First, thanks to "A Washington DC Catholic" for shedding the light on this one.
On Sunday, August 1, an illegal alien who also happens to habitually drive while under the influence, was indeed drunk behind the wheel when he collided with three Benedictine nuns, killing one of them. At the time of the accident, he was in the process of deportation, but he had been released by the feds on his own recognizance!
In its August 5th edition, the Catholic Standard ran an article about the tragedy. However, a key detail was omitted. My fellow blogger advises us all of an article in the Richmond Times-Dispatch that says that Carlos Montano, the man who killed and injured the nuns, was being assisted by the Hogar Immigrant Services, an arm of Catholic Charities in Arlington County. At that time, he had at least one other episode of drunk driving. Why did the Catholic Standard make no mention whatsover of the involvement of Catholic Charities in this Montano mess?
The Benedictine nuns have reportedly "decried the politicization of Montano's case." With all due respect to the sisters in their grief, this incident is not just about them. Montano could have killed anyone that morning; the sisters happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. At the time, owing to both his illegal status and to his previous drunk-driving incident, he had no business being let loose.
Had an Arizona-type law been in place and enforced, Sister Denise Mosier might still be alive. When will the progressives in our Church grow up? I am more convinced than ever before that Catholic Charities is another cabal that must be boycotted and even dismantled.
I fail to see what is wrong with a Catholic charity assisting someone in their time of need. Considering Mr. Montano drove drunk twice (and presumably more times except he wasn't caught), it would lead me to think he is an alcoholic in need of help. Based on what I found about the charity online, it seems that they help with everything from food to paying rent and healthcare. I would imagine the charity would be able to help treat his drinking problem, and isn't that a good thing?
ReplyDeleteThe fact that he is an illegal immigrant is morally irrelevant; a drunk driver, regardless of citizenship sins because he puts his life and the lives of others in danger, and in this case, he did kill an innocent person. God doesn't care about a person's legal status. He loves us all equally and when the time for judgment comes, God will not care about Mr. Montano's legal status. Citizenship is a man-made law. Nowhere does God, Jesus, or the Church say that coming to the United States illegally is sinful. The commandment is "Love your neighbor as yourself" not "Love your neighbor as yourself unless that neighbor happens to be in your country illegally." All this charity does is show God's love to people. (I'm not a proponent of open borders, but morally speaking, citizenship or lack thereof is irrelevant.)
While what occurred is a tragedy, this is no different than if an American citizen had been the drunk driver, and it seems the only reason you call attention to it is because the drunk driver was illegal. There is no reason to boycott a charity that seems to be doing good work.
You seem to have some very incorrect concepts about "man-made law". Throughout salvation history, we see that God does delegate authority to civil governments. It stands to reason that if a nation - any nation - is to fulfill its obligations to its citizens, it must regulate its borders: if for nothing else to allow for orderly assimilation into its society. The fact does remain that if Mr Montano had been in custody, the good sister would still be alive.
ReplyDeleteIf the work of Hogar was so much on the up-and-up, why did not the Catholic Standard tout it? My main objection was what might well be a cover-up on their part, much like the way they did not mention that Sister Carol Keehan did one of the readings after she sold countless unborn babies down the river.