Chevalier de la charité

An independent national Catholic magazine edited an online essay by a popular author after receiving a threat of legal action from Word on Fire, the Catholic media organization founded by and featuring Minnesota Bishop Robert Barron.

Commonweal, an historic U.S. Catholic journal celebrating its centenary, retracted a paragraph from a recent commentary by theologian Massimo Faggioli. Word on Fire had contested a reference the essay made to how their organization and Barron, the leader of the Diocese of Winona–Rochester, have engaged with the political movement of former President Donald Trump.

An edited version of the April 22 essay, titled « Will Trumpism Spare Catholicism? » features an editor’s note that explains why the journal removed the paragraph, which had highlighted Barron’s multimedia ministry as one example of conservative Catholic initiatives in the United States that are in « varying relationship to Trumpism. »

The note reads: « With the author’s permission, the editors have removed a paragraph that originally appeared here because Bishop Robert Barron’s media ministry, Word on Fire, informed us that they consider it slander for them to be in any way associated with Donald Trump or Trumpism. »

Commonweal editor Dominic Preziosi told NCR on May 1 that the magazine was notified April 26 about a « cease and desist » letter that the Illinois-based Word on Fire sent to Faggioli, a Villanova University theologian and church historian. After consulting Faggioli, one of the magazine’s regular contributors, Preziosi said they decided on « an appropriate course of action. »

« We found it interesting that being associated with Donald Trump and Trumpism is something that Word on Fire believes amounts to actionable slander, and we thought our readers would find that interesting as well, » Preziosi said.

Reached by telephone, Faggioli declined to comment for this story. Word on Fire did not respond to multiple NCR messages seeking comment.

In his essay, Faggioli wrote about the ideological currents roiling the U.S. Catholic Church. He described what he said were overlaps between Trump’s controversial brand of right-wing nationalism and the hardline conservative Catholicism championed by outspoken figures such as Bishop Joseph Strickland, the firebrand prelate whom Pope Francis removed from leadership of his diocese in November 2023.

Six months before the 2024 presidential election, Faggioli’s essay suggested the burgeoning formation of a « Trump-Strickland axis » that he said « mixes ahistorical, magisterial fundamentalism in militant Catholicism with nationalistic impulses masquerading as concern for the ‘forgotten’ common American (white) man. »

In the retracted paragraph, which NCR archived before it was removed, Faggioli wrote of an « emerging Catholic cultural establishment » in the United States dominated by intellectual leaders of traditional, apologetics-style Catholicism that he suggested are theologically literate, hostile to modernity, and in « alignment » with Trump.

Referring to Word on Fire’s new academic-style journal, The New Ressourcement. Faggioli added that among conservative Catholics, there is « no shortage of academic and intellectual initiatives in varying relationship to Trumpism, but all anxious about orthodoxy. »

A separate editor’s citation at the end of the article indicates that that specific sentence was previously revised, ahead of the retraction, « after an edit that changed its original intent. »

Word on Fire’s strong reaction to Faggioli’s essay comes amid longrunning criticisms from some Catholics that Barron has increasingly adopted conservative political ideology in recent years/ Criticism includes ardent denunciations of « wokeism » and his frequent collaborations with right-wing influencers such as Ben Shapiro, a former editor at Breitbart News, and Jordan Peterson, an author and lecturer who has expressed a number of controversial opinions.

Barron has responded to his critics over the years by countering that he has accepted invitations to speak in forums not dominated by conservative culture warriors, such as corporate events at Facebook, Amazon and Google. He has also at times come under fire from far-right Catholic traditionalists, which prompted him in July 2020 to convene a closed-door meeting with Catholic media professionals to voice his concerns about « disturbing trends in the online Catholic world. »

On May 14, Barron is scheduled to participate in a panel discussion on addressing « the challenge of polarization in the Church today and the path forward. » The other panelists are Bishop Daniel Flores of Brownsville, Texas, and Cardinal Robert McElroy of San Diego. America Media podcast host Gloria Purvis is set to moderate the discussion. 

When Unite Here Local 11, the Los Angeles-based branch of the international labor union representing 300,000 U.S. and Canadian workers, announced March 25 an historic labor agreement with 35 Southern California hotels, the victory came with an asterisk attached.

The largest hotel worker strike in modern American history would indeed end at those 35 properties — with others added in the weeks that followed, for a current total of 46 settled contracts. However, employees at several other hotels in the same region — some of which are owned or operated by private equity firms — have yet to settle new contracts. They include Aimbridge properties like the Doubletree Downtown Los Angeles, the LA Grand, and the Hotel Figueroa.

Workers at downtown LA’s Hotel Figueroa have alleged physical attacks and unfair firings in their months of picketing outside the storied property — and were joined April 5 in a show of solidarity by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who advocates union expansion to strengthen the middle class.

Contracts between 61 LA and Orange County hotels and members of Unite Here originally expired the night of June 30, 2023. Since July 1, 2023, more than 10,000 workers at 52 hotels have gone on strike more than 170 times.

« The Catholic Labor Network congratulates the hotel workers of Local 11 on their hard-fought wins in their Los Angeles strike, » said CLN executive director Clayton Sinyai. « This largely immigrant workforce showed that when workers stand together in solidarity, they can win a living wage and job security, even in a high-cost area like Southern California. Now it’s time for the remaining hotels which are holding out to offer the same to their workers. »

Unite Here Local 11 represents more than 32,000 hospitality workers in Southern California and Arizona who work in hotels, restaurants, universities, convention centers, and airports.

« We have won an unprecedented agreement in every way, from wages, pension, and healthcare to job security, to fair staffing guarantees, » said Kurt Petersen, co-president of Unite Here Local 11.

The thousands of hotel workers at the hotels that ratified a new contract will see an immediate $5 hourly wage increase and $10 hourly increase over the life of the contract. Housekeepers’ pay will rise to $35 an hour in advance of the 2028 Summer Olympics.

Tourism workers in LA have demanded the city council institute an « Olympic Wage, » raising their minimum wage to $25 an hour immediately with increases of a dollar each year until the games take place. In Long Beach, California, anticipating the FIFA World Cup and the Olympics, a measure passed March 5 to increase the minimum wage for qualifying hotel workers from $17.55 per hour to $23 per hour on July 1, 2024, with annual increases to $29.50 per hour by July 2028.

Unite Here Local 11 has argued that hotel worker wages have not kept up with « soaring housing costs, » and that the hotel industry — which it said is enjoying « record post-pandemic profits » — needs to provide major wage increases « so that workers can live near where they work. »

The hotel industry, meanwhile, contends that its operating expenses are outpacing growth.

CoStar, a commercial property information and analysis platform, reported in December that U.S. hotel industry operating expenses per available room outpaced revenue growth in 2023, driven by a 12.3% increase in labor expenses. However, it noted that chain hotels absorbed 18% increased labor costs and « still managed to achieve a $10 rate premium in gross operating profit per available room in 2023 compared to the national average. »

A Jan. 9 Stateline report found that hospitality workers — part of « the nation’s lowest-paid industry » — saw pay increase 30% on average over the past four years, « reversing much of the wage inequality that has been growing for decades in the United States. »

Even so, 53% of Unite Here Local 11 workers from an earlier survey said « they either have moved in the past 5 years or will move in the near future because of soaring housing costs. »

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development considers $66,750 per year for a one-person household as the « low income » threshold in LA County. But in order to afford the average $2,781 per month, 788-square-foot LA apartment — while spending no more than the recommended 30% of income — more than $100,000 in income is required.

According to the American Hotel and Lodging Association’s « 2024 State of the Industry » report, hotels in 2023 paid 2.1 million employees $118.01 billion in wages, salaries, and other compensation — an average of $56,195 per employee.

Still, Catholic labor experts see progress.

« In 2023, hotel workers went on strike to win improvements that can make their jobs truly family-sustaining. Not all of the hotels have settled yet, and strikes are continuing, but the workers have made tremendous progress, » Joseph McCartin, executive director of the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor at Georgetown University, said. « The overwhelmingly immigrant hotel workers have added their voices to those of auto workers, teamsters, and others who have been making long-needed gains. »

Gerald Beyer, a professor of Christian ethics in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at Villanova University, whose research has often focused on workers’ rights, agreed.

« The union deserves credit for helping workers who labor under difficult conditions, are often undercompensated, and are treated poorly, » said Beyer. « As St. John Paul II stated (in his encyclical « Laborem Exercens »), unions are a necessary ‘mouthpiece for the struggle for social justice, for the just rights of working people in accordance with their individual professions.' »

Their progress, Beyer suggested, also reflects the requirements of Catholic social teaching.

« The treatment of many hotel workers in California apparently now more closely aligns with the Catholic tradition’s insistence on the dignity and rights of all workers — such as the rights to a just and living wage, safe working conditions, health care, adequate rest, retirement savings and the right to form unions, » Beyer noted.

The right to unionize and seek workplace equity — and to strike, if necessary — is fundamental to Catholic social teaching. Pope Leo XIII, St. John XXIII, St. Paul VI, St. John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis have all expounded on unionized labor topics, in both official and unofficial pronouncements.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops also issued a Labor Day statement in September affirming labor unions’ « essential role » in society and called for them  » to be supported in their work that supports healthy, thriving families. »

In a report delivered Aug. 28, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen said her department found unionized workers earn up to 15% more pay than nonunion workers, with a higher rate of benefits. She said the Treasury found unions « could contribute to reversing the stark increase in inequality we’ve seen in recent decades, promoting economy-wide growth, » and even increase worker productivity.

« Hotel workers have historically earned well below a living wage, endured widespread workplace health and safety risks, and were not provided with affordable healthcare plans, » Beyer said. « It appears that with the new agreements ratified by unionized hotel workers in Los Angeles, workers are now closer to attaining wages and benefits that more fully respect their dignity and rights. »

Our Easter readings continually draw attention to our union with the Risen Christ and its implications. This week, we contemplate John’s rich metaphor of the vine and the branches, part of Jesus’ « last discourse » (John 14-17).

Everyone at the table with Jesus knew plenty about grapevines. For those among us who haven’t wandered the vineyard, grapes grow from branches which sprout from a principal vine (trunk).  The branches provide the nourishment for the bunches of grapes. Obviously, everything about the smaller vines depends on sustenance from the trunk. Jesus’ metaphor illustrates his desire to be the source of life and growth for those who remain in him. Something easily overlooked is that by saying his father is the vinedresser, Jesus is describing God as a humble worker — not the master of an estate — and he portrays the Father as working continually, caring for the vine and its fruit. 

To emphasize his vine image, Jesus goes on to invite the disciples, « Abide in me as I abide in you. » This describes the mutual love he and the disciples share, a love that sustains their life and creates the most intimate relationship possible among them all.

The first letter of John interprets union with Christ with the phrase, « believe in his name. » Like what we saw with Peter last week, believing in the name of Jesus is not an intellectual affair or even predominantly emotional. Those who believe in the name of Jesus assume his faith as their own. They believe in and through him, sharing his relationship with God and all of creation.  

All of that can remain theory, nice head knowledge hardly affecting our hands and feet. The Acts of the Apostles puts energy and flesh on this idea through the example of Barnabas. 

When Saul became a believer, many disciples were suspicious. Knowing how dangerous he had been, why would they not suspect that his coming to them was a hoax? They had good reason to be afraid. But somehow, Barnabas saw something different.

Might they have shared some history? Like Saul (Paul), Barnabas was not among the apostles named in the Gospels. Later, when the title « apostle » no longer symbolized a new Israel, it designated someone who had been given the mission and grace to proclaim the Gospel in deed and word. This broader understanding of apostleship included a variety of people, including at least one woman, Junia (Romans 16:7).

Luke had praised Barnabas as a member of the ideal community described in Acts 4:32-37. He explained that, although his birth name was Joseph, the community called him Barnabas, the « son of encouragement. » Skipping the kind of details we might hope for, Luke says that Barnabas, true to his name, « took charge of » Saul, vouching for him and later accompanying him on mission journeys.

Might Barnabas have introduced Paul to his sense of Christ living in him and the limitless breadth of the Body of Christ? For Barnabas, life in Christ seemed to mean that his interior motivation sprang from his union with Christ. He needed no command; he was motivated by a natural and grace-filled impulse.

Recently, Yoli, one of my Peruvian sisters talked about the neighborhood women who continue to organize the ollas comunes, outdoor makeshift kitchens where women prepare donated food for themselves and others who need it. I asked her if the women understood this as an expression of their faith. She said, « I don’t think they think of it as faith, it’s simply their response to a situation of shared need. » 

The women who cook for the neighborhood have imbibed their communal culture. They don’t need a rule or theory to tell them they should take care of their neighbors, they simply do it. As one woman said to me, « When you know what it is to be hungry, you don’t want that for anyone. » I saw the same thing last year in people addicted to drugs who dwelt around a park in Philadelphia. As we shared water and sandwiches with them, people who were alert enough made sure to ask for something for others who were uncommunicative inside their improvised tents. They felt their need.

The Sundays of Easter celebrate the resurrection and the union with God that Christ always offers — with or without our knowing it. Whether from faith in Christ or a natural impulse to love, people like Barnabas, the women, and the addicts I met are fruitful parts of Jesus’ vine. They instinctively appreciate the fact that they share life with others, and like our servant God, they want all to thrive as best they can. To do that naturally is a response to grace that we all need to develop to a greater degree.

Let’s ask Barnabas to encourage us. 

Hernandez simultaneously weaves her personal experiences as a Black and Filipina woman navigating abusive evangelical and familial spaces as a model of how we can adopt new lenses through which to study sacred Scripture. Her words highlight the fact that many of us have been taught to dissect and analyze the women of the Bible in a flat acceptance of thousands of years of patriarchal rule, even though we know that many cultures and civilizations have been led and influenced by powerful women or more egalitarian leadership structures.

Although our society today condemns certain aspects of what was considered permissible in biblical times, we still normalize behaviors that protect men in power from consequences of abuse, oppression and violence perpetuated in their homes, churches and communities.

The impact of only viewing the Bible through a patriarchal lens is that stories of slavery, sexual exploitation, violence and oppression have been studied and taught from theological and academic spaces dominated by patriarchal norms and societal narratives that excuse, abuse and weaponize stigma to keep and hoard power. It’s not just that the stories of these women are unexamined from the perspective of the victims, but furthermore that the complexity and dimension have been flattened to erase and silence the sins that still traumatize society today. We minimize and silence the pain of people who do not identify as male — especially not as straight/cisgender/Caucasian male — which means missing out on the expansiveness and complexity of God.

Hernandez preaches that liberation from oppression comes through storytelling. But it is not just telling the story that brings freedom and healing, it is recognizing that every story can be told from many perspectives. Compassion and empathy beg us to consider every person from the realities of their lived experience, and to wonder how we can extend God’s mercy and grace to better understand a kingdom of liberation.

This reminds me of the practice of lectio divina. For too long the Bible has been used to perpetuate abuse, but it can — and should — be used to heal wounds, too. The Hero and the Whore is an invitation into this kind of prayer, because reading becomes praying when we allow these women to be main characters in their own stories, not just supporting actors.

My only complaint is that this book left me wishing Hernandez had written two books: one, an autobiography of her experience as a Black Filipina in Christian communities and how that impacted abuse and trauma and the process of reconciliation; the second, a theological review of the stories of women in the Bible. Hernandez has a lot more to offer by way of biblical scholarship and I was left wanting her to go deeper into each character analysis.

For now, The Hero and the Whore: Reclaiming Healing and Liberation through Stories of Sexual Exploitation in the Bible is an adequate starting point, but I hope there is more from Hernandez in our future.

In response to the public health emergency due to the dengue virus, Archbishop Roberto O. González Nieves of San Juan, Puerto Rico, called on the faithful to take action and « be instruments of everyone’s right to health. »

The archbishop made the call in a pastoral letter published April 11. Puerto Rico’s secretary of the Department of Health declared the public health emergency March 25.

« This emergency declaration, in a singular way, concerns all of us in the Church, » González wrote, saying that the church must respond to prevent the disease.

« We want to make ourselves available as collaborators of the Department of Health, as well as the state medical community, in this very serious matter that concerns us all, because solidarity makes us mutually responsible for protecting life, » the archbishop wrote.

The letter, published in Spanish, said the faithful have a moral and pastoral duty « to be Samaritans in action, » identify vulnerable populations in their parish communities and act as guarantors to ensure preventive measures are taken.

« I ask you to welcome this letter as an urgent invitation to pastoral action, to preserve our lives and those of our neighbor, to be instruments of everyone’s right to health, and to make our parishes Christian communities where the Gospel is lived out, » he stated. He added, citing Jesus’s healing of the sick as detailed in the Gospels, that it is incumbent upon us to « help prevent, mitigate, and assist in curing this dengue illness. »

The latest weekly report from the Arbovirus Surveillance System of the Division of Epidemiology and Research at Puerto Rico’s Department of Health, updated April 18, said the number of dengue cases had risen to 795. This report also stated that from Jan. 1 to April 7, there were 478 hospitalizations, 42 severe cases and no fatalities associated with the virus.

Likewise, the report warned that the regions with the highest number of cases on the island are San Juan (383), Mayagüez (107 cases) and Bayamon (98). The age groups with the highest number of cases, according to the report, are people ages 40 to 59 (157 cases), 10 to 14 (132 cases) and 15 to 19 (123 cases).

The pastoral letter also included information about Aedes aegypti, the dengue-transmitting mosquito, as well as more details about the virus and how to prevent it, ways to identify severe dengue symptoms, and what to do in case of suspected contagion.

The prelate urged the general population to be vigilant and help those suffering from dengue. « You can assist them in various ways, such as eliminating breeding grounds, providing for their food, their medication, being their guardian angels and caregivers, and, if necessary, seeking medical services. »

The archbishop cautioned archdiocesan offices, parishes and schools not to let their guard down and to take joint action in raising awareness about the disease and reporting positive cases to health authorities. He also made available to the government the archdiocesan communication channels to disseminate official information amid this health crisis.

« The evangelical experience reminds us of the importance and responsibility of caring for our health and that of our families. The principle of solidarity calls us to be responsible for the well-being of our neighbor, » González wrote.

« Always the poorest among the poor, the most vulnerable in society, suffer the worst consequences of these epidemics,’ he continued. « Divine Mercy asks us to always keep in mind the suffering flesh of Christ present in the poor, in those who suffer, in children, also in the abandoned and sick. For them, the scourge is twice as bad. »

He concluded his letter by invoking « the maternal protection of Mary, Salus infirmorum, so that she may serve as an example to us that our place in the face of the pain of her sons and daughters is at the foot of the cross. »

Earth Day is no longer the one day a year we dedicate to thinking about the health of our planet. The urgency of climate change has made concern about the environment a daily consideration. But when thinking of the health of the Earth, we must remember that all our health depends on the health of our water.

Water is also of deep concern to our world’s faiths, as it is the only symbol every world religion shares. Water cleanses, sanctifies and blesses rituals around the world. But it is more than a symbol: clean water is a conduit of care and love.

So many problems in health care can be traced to unsafe water, a leading preventable cause of early childhood malnutrition, cognitive stunting and death. For women and girls in the most marginalized parts of the world, it’s a lifelong issue. A girl will often drop out of school when she hits puberty because she has no sanitation facilities to meet her needs. In many cultures it is the job of women to wake each day before dawn to collect water, knowing that it may bring illness to their families.

Most crucially, lack of access to sustainable water, sanitation and hygiene — WASH — is a fundamental problem in tens of thousands of health clinics and hospitals all around the world.

In the most remote places, pregnant women often come in from the countryside as they near labor to give birth at health care centers that have no clean water and often must bring their own. They give birth on unsanitary tables and can’t effectively wash their hands and bodies before cradling and nursing their newborns. Predictably, infections are a leading cause of preventable death for mothers and newborns across low-resourced countries.

These conditions also impact nurses, midwives and cleaners, making it all the more difficult for them to treat women with kindness and dignity when they themselves are working in such undignified and dangerous circumstances.

Faith workers have a particular role to play in making WASH more available to more people. The Catholic Church, the largest unified provider of essential health care in the world, offers a compelling model.

In Nigeria, Daughters of Charity, a nearly 400-year-old order of Catholic sisters, distribute “clean birth kits” to women in their third trimester of pregnancy, along with basic pregnancy care. The kits contain items to help with a hygienic birth — plastic sheeting, gloves, gauze, alcohol swabs, soap, a razor blade, as well as a baby blanket and cap to keep the newborn warm.

In a country with the second highest maternal and newborn death rates in the world, and where preventable infection is the second leading cause of death, Daughters of Charity has raised the maternal and newborn survival rate to almost 100%.

But no kit can contain ample clean water, the dignity of a toilet or a way to cleanse one’s body after giving birth. Focusing on that need, the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development reached out to bishops in 2021 to seek interest in a pilot project to improve water and sanitation conditions. One hundred and fifty health care facilities in 23 countries were selected and have received technical assistance from Catholic Relief Services, Caritas Internationalis, Daughters of Charity and Camillian Sisters. So far all 150 facilities have undergone assessments to identify WASH problems that can be reversed with little or no funding.

Though these projects cost as little as $1,800, other necessary steps can require up to $250,000. Nearly $2.6 million in private donations have been raised so far, spread across half of the health care facilities, but more funds are needed. But what’s needed most is success: With improved health outcomes, better working conditions and ongoing advocacy, donors and Catholic health care systems will be encouraged to broaden this global commitment and inspire other faith-based health efforts to pursue WASH improvements.

And success is possible. At World Water Day in March 2010, 65% of the world’s population had access to safe and sustainable drinking water. Today it’s 75%. New global agreements, such as a recent United Nations Resolution to get WASH and electricity into every health care facility, was recently signed by every member state. That’s a powerful commitment every one of our faith-based global health organizations can utilize to ramp up focus, partnerships and sustainable progress.

The spread of disease and poor health, as well as poverty and food insecurity, is inevitable without clean water. More faith voices are needed, near and far, for us to create pressure on public and private decision-makers to prioritize and budget for WASH. We can make our water measure up to the symbol of life it is meant to be. 

A U.S. archbishop has denounced the Biden administration’s decision to resume deportations of Haitian migrants, given the rampant violence and instability in Haiti.

« These deportations are unconscionable given the realities on the ground, » said Archbishop Thomas G. Wenski of Miami in a statement to OSV News April 22.

On April 19, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced it had « continued to facilitate removal flights of single adults (and) family units » between April 15-19, with Haiti among the destinations listed.

Some 50 Haitian nationals were repatriated on an April 18 flight, the first such U.S. deportation to Haiti since January.

Wenski — who is fluent in Haitian Creole, and whose archdiocese is home to an extensive and historic Haitian expatriate community — said that the U.S. government’s move equates to « sending people back into a burning house, » since Haiti has been ravaged by « increasing gang violence and (a) growing humanitarian and health crisis, with no real functioning government. »

The nation’s systemic kidnappings, rapes, killings and widespread civil unrest led the U.S. Embassy in March to urge its citizens to leave Haiti as soon as possible.

Conditions in Port-au-Prince have continued to rapidly worsen, with gang attacks taking place throughout the city and the port itself — upon which the island nation is crucially dependent for supplies — strangled by gang feuds, leading the International Organization for Migration’s chief in Haiti, Philippe Branchat, to call Port-au-Prince « a city under siege. »

For years, Haiti has been plagued by multiple, sustained crises such as political instability, natural disasters, foreign intervention and international debt.

In July 2021, Haitian President Jovenel Moïse was assassinated; in April 2023, the head of the United Nations office in Haiti warned the nation was sliding into « a catastrophic spiral of violence. »

The Biden administration’s deportation of Haitians is « inconsistent with our international treaties regarding ‘non-refoulement’ of asylum seekers, » Wenski told OSV News.

Under international human rights law — such as the United Nations’ 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol — the fundamental principle of non-refoulement provides that refugees cannot be expelled to territories where substantial threats to life or freedom exist.

« President (Joe) Biden has deported more than 28,000 Haitians to Haiti in the last three years, » said Wenski.

Among those deported was « a convicted drug dealer and one-time insurgent who is now seeking to take power in Haiti’s very complicated political system, » the archbishop added.

He noted that in the past year some 100,000 Haitians have been granted two-year humanitarian parole by the U.S. The program — also available to Cubans, Venezuelans and Nicaraguans — provides work authorization for vetted individuals who have an approved U.S.-based financial sponsor, such as a relative, and can pay for their travel to a U.S. airport.

Yet « at the same time, hundreds of Haitians have crossed the Mexico-Texas border, » said Wenski. « Because of the temporary nature of the parole and the numbers crossing the border, Haitians are very apprehensive. »

He said that « what is needed is the renewal and extension of TPS (Temporary Protective Status) for all Haitians in the U.S. without a permanent legal status. »

Under that program, the secretary for Homeland Security can designate a given country for TPS due to temporary conditions — such as armed conflict or environmental disaster — that prevent the safe return of its nationals. Individuals recognized as TPS nationals are not removable from the U.S., for a set period of time, during which they can obtain employment and possible travel authorization.

Wenski said the Haitian community in the Archdiocese of Miami « feels increasingly apprehensive.

« The political solution championed by the U.S. (a commission made up of political parties that would appoint an acting president and prime minister and welcome foreign policemen from Kenya) does not inspire much confidence, » he said. « Haitians fear that things will get worse before they get better. »