[The Respect Life, Justice, and Peace Office Website is under construction. Please bear with us. . ]
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Our Mission
We inspire and energize communities of faith to protect all life and work for justice and peace.
Our Vision
Through a strong network of Respect Life, Justice and Peace ministers, we energize the people in the parishes in the Diocese to actively pursue the protection of all life, justice and peace. We advocate for public policy, which affirms a consistent ethic of life. We promote programs that encourage prayer, education, pastoral care and advocacy.
* IMMIGRATION REFORM RESOURCES *
(See "Upcoming Events" tab above for event information. Para los pendientes eventos oprima en el butón de "Upcoming Events" arriba.)
Statement on Immigration Reform by the California Catholic Bishops- May 1, 2013
Read Bishop Vann's Blog: Meeting with Representative John Campbell of Irvine
Take Action Now - Email Member of Congress to call for just and compassionate Immigration Reform!
Questions and Answers Regarding the Catholic Church's Position on Immigration - Why should I and my parish speak out in support of Immigration Reform? How do I respond to questions?
Pastoral & Political Action/Advocacy
• Pastoral Responses to Immigration Reform (Please start here)
Suggestions of how you and your parish can engage in pastoral and political action around immigration reform. You will find three tiers, reflecting different levels and types of engagement. Build up or try one from each. In any case, act!
• Prayers of the Faithful - Immigration Reform
• “Activities You Can Do” (JFI)
• JFI Prayercard ( English | Spanish )
• Postcards (Click to send E-Postcard to legislators, embedd in parish website, or Print & mail/collect)
• Petition - gather signatures
• Sample Pulpit Announcement ( English | Spanish )
• Sample sharing after communion ( English | Spanish )
• Sample Fasting/Prayer commitment cards ( English | Spanish )
• JFI Q & A Regarding the Catholic Church’s Position on Immigration
Please let the Office of Respect Life, Justice & Peace know about your advocacy/education actions (Contact Ana @aolivo(at)rcbo.org, 714-282-3105). We would like to share best practices with others and, if appropriate, invite others to participate. Thank you for all that you will do to help over 11 million aspiring citizens!
2013 Immigration Reform Backgrounders
• Document with all backgrounders in one PDF
Separate Backgrounder Documents
• Element #1: Path to Citizenship
• Element #2: Family-Based Immigration
• Element #3: Future-Flow Worker Program
• Element #5: Root Causes of Migration
• USCCB Family Immigration Principles
• Particular Arguments Relating to Time/Difficulty in Obtaining Path to Citizenship
Diocese of Orange Info Sheets
• Orange County Catholics and Legislative Districts
Pastoral Care for Aspiring Citizens
• Encourage aspiring citizens to become part of the actions that you take. As they are comfortable, empower them to tell their stories and make a difference in your community.
• Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) – Encourage all who might qualify to begin or continue in the process through Catholic Charities and host information session at your parish (contact Office of Respect Life, Justice & Peace for more info)
• Please distribute the DACA general info flyer here ( English | Spanish )
• 20 Common Questions on DACA (CLINIC)
• Sponsor registration drives to encourage all to register at their parish (this helps with documents, length of time in country, etc.)
• Encourage all aspiring citizens to keep and collect any documents that prove how long they have been resident in the U.S.
In addition to documents related to employment and/or school, these include rent receipts and utility bills, military records, hospital or medical records, official records from a religious entity confirming the applicant's participation in a religious ceremony, copies of correspondence between the applicant and another individual, money order receipts, dated bank transactions, vehicle registration and "other relevant documents".