Cardinal Robert W. McElroy, the archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, has joined with seven Washington-area leaders of other faith traditions in issuing a Jan. 29 statement regarding recent immigration enforcement actions.
Here is the complete statement:
The murders of Renee Good and Alex Pretti – two U.S. citizens devoted to civic engagement and to caring for their immigrant neighbors – have left communities in Minneapolis and across the nation grieving, shaken, and rightly outraged. Their deaths are a profound moral failure, and they demand our collective attention and response.
As faith leaders in the greater Washington, D.C. region, we affirm the sacred worth of every human life. That commitment includes – and compels us to stand with – immigrants and others who are especially vulnerable in this moment. We condemn without reservation the use of indiscriminate and lethal force against civilians. The actions we have witnessed in recent days represent a grave departure from our nation’s deepest moral commitments and from the values of human dignity, restraint, and accountability that our faith traditions uphold. When the power of the state is exercised without regard for life, justice, or the common good, the foundations of democracy itself are put at risk. We speak out now from a place of deep love for our nation and a growing concern that our own local communities will potentially experience the same loss of life and turmoil we are seeing in Minneapolis.
Renee and Alex were killed while seeking justice for their community. We honor their lives by refusing to look away and by calling, together, for accountability from those entrusted with authority. At this pivotal moment in our nation’s life, we are faced with a choice: whether to allow fear, cruelty, and disorder to define us, or to respond with courage, conscience, and moral resolve. We stand with our neighbors, fellow clergy, and state and local leaders who have called on national authorities to end practices that place people in harm’s way.
Throughout history, people of faith have been called to speak when human dignity is threatened. We believe that call is before us now. Communities in the greater Washington region have already experienced the fear and disruption caused by aggressive enforcement tactics, including incidents near schools and houses of worship – places that should remain sanctuaries, not sites of intimidation. We will not accept the tearing apart of our neighborhoods or the normalization of dehumanization. We urge government officials at every level to recommit themselves to policies that uphold life, dignity, and the rule of law. And we call on all people of conscience to work together for a society in which every person can walk their streets without fear, and with the knowledge that they are seen, valued, and protected.
Robert Cardinal McElroy,
Archbishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of Washington
Rabbi Abbi Sharofsky,
Director of Intergroup Relations & Rabbi-in-Residence, JCRC of Greater Washington
Romi Sawhney, Executive Director,
Guru Gobind Singh Foundation (GGSF)
Rev. Dr. Sofía Betancourt,
President of the Unitarian Universalist Association
The Rt. Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde,
Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington
Behram Panthaki,
Head Priest, The Zoroastrian Association of Metropolitan Washington Inc (ZAMWI)
Bishop LaTrelle Miller Easterling,
Resident Bishop, The Baltimore-Washington and Peninsula Delaware Area, The United Methodist Church
Dr. Sousan Abadian,
Executive Director, Interfaith Council of Metropolitan Washington
The complete statement can also be found on the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington’s website at https://jcouncil.org/page/dc-area-faith-leaders-statement-immigration-enforcement-actions
