http://www.sfarchdiocese.org/about-us/news/ latesten-us Mon, 01 Jan 1900 08:00:00 GMTThu, 23 May 2013 14:09:57 GMT http://www.sfarchdiocese.org/about-us/news/2013/USCCB-Applauds-Passage-Of-Immigration-Reform-Bill-Out-Of-Senate-Judiciary-Committee-3729/    Chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on Migration, Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles, today applauded approval by the Senate Judiciary Committee of S. 744, the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act, legislation which would reform the nation’s immigration system.   “This is an important step in the legislative process,” he said May 22, the day after the committee vote. “I applaud Chairman Patrick Leahy and the committee members for their efforts and strong bipartisan cooperation,” said Archbishop Gomez. The Senate panel considered over 150 amendments during the process.   Archbishop Gomez said that the bill should be taken up by the full Senate as soon as possible, and that amendments to improve upon the legislation should be adopted. In his remarks, he specifically mentioned the need for improvements to the path to citizenship and the family immigration provisions in the legislation.   “The path to citizenship should be widened, so that the maximum number of persons can access it and come out of the shadows,” he said. “To leave a large population behind would defeat the purpose of the bill, which is to bring persons into the light so they can become full members of our communities.”  The USCCB has been working to shorten the amount of time an individual must wait to apply for permanent residency, to move forward the cut-off date for eligibility, and to ease income and work requirements.   Archbishop Gomez also expressed concern over cuts to the family-based immigration system, a hallmark of the nation’s immigration laws for decades.   “We must not abandon our focus on families, which are the backbone of our society,” he said. “Family unity, based on the union of a husband and a wife and their children, must remain the cornerstone of our nation’s immigration system.”   Archbishop Gomez welcomed several amendments added to the legislation helping immigrant children. He also commended the Senators for turning back efforts to strike provisions assisting asylum-seekers and refugees.   It is expected that the full U.S. Senate will consider the legislation in June.   5-23-13, WASHINGTON, USCCB  Thu, 23 May 2013 14:10:00 GMT2013 http://www.sfarchdiocese.org/about-us/news/2013/Vermont-now-death-state-with-doctor-assisted-suicide-law-3721/  Now that Vermont allows "doctor-prescribed" suicide, "the magnificent landscape of this state, which echoes life from its majestic mountains to its powerful waterways, no longer is reflected in the laws which govern the Green Mountain State," said the head of the statewide Diocese of Burlington. "Vermont is now identified as one of the few death states where it is legal for life to be terminated at its beginning and end stages," said Bishop Salvatore R. Matano in a statement issued May 20, a little more than an hour after Gov. Peter Shumlin signed into law a bill legalizing physician-assisted suicide. "It is a tragic moment in the rich history of our state that our elected officials have passed and signed into law legislation placing medical professionals in the position of legally prescribing medicines with the sole intention of terminating human life," the bishop said. Vermont becomes the first state to have such a law passed by the Legislature. Under Vermont's new physician-assisted suicide law, doctors can prescribe death-inducing drugs to terminally ill individuals who want to commit suicide who then administer the medication themselves. The Vermont law limits the prescriptions of death-inducing medications to residents of the state. Physician-assisted suicide also has been legalized in Oregon and Washington by a ballot initiative and in Montana by court ruling. "This new law asks those in the medical profession, which is a vocation dedicated to the service of life, to destroy the very lives they have pledged to save and to comfort at life's most critical moments," Bishop Matano said.  Tue, 21 May 2013 19:39:36 GMT2013