Mexico, Mass Migration, and the Example of Moses, Part 9: Strangers No Longer, the USCCB's Subversive Pastoral Letter

One of the mains goals of this blog is to bring a Scripturalist analysis to bear on the events of the day. That is, it is my aim to apply the Scripturalist axiom that the Bible has a systematic monopoly on truth to current events.

As Christians, it can be easy to fall into the trap of supposing that, while the Bible is good for learning about how to be saved, when it comes to the important political and economic questions of the day, we need to look for answers elsewhere rather than in the Word of God.

For a number of years now, the related issues of immigration, migration and refugee resettlement have been at the forefront of the news in Europe, the United States and other areas of the world.

Because of its prominence in the news and because the subject, for the most part, is treated incompetently by the mainstream media, liberals, conservatives, and even Evangelical Christians, I had long wanted to write about immigration but felt somewhat inadequate for the task.

My first systematic foray into the topic was with my series Immigration, Citizenship and the Bible, which I wrote on this blog over a period of about a year and a half from September 2016 through the spring of 2018.

I guess I just can't leave well enough alone. For it was a just a few months later that I started a second immigration series, this time called Mexico, Mass Migration and the Example of Moses, of which this post is the ninth installment.

This new immigration series was prompted by an extraordinary statement made last summer by then Mexican presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO as he is known in Mexico). Said AMLO, "And soon, very soon - after the victory of our movement - we will defend migrants all over the American continent and migrants of the world who, by necessity, must abandon their towns to find life in the United States...It's a human right we will defend." That was in June 2018.

I have to admit that I didn't plan it this way, but just a few months later it appears that, with the Honduran migrant caravan getting a free pass through Mexico as I write, the Mexican government appears to be attempting to make good on AMLO's promise, and he isn't even scheduled to take office until December 1st!

If nothing else, the caravan certainly makes the timing of this series propitious. But it gets even better.

As part of the Mexico, Mass Migration and Moses series, it was my intention from the start to write about one of the key documents supplying the intellectual foundation of the caravan, a 2003 pastoral letter by the Catholic Bishops of Mexico and the United States titled Strangers No longer Together on the Journey of Hope (hereafter SNL).

John Robbins often made the point that the things men do, their practices, always are based on some prior theory. As practical Americans, we tend to disdain theory and focus only on actions. But if it's true that man's actions always represent the practice of some prior theory, and it is, then it is theory that is primary and actions that are secondary. Further, it is theory that should interest us the most.

If a man's ideas about the way the world should work are sound, his practice likewise will tend to be sound. If his world view is based upon false ideas, his practice will tend to be corrupt.

In my review of SNL, I would like once again to focus on the Roman Church-State's theory of migration - in two earlier installments of this series I focused on the most important Roman Catholic migration document of all, Pope Pius XII's 1952 apostolic constitution Exsul Familia; you may read these installments here and here - by comparing the words of the bishops who wrote it with the Word of God. If their ideas - that is, the intellectual foundation of their calls for mass, taxpayer subsidized migration - do not hold up under the light of Scripture, then likewise their proposals for mass migration, immigration and refugee resettlement - including their defense of the caravan - fall too.

And not only does a refutation of SNL devastate the Roman Church-State's theory of migration and nullify its petulant demands that nations pay it heed, it also exposes AMLO's proclamation - which is nothing other than a restatement of Exsul Familia and SNL in his own words - to defend the right of all migrants to come and live in the US as the dangerous absurdity it truly is.

The truth is, refuting SNL from the Scriptures is not all that difficult. In short, SNL is a very Marian document, it is a very socialist document and it is a very globalist document, all which ideas are antithetical to Biblical Christianity. In my following remarks, I shall take on each of these ideas in order.

[caption id="attachment_4701" align="aligncenter" width="488"] Our Lady of Guadalupe.  The papal Antichrist has given this demonic apparition the exalted title of "Patroness of all America."[/caption]

SNL is a Marian Document

Most Americans would be surprised to learn that they have a patroness. Yes, that's right. If you live anywhere in North, South or Central America, Our Lady of Guadalupe is watching over you. She is the Patroness of America, at least if the pope and the Jesuits at America Magazine are to believed.

In the loose logic of SNL, the idea seems to be that, since all Americans - when the bishops speak about Americans, they are referring to all who inhabit North, South and Central America, not only citizens of the US - share a common patroness, that whatever our differences, in the end, we're all one people who share in a common heritage.

And if one accepts our unity in Our Lady of Guadalupe, it's but a small step to justify, not only the right of all peoples in the Americas to migrate to the US, but also the concomitant obligation of American citizens to foot the bill.

In paragraph 3 of SNL, the bishops write,

On January 23, 1999, at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Pope John Paul II presented his apostolic exhortation Ecclesia in America, which resulted from the Synod of Bishops of America. In the spirit of ecclesial solidarity begun in that synod and promoted in Ecclesia in America, and aware of the migration reality our two nations live, we the bishops of Mexico and the United States seek to awaken our peoples to the mysterious presence of the crucified and risen Lord in the person of the migrant and to renew in them the values of the Kingdom of God that he proclaimed.

So the main position paper on the topic of migration in the Americas, SNL, was initially inspired by a speech given by the then occupant of the office of Antichrist at a cathedral built at the instruction of the demonic apparition, popularly known as Our Lady of Guadalupe. This is not a promising start.

But, as the cheesy infomercials like to say, wait, there's more.

The bishops continue,

Under the light of the apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe to the littlest of her children, who were as powerless as most migrants are today, our continent's past and present receive new meaning. It was St. Juan Diego whom our Mother asked to build a temple so in it she could show her love, compassion, aid, and defense to all her children, especially the least among them. Since then, in her Basilica and beyond its walls, she has brought all the peoples of America to celebrate at the table of the Lord, where all his children may partake of and enjoy the unity of the continent in the diversity of its peoples, languages, and cultures.

At the end of this paragraph, there is a note referring the reader to section 11 of the aforementioned apostolic exhortation Ecclesia in America. There, Pope John Paul II lets loose with a remarkable stream of blasphemy, extolling the virtues of Our Lady of Guadalupe and her role in evangelizing America. I won't reproduce it all, but here's a sample,

With the passage of time, pastors and faithful alike have grown increasingly conscious of the role of the Virgin Mary in the evangelization of America. In the prayer composed for the for the Special Assembly for America of the Synod of Bishops, Holy Mary of Guadalupe is invoked as "Patroness of all America and Star of the first and new evangelization". In view of this, I welcome with joy the proposal of the Synod Fathers that the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mother and Evangelizer of America, be celebrated throughout the continent on December 12.

So, in the eyes of the Roman Church-State, all those folks in the caravan aren't to be looked at suspiciously, as if they're doing something wrong. No, they're actually bearers of the "mysterious presence of the crucified and risen Lord" who wish only to evangelize the benighted peoples of the north with the blessed words of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Well (sound of me smacking myself on my bald forehead), since they put it that way, I've come to see the migrant caravan in a whole new light. In fact, I'm actually insulted that there are so few possessing the beautiful feet needed to bring me and my neighbors the blessed gospel of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Should we not expect better than a few thousand migrants? Let them send a million! No, make that ten million, and millions upon millions! Oh, what a blessed spiritual outpouring that would be!

But seriously, back to the bishops, who still haven't finished with OLG. They continue in SNL, writing,

The appearance of Our Lady of Guadalupe to St. Juan Diego revealed the compassionate presence of God reaching out to Mary to be in solidarity with and to give hope to a suffering people. In the same spirit, we, the Catholic bishops of the United States of Mexico and the United States of America, have written this letter to give hope to suffering migrants. We pray that you will experience the same hope that inspired St. Paul in his Letter to the Romans.

The bishops then go on to quote Romans 8, the passage where Paul rhetorically asks "Who will separate us from the love of Christ?," as if their blasphemous, false teaching about OLG has anything whatsoever to do with the apostle's beautiful exhortation.

The final paragraph of SNL is a blessing upon the migrants, including, one would assume, upon those in the caravan. It reads,

And may the blessing of Almighty God come down upon you and be with you forever: the blessing of God the Father, who loves you with an everlasting love, the blessing of God the Son, who was called out of exile in Egypt to be our Savior, and the blessing of God the Holy Spirit, who guides you to extend Christ's reign wherever you go. And may Mary of Guadalupe, our mother, bring you safely home.

Christ concluded his Sermon on the Mount with a parable contrasting two men. One of whom built his house upon the rock, the words of Christ, the other on sand.

What the American and Mexican bishops have given us is a house built upon spiritual sand. It is a migrant program built upon the lies of Antichrist pushing the doctrines of a demonic apparition. This fact alone is enough for any Christian to spot the folly of SNL and reject it out of hand. No further analysis is needed.

Lord willing I shall return to the subject of SNL next week to look at its socialism and its globalism. For these twin killers of liberty and prosperity are part of the warp and woof of the Social Teaching of the Roman Church-State. They are Antichrist's stock in trade.

SNL is a lying document in that it presents a demonic apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe as if it truly were Mary the mother of Jesus. SNL is a blasphemous document in that it exalts this demon as if it spoke the words of truth. Finally, SNL is a subversive document in that, if its provisions are ever fully realized, it will result in the end of the United States as an independent nation and usher in world government.

Closing Thoughts

One of the most disturbing aspects of the reporting on the migrant caravan is that almost no one, regardless of his political inclination, has gone record to lay the cause of the caravan at the feet of the Roman Church-State.

One hears vague rumors about the involvement of George Soros or the UN. President Trump himself recently suggested the involvement of the Democrats.

Many have rightfully raised the question about where the funding and logistical support for the caravan is coming from. But in the end, all they have to offer is speculation.

Far be it from the writer to deny the involvement of Soros, the UN or the Democrats in pushing the caravan. All of these entities have the motive, the means and the history to suggest that they may very well be involved.

But in the opinion of this author, all these commentators are ignoring the 500 pound gorilla sitting right under their noses, the activities of the Antichrist papacy and his henchmen in the hierarchy of the Roman Church-State. These men are the principle drivers behind the migrant caravan and it takes an extraordinary degree of blindness not to see that.

AMLO's speech about defending the right of everyone throughout the world to settle in the United States is not his original thought. He's simply parroting what he learned from his priests and bishops as a cradle Catholic.

Moreover, in saying what he did, he is simply giving popular voice to a widespread belief in Mexico and, one would suppose, other parts of Latin America as well, that it's acceptable to ignore American immigration law, that it is, in fact, the right of Hondurans, Mexicans and others to do so, and that it is the responsibility of the American people to foot the bill for whatever costs are incurred as a result of their law breaking.

But my biggest frustration is not with journalists who fail to see the papacy and the Roman Catholic Church for what they are. My biggest frustration is with the Protestant church in America that is either too spiritually blind to see what our spiritual forebears knew so well about the identity of the Roman Church-State and the papacy or too frightened to say it.

In no sense is Rome the chaste Bride of Christ, the church of Jesus Christ, but is the Babylonian Harlot drunk with the blood of the saints. With her, the kings of the earth commit fornication.

And as the original Westminster Confession teaches, not the bowdlerized version commonly is use today, "There is no other head of the Church but the Lord Jesus Christ. Nor can the Pope of Rome, in any sense, be the head thereof; but is that Antichrist, that man of sin, and son of perdition, that exalts himself, in the Church, against Christ and all that is called God."

If American Protestants can't get this simple truth right, why would we expect secular journalists to get it?

It's almost as if God has caused a stupor to settle over the people of the West in general and of the United States in particular, such that, even when Antichrist is doing his dirty work right under their noses, they lack the discernment to see it.

May God grant us eyes once again to see Rome and the papacy for what they truly are and the courage to stand against them in the name of Christ Jesus.