI: SUPERB PASTOR

Pope Benedict XVI's personal representative to the United States, Archbishop Pietro Sambi, died on July 27. Archbishop Sambi had been our Apostolic Nuncio for some six years.

As soon as Archbishop Sambi arrived in our country, he began immediately to know the Church in the United States. He was filled with the love of God and the joy of Risen Life in Jesus Christ. Wherever he went around the country he brought enthusiasm, hope, and a deepened commitment to the Church.

His arrival here in the midst of the horrific clergy sexual abuse scandal showed his qualities of a good shepherd, and how he prayed and worked to bring about healing and reconciliation for all of us in the Church. When so many were discouraged because of the scandal, he brought a message of forgiveness and hope for those who had suffered, as well as a call for the entire Church to make the protection of children our highest priority.

His previous post was as the Apostolic Delegate to Jerusalem and Palestine, and he was keenly aware of the importance of the Christians living in the area of the Holy Lands. He made friends with the Jewish people, the Arabs, and the Palestinians in those lands, and his message was always one of healing and reconciliation among those peoples whose lives were shaped by Salvation History, especially the ministry of Jesus Christ in their midst.

Those of us involved in the Knights and Ladies of the Holy Sepulcher deeply appreciated his understanding of the important place in the world, and he was always supportive of our efforts to assist the peoples there.

All of us in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles are particularly grateful to Archbishop Sambi for his essential role in our Holy Father's appointment of Archbishop Jose H. Gomez to serve as our new Archbishop. We continue to thank God for the presence and the pastoral leadership of Archbishop Gomez in our midst.

Please keep Archbishop Sambi and his family in your prayers, and let us pray that his many virtues and qualities as a pastor will be a model for all of us as continue on our journeys towards the Kingdom of God.

CALIFORNIA GETS FIRST HALF OF DREAM ACT

On July 25 Governor Jerry Brown of California signed into law AB 130 [Assemblyman Gil Cedillo] which now permits undocumented college students to access various private financial aid sources to assist them attend college in the state.

This is the first time in the country that undocumented students will be able to apply legally for private tuition grants to enter and remain in college programs.

Keep in mind that this California DREAM Act is aimed at helping those students who were brought to the State as minors 16 or younger, and whose only country of memory is the United States.

But AB 130 still only helps with the simple part of solving the plight of these young men and women. The more important need is to have Congress pass the federal DREAM Act so that these students might also access a legal path to residency and eventually to citizenship. Then, having graduated from a college or university in California, they would be able to get jobs legally, become contributing members of our society, and start paying taxes.

On February 9 of this year, I placed a blog entitled "Tragic Waste of Our Youth and Our Money" showing how we invest about $174,000 educating these young people in high school and college, but when they are now ready to pay taxes and begin returning that investment, we won't allow them.

Hindering undocumented college students is wrong on all counts--morally, socially, and economically. With some 10,000 baby boomers beginning to retire each day across the country, we will need all of our college and university graduates to not only fill those jobs, but to help create new employment opportunities in exciting new fields.

With some 11,000,000 undocumented people living in our country, with many working and living in the shadows and on the edges of our society, we have a moral obligation to enact Federal legislation which ends our national dilemma: how to balance the need for legal workers at all levels of the work force with the availability of workers.

Assemblyman Cedillo has a companion Bill, AB 131, which would allow these same students to apply for certain California tuition assistance programs, such as Cal Grants. That Bill is pending in the legislature.

I understand the views and feelings of those who oppose giving undocumented residents any recognition or assistance. But leaving millions of people in underground employment and in the shadows of society does not strengthen our nation--it weakens it.

The California DREAM Act is a first step in recognizing the potential which our undocumented college students are ready to offer the State. But we now need a structured path whereby they can become legal residents able to contribute fully to the economic and social development of our communities.

Sadly, political polarization has stymied Congress in its efforts to enact desperately needed immigration reform. The Federal focus is only on enforcement--which only misdirects our limited resources to chasing employed people like criminals.

We should be directing our energy helping to bring these people into full legal compliance so that their employment more fully builds up the nation as legal taxpayers.

BESTOWAL of the PALLIUM

Today, the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul, a grand celebration of the Holy Eucharist took place in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome! Our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, celebrated the 60th Anniversary of his Ordination to the Priesthood, as well as the Bestowal of the Pallium upon 40 new Archbishops from throughout the world.

Those of us in Los Angeles were particularly blessed since our Archbishop, the Most Reverend Jose H. Gomez, received his Pallium as the Metropolitan Archbishop of Los Angeles. He was accompanied by all of the Auxiliary Bishops, many priests, Religious, and lay men and women.

The Holy Father's homily focused upon the Gospel passage which was proclaimed 60 years ago at his own Ordination: "I no longer call you servants, but friends" (cf. John 15:15). He explained to us: "Friendship is not just about knowing someone, it is above all a communion of the will. It means that my will grows into ever greater conformity with his will. For his will is not something external and foreign to me, something to which I more or less willingly submit or else refuse to submit. No, in friendship, my will grows together with his will, and his will becomes mine: this is how I become truly myself."

This gradual blending of our own will with that of Jesus Christ is a daily task for us as disciples of Jesus, and the fullness of our friendship occurs when we are with Jesus in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Speaking to the new Archbishops, Pope Benedict highlighted three aspects of receiving the Pallium. First, "It may remind us in the first instance of Christ's easy yoke that is laid upon us (cf. Matthew 11:29f). Christ's yoke is identical with friendship."

Second, "Thus it reminds us of the Shepherd who himself became a lamb, out of love for us. It reminds us of Christ, who set out through the mountains and the deserts, in which his lamb, humanity, had strayed. It reminds us of him who took the lamb--humanity--me--upon his shoulders, in order to carry me home."

Third, "Finally the Pallium also means quite concretely the communion of the shepherds of the Church with Peter and with his successors--it means that we must be shepherds for unity and in unity, and that it is only in the unity represented by Peter that we truly lead people to Christ."

I recommend that you pray over the entire homily which can be found at the new Vatican news site: http://www.news.va/

Truly, today June 29, has been a great day of drawing closer to Jesus Christ and to feeling deeply the bonds which unite all of us around the world as members of the Body of Christ!

PALLIUM PILGRIMAGE to ROME

About 400 members of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles are en route to Rome for the bestowal of the Pallium upon Archbishop Jose H. Gomez, the Archbishop of Los Angeles, by Pope Benedict XVI on June 29, the feast of Saints Peter and Paul.

But what is the Pallium? It is a circular band about 2" wide, worn about the neck and having two pendants--one hanging down in front and one behind. It is worn over the chasuble at Mass. Every February two lambs are blessed each year and their white wool is used to make the Pallium. The wool is presented to the Pope, and Sisters then make the Pallium for the new Archbishops.

Who wears the Pallium? The Pallium is worn by Archbishops who are also Metropolitan Archbishops--they head up a Province of Dioceses. Archbishop Gomez is the Metropolitan Archbishop of the Province of Los Angeles, and he presides over the Archdiocese of Los Angeles directly, and indirectly, over the Dioceses of Monterey, Fresno, San Bernardino, Orange, and San Diego.

Interesting: even though Archbishop Gomez served as the Archbishop of San Antonio and wore the Pallium there, if he is transferred to a different Metropolitan Archdiocese, he is required to receive a new Pallium. The former Pallium is placed in his casket upon his death and Funeral Mass.

The new Palliums are solemnly blessed on the eve of the feast of Saints Peter and Paul, and are kept in a special silver-gilt container in front of the Main Altar in St. Peter's Basilica.

It is not clear when the bestowal and use of the Pallium began in our Church. However, the first mention of the Pallium being used is in the first half of the 4th century--a long time ago. Pope Marcus, who died in 336, conferred the right to wear the Pallium on the Bishop of Ostia, near Rome. The wearing of the Pallium was more common in the 5th century.

The use of the Pallium among Metropolitan Archbishops did not become general until the 9th century, when the obligation was laid upon all Metropolitans.

The obvious purpose of the Pallium was to link in a special way the Bishop of Rome with all of the Metropolitan Provinces throughout the world. The oath of allegiance to the Holy Father remains an important aspect of this impressive Ceremony.

As early as the 6th century, the Pallium was considered a liturgical vestment to be used only in the Church, and indeed only during Mass.

I received the Pallium on June 29, 1986. Upon my retirement on February 28, 2011, I no longer wear the Pallium. It has been placed in my crypt in the Cathedral, and will be worn over my vestments upon my Funeral Mass and burial.

All of us accompany Archbishop Gomez with prayer and fraternal support as he receives his Pallium on June 29! It is a privilege for so many of us to be in Rome for this wondrous Liturgy which links the Universal Church to the See of Peter in Rome.

AGRICULTURE INDUSTRY FACES LABOR WOES IN IMMIGRATION DEBATE

[This very insightful Associated Press article highlights the economic disaster confronting the agriculture industry in our country if meaningful and comprehensive immigration reform is not passed and implemented soon. Many other U.S. industries are faced with the same problems because the orderly supply of workers is not in harmony with the demands for workers.]

By ALICIA A. CALDWELL, Associated Press – June 4, 2011

WASHINGTON (AP) — The agriculture industry fears a disaster is on the horizon if the one bit of new immigration policy that Congress seems to agree on becomes law.

A plan to require all American businesses to run their employees through E-Verify, a program that confirms each is legally entitled to work in the U.S., could wreak havoc on an industry where 80 percent of the field workers are illegal immigrants. So could the increased paperwork audits already under way by the Obama administration.

"We are headed toward a train wreck," said Rep. Zoe Lofgren, a California Democrat whose district includes agriculture-rich areas. "The stepped up (workplace) enforcement has brought this to a head."

Lofgren said farmers are worried that their work force is about to disappear. They say they want to hire legal workers and U.S. citizens, but that it's nearly impossible, given the relatively low wages and back-breaking work.

Wages can range from minimum wage to more than $20 an hour. But workers often are paid by the piece; the faster they work, they more they make. A steady income lasts only as long as the planting and harvesting seasons, which can be measured in weeks.

"Few citizens express interest, in large part because this is hard, tough work," Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsak said this past week. "Our broken immigration system offers little hope for producers to do the right thing."

Arturo S. Rodriguez, president of United Farm Workers, said migrant farm workers are exposed to blistering heat with little or no shade and few water breaks. It's skilled work, he said, requiring produce pickers to be exact and quick. While the best mushroom pickers can earn about $35,000 to $40,000 a year for piece work, there's little chance for a good living and American workers don't seem interested in farm jobs.

"It is extremely difficult, hard, dangerous work," Rodriguez said.

Last year Rodriguez's group started the "Take Our Jobs" campaign to entice American workers to take the fields. He said of about 86,000 inquiries the group got about the offer, only 11 workers took jobs.

"That really was thought up by farm workers trying to figure out what is it we needed to do to show that we are not trying to take away anyone's job," Rodriguez said.

Vilsak and the American Farm Bureau Federation president, Bob Stallman, said in a recent conference call with reporters that the best and likely only hope to stave off an economic catastrophe for American farmers and consumers is comprehensive overhaul of immigration policy. Vilsak said the industry is worth about $5 billion to $9 billion a year.

"We need to address the agriculture labor supply," Stallman said. "This situation will affect the future of America's farmers and ranchers."

Manuel Cunha, president of Nisei Farmers League, a group representing growers in central California, said farmers don't have the wherewithal to verify a worker's status when their labor force is often hired on the spot and in a hurry to pick ripe crops. Forcing them to verify a worker's legal status, he said, would prove disastrous.

"If we were to use E-Verify now, we'd shut down, either that or farmers would go to prison," said Cunha, a Fresno-based citrus farmer. "We've admitted many workers are not legal and if you have to get rid of everybody, where do I go to get my labor? Nowhere. We have to have a work force that we can put in the system."

Shawn Coburn, a politically active farmer who grows thousands of acres of almonds on the west side Fresno County, said he favors tighter borders, a guest worker program and a path to citizenship for those already in the U.S., or at the very least their children. But, like Cunha, he believes a mandatory E-Verify plan would be nothing but trouble for the industry.

"I don't think it's going to happen, but if it does it would throw the California economy for a loop," Coburn said.

Without a broad overhaul in the works, industry officials have focused on improving the H-2A temporary agricultural workers visa program that's aimed at allowing season workers to come and work on U.S. farms.

The program, however, is costly, time consuming and inefficient, according to Cathleen Enright, vice president of federal government affairs for the Western Growers Association.

"It has never been a great program or easy to work with," Enright said. "It's an unbelievably crushing program."

There isn't enough capacity in the system to process, interview and approve visa applications for the nearly 1 million seasonal workers who take to the fields every season. Farmers are required to pay for a worker's transportation from their home country to the fields, provide housing and other benefits.

Even minor violations of the numerous rules and regulations that govern the H-2A program can lead to hefty fines, Enright said.

"It's too expensive, it's too litigious, it's too bureaucratic," said Lee Wicker, deputy director of the North Carolina Growers Association. "We need a program that farmers can use and have confidence in."

Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., said farmers in his area want to do the right thing and hire legal workers but they are frustrated with the stifling bureaucracy that comes with the visa program.

"It's a labyrinthine visa process, with the slow walking of applications," Gowdy said. "You could not by accident come up with a better plan to ruin the small family farm."

Farmers, he said, "are just at their wits' end."

Using the program to get workers can put farmers at a disadvantage if their competitors decide to take their chances and hire illegal workers, Wicker said.

Lawmakers agree the visa program is problematic, but there's a wide divide on how to make it workable.

In 2009, Rep. Howard Berman, D-Calif., and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., introduced legislation that would have given temporary resident status to immigrant farm workers and have created a path to legal residency for those workers after five years.

Neither bill, known as the AgJOBS Act, made it out committee. The idea is part of the discussion involving changes to the seasonal workers visa program, but Republicans have pledged to block it because it includes a path to legal status for immigrant workers.

Rep. Dan Lungren, a California Republican from an agriculture industry-heavy district near Sacramento, has said he sees that same "train wreck" Lofgren described, but that the AgJOBS bill isn't the answer.

"We're going to have a crisis in agriculture," Lungren said during a hearing this year on the visa program by the House Judiciary subcommittee on immigration policy and enforcement. "And while it sounds great to say an agreement (on AgJOBS) is going to take care of it, it's not going to pass."

About the only hope for success for any immigration-related legislation, Lungren and others say, is a bill that would make it mandatory for American employers to use the government's E-Verify program to ensure their workers are legal.

GOP Rep. Lamar Smith of Texas, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, has pledged to introduce such legislation. Such a proposal appeared to get a push this past week when the Supreme Court ruled 5-3 in favor of an Arizona law that allows the state to penalize businesses for hiring illegal immigrant workers.

Agriculture officials say there needs to be some exception for farm workers.

"It needs to take into account the unique aspects of agriculture," Vilsak said.

U.S. SUPREME COURT & IMMIGRATION

All the U.S. Supreme Court did on May 26 was to nibble around the edges of our completely out-dated system to balance the need for workers with the supply for those workers.

The decision places greater burdens upon employers to verify the legal status of employees and applicants for jobs. Employer groups across the country have complained about these burdens on two counts: first, the Congress refuses to recognize the inability of employers to find workers for industries such as agriculture, restaurants, hotel and tourism among legal residents; and second, how difficult it is to function in a status verification process which is cumbersome, slow, and often wrong.

In the past, many Supreme Court decisions have contained express language urging Congress to enact legislative remedies in areas where a legislative void or confusion is present. Such a recommendation to Congress would have been far more helpful than permitting States to pass their own unequal and confusing laws on how to deal with the federal issue of immigration.

I fear that this decision will prompt many States to pass a variety of laws which are dissimilar, unclear, and burdensome to implement. Has not the Court invited a whole new barrage of cases testing the limits of this piece-meal approach?

Worse of all, the Court failed to understand the very difficult plight of immigrant workers who came to this country to meet the demand for employees from a vast number of industries. Virtually all of these workers are members of blended families--some members are legal residents, some are not. This Court decision seems to suggest that such undocumented workers will simply pack up and return to their countries of origin. Family members will not do that. The result will be more people in our country living unprotected in the shadows of society, and more employers finding ways around the burdensome regulations. Neither outcome serves our country well.

It is mystifying why the Court makes no reference to the 4,500,000 undocumented people in our country who came here on valid visas [mostly on commercial planes], but just never left after those visas expired. Why does the federal government refuse to implement a post-visa tracking system?

Congress has a moral duty to recognize the current outdated immigration system and to lead the nation in a civil discussion to deal with our employment imbalance, and to enact comprehensive immigration reform now--not promise to do so after the next election cycle.

By simply nibbling around the edges of our immigration mess, the Court has given the country a confusing policy of frayed edges--but no clear mandate to deal once and for all with our antiquated and unworkable immigration laws.

This decision offers President Obama and Congressional leaders the impetus to move immigration reform legislation forward now, rather than more years of these piece-meal legislative and judicial remedies.

USNS CESAR CHAVEZ

I commend Navy Secretary Ray Maybus for deciding to name a Navy cargo ship after the California farmworker leader, Cesar Chavez.

No previous Navy cargo ship has ever been named to honor a Hispanic. This tribute is far overdue.

Cesar Chavez served in the Navy from 1946 to 1948. He had two cousins who were killed fighting in World War II. Chavez was awarded the U.S. Medal of Freedom in 1994.

It is ironic that Cesar would never have wanted any type of personal honor. His entire life was spent in that selfless service of others, especially poor farmworkers who had no voice, no power, nor ability to improve their lot.

Chavez made the plight of farmworkers, many undocumented men and women, a cause of national concern and embarrassment. His non-violent approach to organizing farmworkers in a real sense has never ceased. Because of the selfless work of farmworkers, we Americans pay only 6% of our annual incomes on food. That stands in stark contrast to almost every other country in the world where food takes a very large percentage of their incomes.

The USNS Cesar Chavez has a nice ring to it, and I look forward to its launching.