Q: How influential is religion on Latino voters as they develop their political opinions and motivations?
A: Religion is a very important component within Latino reality here in the States and outside of the States. Definitely, the church is always looking for the benefit of the people of God. In this case, the church in a very particular way is very careful with anything that affects the Hispanic community. The Latinos are 40 percent of Catholic population; therefore it's a very significant group of the body of Christ, and those 40 percent are the ones we can count. There's a whole number of Latinos that we cannot count because they don't register. It's not part of their tradition, for many other reasons. Therefore, we suspect that the population within the Catholic contingency is higher, perhaps 50-55 percent. When it comes to politics, of course there is an understanding in our Constitution, in our tradition here in the States that Catholic -- church and state should be separated. We understand that. However, there are many areas where they do co-mingle, where they do have to work together somehow through a formal agreement or maybe an informal agreement.
Q: What kinds of issues are particularly important to Latinos as they consider their political stands and their votes? What specific issues really matter to them?
A: Some of the specific issues that are very important to the Latino contingency, the Latino population here in the States, is family, is education, is health. If you really think about it, they're not too different from any other non-Latino realities. But these three in particular -- you know, family, education, health and even work -- those are issues that are very important to the Latino reality in the United States of America. Q: How big has the immigration issue been as politicians debate comprehensive immigration reform? Has this really mobilized people in your community?
A: Indeed, indeed. This issue of developing a comprehensive reform for migrants in our country, it has been a force for many members of my parish, and I know many members of parishes all across the United States of America, because it touches the foundation of justice within a particular group here in the States. Many parishioners, many Latinos, many non-Latinos have been part of this wave that deals with our migrant-immigrant community. And as for me, I think it's very important that we take this seriously, that we do take this seriously, and it doesn't matter if you're coming from a political point of view, economical point of view, religious point of view. This is to be taken seriously because it's a big group we're talking about, and it's a group that has been here for many, many, many centuries.
Q: You mentioned the issue of justice. What are some of the religious and spiritual issues that come into play when we're talking about immigration? What are the theological and spiritual principles behind this community and civic issue?
A: Let's talk about the theology of immigration. Our theology -- the Roman Catholic Church -- starts with the Old Testament. In the Old Testament we have the people of God, the Israelites, looking for the Promised Land, looking for a place to be. And from the Old Testament we have teachings on, you know, be good to the foreigner, be good to those who are not in your circle, be good to those who are from outside of your circle, and that teaching has certainly passed to Jesus Christ in the New Testament. In the New Testament, we have the Lord Jesus Christ making connections with the so-called foreigners, you know, with the Roman soldier, with the woman from Canaan and so forth. So it's a matter of equality. The theology is that foreigners are brothers and sisters through the Lord Jesus Christ. That reality cannot be denied and needs to be addressed. And this is why, from a theological point of view, it makes sense to address this issue, not to pretend that they don't exist, not to pretend that this is not a big deal; it is a big deal because this is a community that has been with us for centuries and for many, many moments in the history of this nation.
Q: How has immigration mobilized some of the people you work with in your archdiocese and your parish to get involved in civic, political and community issues? Has it mobilized them in ways they have not been involved before?
A: Yes. This issue has moved a lot of people in different ways. My goodness, you're talking about giving a voice to the voiceless. You're talking about taking the little ones, those who are undocumented, those who don't have an identity in our society, and you're talking to them, with them, and for them. Also, because it's a matter of justice, you are bringing to the surface, you know, men and women who are part of our society, and the result of that is mobilization. People move because this is such an emotional issue. Yes, it's political, yes, it's spiritual, yes, it is religion and economics, but we're talking emotions. We're talking human beings, and all kinds of emotions arise, you know, to the discussion of this issue -- our immigrant community in the United States. What surprises me is that all kinds of people are coming to the table. This is not just about the Latinos or Hispanics talking. Non-Latinos are talking as well, and non-Latinos are giving voice to the voiceless. Now let's be fair. This nation was founded on immigrants. A hundred years ago it was the Irish and the Polish and the German, and God bless the Irish and the Polish and the German. Well, now it is the Hispanics. Now it is time for a new group to be attended, to be taken care of, to see what it is that they need to become even better members of our society.
Q: In what specific ways are people making their voices heard?
A: Let's begin in the spiritual realm. Prayer services, masses, liturgies -- that's the first step as a Catholic Latino. You know, you start from God; then you move along. You go to different kinds of marches, different kinds of vigils in front of a senator's office, a congressman. We did go to Washington, you know, and then we move to the level of politics. You know, we start an exchange among politicians, and hopefully we will get to the White House, to our president, to see if we can have a healthy discussion. So as you see, we're moving in different directions in the house, spiritually speaking, in our surroundings, as we do marches and vigils and [move] into politics.
