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	Cardinal's Award for His Immigration Stance Protested by Survivors' Group By Rich Heffern Catholic Online May 1, 2007 http://www.catholic.org/national/national_story.php?id=23955 El Paso, Texas – When Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony received the Voice of the Voiceless Award in El Paso, Texas, the presentation was protested by about 25 members of the El Paso Chapter of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP). The award was given on April 14 to Cardinal Mahony by Annunciation House, an El Paso shelter for undocumented immigrants and refugees, for his "longtime advocacy and solidarity with immigrants and the undocumented and more recently, for his courageous stand, opposition and intention to defy HR 4437 should it be made the law of the land and for his willingness to go to prison should such defiance require it." Passed by the U.S. House of Representatives in 2005, HR 4437 is known as the Border Protection, Anti-terrorism and Illegal Immigration Control Act. It has not passed the U.S. Senate. Annunciation House has given two previous Voice of the Voiceless Awards, to Bishop Samuel Ruiz García, bishop emeritus of San Cristóbal de las Casas, Mexico, in 2003, and in 2005 to Ursuline Sister Dianna Ortiz, who was kidnapped, raped and tortured in Guatemala. Jose Baca, president of the local SNAP group, said that the church's response – and in particular Cardinal Mahony's – to widespread sexual abuse by clergy damages the church's credibility on other issues. "We don't think he is a good role model for human rights," Baca said. Reacting to Baca's statement, Cardinal Mahony said that the sex-abuse scandal has shown that the church should be more humble and faithful, but that a small group should not be allowed to damage "the rest of the good work of the Catholic Church." Annunciation House staffs four other centers for refugees: Casa de la Peregrina and Casa Emaus in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, and Casa Vides and Casa Teresa in El Paso. The work in these houses is carried out by a community of full-time volunteers who make a commitment of at least one year to make themselves available to the poor who come to their door. The Website of Annunciation House (www.annunciationhouse.org) states its reasons for giving the award: "Cardinal Mahony believed that legislation that criminalizes both the undocumented and those who provide humanitarian assistance to them called [on] Christians to do the exact opposite of what Jesus has instructed them to do: 'Denying aid to a fellow human being violates a law with a higher authority than Congress – the law of God.' "Cardinal Mahony's statement was powerful, just, and life-giving to the millions of undocumented people in the United States. His single action hung the banner of the plight of the undocumented, drawing attention to their cry in an increasingly oppressive political environment. ... Cardinal Mahony's singular action among U.S. bishops has galvanized immigrants and pro-immigrant activists across the country, both in and outside of the church." Annunciation House director Ruben Garcia said they were not looking at the church as a whole, they just wanted to thank Cardinal Mahony for his work on immigration reform.
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