Supporters of SB1070 attend a rally at the Arizona Capitol | Source: AP

Over the last several weeks, the new Arizona immigration law has been making news across the country. There are those that completely agree with the new law and those that completely disagree with the new law. Immigration reform is such an important issue to the people of the United States and an important concern for the Catholic Church. It seems there hasn’t been too much said about this latest controversy by many mainstream Catholic bloggers. That needs to change; so, let’s take a look at the facts and the stance of the Church on this important concern of ours, shall we.

Before we get started, let’s examine what the Center for Immigration Studies says about immigration in Arizona. The center released the following information on the current situation in Arizona:

• The federal government estimated that Arizona had one of the fastest growing illegal immigrant populations in the country, increasing from 330,000 in 2000 to 560,000 by 2008.
• The federal government estimated that Arizona had one of the fastest growing illegal immigrant populations in the country, increasing from 330,000 in 2000 to 560,000 by 2008.
• Arizona has adopted other laws to deter the settlement of illegal immigrants in the state in recent years. The federal government estimates that the illegal immigrant population dropped by 18 percent in the state from 2008 to 2009, compared to a 7 percent drop for the nation as a whole. This may be evidence that the state enforcement efforts are having an impact.

This morning, the Miami Herald printed a story about a priest sexual abuse case from the Archdiocese of Denver. On the very day officials at the Archdiocese received claims of abuse, the priest accused was immediately removed. In an effort to make the handling of these cases more transparent, the “action against the priest was swift and public.”

The action against the priest was swift and public.

Within five days of receiving a decades-old child sex abuse allegation against the Rev. Melvin Thompson, Denver’s Roman Catholic Archdiocese investigated, alerted law enforcement and announced his suspension to parishioners and the public.

The archdiocese says Thompson, 74, maintains his innocence. Some parishioners have complained the process was unfair and too fast. However Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput called prompt action “painful but necessary.”

The episode highlights the challenges American Catholic Church leaders face as they follow through on a promise to be more transparent in dealing with priests accused of abuse, while respecting the rights of both victims and the accused.

The case comes amid a worsening global clergy abuse scandal focused on how Pope Benedict XVI has dealt with problem priests in his past church roles.

For years, some U.S. church officials kept mum about abuse allegations and shuffled problem priests from parish to parish – practices first exposed in the 1980s and then on a larger scale in the early 1990s.

Denver’s handling of the Thompson case is the latest example of American Catholic leaders shifting from secrecy to greater openness, an attitude church leaders elsewhere in the world have been slower to adopt.

This week, the Vatican for the first time made it clear that bishops and clerics worldwide should report such crimes to police if they are required to by law, matching a policy worked out by U.S. bishops after an explosion of sex abuse cases in 2002.