July 28, 2019 - "Bishop Edward Malesic, Bishop of Diocese of Greensburg PA"

I have been watching the activities of Bishop Edward Malesic, fifth bishop of the Diocese of Greensburg, PA, since his installation as the Bishop of Greensburg in 2015.  Some of this would be hometown interest.  The county immediately to the East of Butler County is Armstrong County, which is located in the Greensburg Diocese.
 
In July 2017 Bishop Malesic wrote an impassioned Pastoral Letter:  “From Death and Despair to Life and Hope:  A Pastoral Letter on the Drug Abuse Crisis,” which has devastated Southwestern Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and West Virginia.  The depth of the opioid epidemic has only deepened.  Bishop Malesic was one of the first bishops who was willing to speak his mind about it.
 
On July 12, 2019, Bishop Malesic wrote a compelling letter on the immigration stranglehold and its inhumane consequences to the two U.S. Senators elected by the people of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, to the various members of Congress representing districts in the Greensburg Diocese, and President Trump.  Let me quote some excerpts from his letter:
 
I sometimes wonder what the Diocese of Greensburg would look like today if the doors had been locked to impoverished and persecuted immigrants who came to the United States at the turn of the 20 ^th century looking for safety and a better way of life.  Italian, Polish, Slovak, German, and Irish parishes were formed to help them feel welcomed and assimilated into the American experience.  Their arrival and unfettered settlement in and around Southwestern Pennsylvania are the very foundation of the wide variety of cultures and ethic flavors that have given vibrancy and life to our Western Pennsylvania Communities for well over 100 years.
 
In the Diocese of Greensburg, we still rely upon adequate immigration laws to allow us to do the work of the Church and keep it alive and well.  Today, nearly a third of our pastors or parochial vicars are missionary priests from the Philippines and other countries.  Their work is invaluable to the ministries of the 78 parishes in Westmoreland, Indiana, Fayette, and Armstrong Counties providing spiritual support to nearly 140,000 Catholics.  We have excellent relations with the United States Immigration Department, but the bureaucratic red tape is often so thick that each successful working visa for a priest who has guaranteed work here manages to put a significant strain on the resources of two Diocesan departments for months.  Often the delays caused by our inefficient system of immigration prevents us from serving the needs of our parishes as best we can with the help of these international priests.  With that being said, the inconveniences to us are nothing compared with the terror that many poor and vulnerable children and families face when they approach our borders from the south.
 
Later in the letter Bishop Malesic quoted President Franklin Delano Roosevelt who said the following in 1940:  “Human kindness have never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people.  A nation does not have to be cruel in order to be tough.  The vigorous expression of our American community spirit is truly important. The ancient injunction to love thy neighbor as thyself is still the force that animates our faith—a faith that we are determined shall live and conquer in a world poisoned by hatred and ravaged by war.”

Bishop Malesic closes his letter by asking the two Senators from Pennsylvania to protect the vulnerable, to welcome the stranger, to secure our borders, to tend to the needs of immigrant children and families no matter their home or origin, and to welcome those from dangerous and impoverished countries who have risked life and limb in the hopes of finding the particular brand of American hospitality and care that sets us apart from other nations, and finally, to work as hard as they can to create and support legislation that releases the unnecessary stranglehold on immigration to the United States.
 
Until next week,
Fr. John