White House press secretary Robert Gibbs and Deputy National Security Advisor Denis McDonough just briefed the news media aboard Air Force One (en route from Rome to Accra) about today's meeting between President Obama and Pope Benedict XVI. Note that the president gave the pope a letter from Senator Kennedy (deep in transcript):

"MR. McDONOUGH: Hey, everybody. We just had a short talk with the President about his meeting with the Holy Father. Before the President met with the Holy Father, he spent about 10 or -- yes, about 10 minutes with Cardinal Bertone. They talked about a range of issues. The Cardinal also, underscoring the fact that they had little -- insufficient time, underscored that he would share a longer note with the President, which he looks very much forward to receiving. FULL ENTRY

The pope and the president have met. I'm still waiting for the statements and briefings, but in the meantime, here's a photo of the happy pair, plus first lady Michelle Obama, posing for photographers after their conversation at the Vatican:

My editor asks why Michelle Obama is dressed in black and veiled. Here's an attempt at an answer from USA Today, tackling the same question when first lady Laura Bush visited the pope in 2006. Bottom line: tradition.

(Photo by Jason Reed/Reuters)

Tomorrow (Friday) is the much-anticipated first meeting between President Obama and Pope Benedict XVI, and there's lots of discussion about what to expect. The two men have shared interests in economic and environmental issues, but those have generally been overshadowed by the abortion divide, which has dominated reaction to the Obama presidency by the Catholic church hierarchy in the United States.

This afternoon, Catholic Democrats held a teleconference to talk about the pope's recent encyclical and tomorrow's meeting; while on the phone, I asked US Representatives Jim McGovern, a Massachusetts Democrat, and Rosa L. DeLauro, a Connecticut Democrat, whether they view the pope-president meeting as largely symbolic, or as having some more substantive significance.

Here's what McGovern, who represents central and southeastern Massachusetts, including Worcester, had to say:

"In the past, they have been symbolic meetings that have amounted to more than photo ops and a nice press release. But my sense of President Obama is that he doesn't do symbolism. He's not going through the motions. This is a man who ran for president with a deep desire to change the world for the better, and I believe that he really wants to change things. And I think this pope, with the encyclical that he has issued, has put forward a framework, not just for the US, but for the world. I have high expectations for this meeting. I believe this meeting has the potential to have a lasting impact, not only to inspire, but to provide political cover to move forward in some areas that have been difficult for politicians to deal with – the delicate crisis in the MidEast, or poverty, or hunger. My hope and my expectation is that it will be about real things, and results-oriented. I'm very, very hopeful.''

And here's DeLauro, who represents south central Connecticut, including New Haven:

FULL ENTRY

There was a minor bombing (if there is such a thing) of a Catholic parish in Brockton over the weekend. Globe correspondent Matt Collette talked with Brockton Fire Chief Ken Galligan, who described the damage as minor, but said the explosives could have caused serious damage had they not burned out on their own. There is no indication of a motive -- this could be an act of vandalism, or some kind of hate crime. Here's what Galligan said:

"After the 7:30 a.m. Mass on Sunday, someone discovered two Molotov cocktails – described as glass bottles filled with paper towels and a flammable liquid – between a row of pews on the floor of the St. Edith Stein Church (left) in Brockton. What it looks like now is somebody from outside threw these Molotov cocktails through the window onto the wooden floor. The floor was scorched, but the Molotov cocktails apparently burned themselves out."

The church’s co-pastor, the Rev. Brian P. Smith, declined to comment and referred questions to the Archdiocese of Boston. Archdiocesan spokesman Terrence C. Donilon e-mailed a statement:

"Brockton Police and Fire are investigating an incident which occurred this weekend at St. Edith Stein Church. Because of the ongoing investigation we respectfully decline comment at this time. We are grateful that no injuries and no damage was sustained and we pray for those responsible for this unfortunate incident this past weekend."

The Brockton Enterprise has a story with further details on its web site.

(Photo courtesy of the Archdiocese of Boston.)

Here is the introduction and the conclusion to an encyclical Pope Benedict XVI issued today, titled "Charity in Truth," about ethics and the economy:

FULL ENTRY

The Massachusetts Bible Society, marking 200 years of handing out millions of Bibles to the poor and the imprisoned, this afternoon staged a small-scale re-enactment of its founding in the warm embrace of the round blue state Senate chamber.

A few dozen supporters of the organization, some dressed in knickers, top hats, bowties or bonnets, read from the founding documents, now tinged with irony, about the aspirations and arguments of Protestant denominations that then wielded considerable power and influence in the Bay State.

The event featured readings from early writings of the Bible Society’s while male Protestant founders, most of them Harvard-educated, who could hardly have imagined the organization's leadership of today: the Bible society’s current president is a Catholic priest, the Rev. Walter H. Cuenin, and its executive director is a woman, the Rev. Anne Robertson (above), who is a Methodist minister. But two centuries of modernization has not changed all atop Beacon Hill: as the clergy and lay people of today held their re-enactment, a small gray mouse darted out from beneath the golden drapes behind the podium and scurried unimpeded across the Senate carpet.

The Bible Society, which was the third such organization in the early United States, is one of the lesser-known relics of Massachusetts’ rich religious past, and has undergone considerable downsizing in recent years, selling its longtime headquarters on Bromfield Street, closing its bookstores, and moving its small staff first to the Congregational House on Beacon Street and then, in December, to the campus of Andover Newton Theological School in Newton. The organization’s rare Bibles collection now resides at Boston University, and its printed newsletter is now on-line only. Its endowment, which was $6.4 million a year ago, is now about $3.3 million.

The organization, which once employed 18 colporteurs who traveled around distributing Bibles door-to-door and had a special ministry to the state’s many newly arriving immigrants, still distributes Bibles in prisons, hospitals, on campuses, and through programs for the homeless and the poor. The organization also hosts lectures and publishes articles. But the organization is also trying to reinvent itself for the Internet Age, increasingly emphasizing its web site, and now with a Facebook page, a YouTube channel, and a Twitter feed, and it recently spent $500,000 to construct a media center at Andover Newton that is intended for use training clergy and congregations on use of technology.

“At one time, everybody who was anybody had not only heard of the Mass. Bible Society but was part of it,’’ Robertson said in an interview. “We still have a message, but today we are focusing more on Biblical literacy, understanding and dialogue.’’

In an address to the society members before a ceremonial re-signing of the founding charter (below), Robertson outlined the argument for the future of the organization, which in recent years has emphasized its place as home for a liberal alternative to more evangelical readings of the Bible. The organization has encouraged an interpretive, rather than literal, reading of the Bible.

“Is it a tough road to convince people that the Bible is relevant to our age? Yes, it is,’’ Robertson said. “Is it tougher still to reach out and take the Bible back from those who have ground its contents to such a sharp point that more people seem to feel wounded by it than helped? Yes, it is.’’

After the ceremony, the Bible Society members strolled over to the Omni Parker House for a period dinner featuring turnip soup and pink pancakes (crepes).

Cuenin, the Catholic chaplain at Brandeis and the first Catholic priest to serve as president, said he wanted to be involved with the organization in part because of its history and in part to make sure Catholics were visible in an organization that was long Protestant-only.

“What we’ve been trying to do is figure out where we go for the future, and figure out the electronic means of spreading the Bible,’’ he said. “Two hundred years ago, the purpose was to give out Bibles, but today people have Bibles, so that’s not a big deal. The question is, how do we make it usable?”

Cuenin and Robertson both emphasized the Society’s role in encouraging a debate about the meanings of the Bible in today’s society.

“I’m someone who believes in interpreting the Bible, and not following it literally, and that’s what my church teaches,’’ Cuenin said. “This society would promote an understanding of the Scripture that is more contemporary and open to historical criticism.’’

(Photos, by Yoon S. Byun/Globe staff, show the Massachusetts Bible Society celebrating its bicentennial by reenacting its founding in the Senate chamber of the Massachusetts State House on July 6, 2009.)

The Rev. Ian T. Douglas (left), a prominent and oft-quoted Episcopal theologian who teaches "mission and world Christianity" at Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, is one of four nominees to be the next bishop of Connecticut. In the Episcopal Church, bishops are elected by clergy and laypeople, and the online resources for the Connecticut election are impressive (better than anything I've seen local governments pull together, come to think of it) -- a website, a blog, and pitches in writing and on video by the nominees, among other bells and whistles.

The other nominees are the Rev. Mark Delcuze, rector of St. Stephen’s Church in Ridgefield, Conn.; the Rev. Beth Fain, rector of St. Mary’s Church in Cypress, Texas; and Bishop James E. Curry, a suffragan (assisting) bishop in Connecticut.

(Full disclosure: I have several times been a guest speaker in a "religion and the media" course that Douglas has co-taught at EDS.)

(Photo courtesy of Episcopal Divinity School.)

Robert Ridgell, the assistant organist at Trinity Wall Street, blends "Beat It" and "ABC" into a tribute to the late Michael Jackson in the postlude for Trinity's June 28 service.

(H/T: The Lead)

President Obama this morning met with a select group of reporters for Catholic publications, as well as the religion reporter for the Washington Post. Obama outlined his thoughts on the upcoming visit to the pope, his relationship with American bishops, the abortion issue, economic justice, and the Middle East. There was no major news, but Obama revealed a couple things I had not previously known about his faith life -- first, that he is considering choosing a group of churches in Washington, rather than a single congregation, to reduce the impact of his presence on any one community. And second, the president said that Joshua DuBois, the president's faith adviser, sends Obama's BlackBerry a devotional prayer each morning for the president to reflect on.

The president opened with a preview of his meeting with Pope Benedict XVI, which is scheduled to take place July 10 at the Vatican:

FULL ENTRY

Karl Malden, the film actor who died yesterday at 97, is being remembered in religionland for his Academy Award-nominated portrayal of a tough dockside priest, Father Pete Barry, in the 1954 film "On the Waterfront.'' Malden's role is one of the most famous depictions of a Catholic priest on film. The role was inspired by the real life of a Jesuit priest, the Rev. John Corridan, who died 25 years ago today. America magazine, the Jesuit weekly, today re-posts an explanatory piece that first appeared in Company, another Jesuit publication. An excerpt:

"After meeting the street-smart, earthy Corridan at Xavier, [director Elia] Kazan grilled [writer Budd] Schulberg: 'Are you sure he's a priest? Maybe he's working there for the waterfront rebels in disguise.' Schulberg viewed Corridan as 'the antidote to the stereotyped Barry Fitzgerald-Bing Crosby' portrayal of the priesthood 'so dear to Hollywood hearts.' Corridan agreed and exhorted Kazan and Schulberg to 'make a "Going My Way" with substance.'

The project was turned down by every major studio in Hollywood before finally being rescued by independent producer Sam Spiegel. Corridan served as adviser on the film and helped secure clearances from the Port Authority for the use of piers in Hoboken, where the film was shot in late autumn 1953. He also provided the filmmakers with his speeches and writings on waterfront conditions, including the famous 'Christ is on the waterfront' speech he had first presented at a Jersey City chapter of the Knights of Columbus in 1948. In 'On the Waterfront,' Father Pete Barry (Karl Malden) provides a stirring rendition of the speech over the body of a slain longshoreman. Kazan and Schulberg refused repeated demands by the producers to shorten the scene, which is the moral core of the film since it persuades longshoreman Terry Malloy (Marlon Brando) to follow his conscience and testify against waterfront criminals."

And, from the Internet Movie Database, a famous exchange from that scene between Brando's Terry Malloy and Malden's Father Barry:

Terry: If I spill, my life ain't worth a nickel.
Father Barry: And how much is your soul worth if you don't?

Over at dotCommonweal, Mollie Wilson O'Reilly recalls her first viewing of the film, just a few years back:

"I didn’t know going in that it was, at least in part, a story about a heroic priest...In fact, 'On the Waterfront' belongs on parish film-fest rosters alongside chestnuts like 'Boys Town' and 'The Bells of St. Mary’s' (and way ahead of silly epics like 'The Robe'). I would certainly advocate screening it in this 'year of the priest.' And as Philip T. Hartung wrote in Commonweal in 1954, 'Karl Malden’s portrayal of the courageous priest is as outstanding as the author’s characterization of the part.'"

(Photo, from the Globe archives, shows Karl Malden (third from left, in Roman collar) in a scene from the 1954 film "On the Waterfront.")

I was wondering how long I could hold out before blogging about Michael Jackson, and now I know the answer: six days.

In those days since the King of Pop died, I've now seen so many items about his faith that my head is starting to spin. He was a Jehovah's Witness. A Muslim. He accepted Jesus before he died. The Vatican loved him, but was that right? There's even a Jewish angle of sorts. Not to mention the unending discussion of what it means to call him an icon, or an idol. Some folks have suggested that his funeral will shed some light on his final faith practices, but I'm not holding out much hope for that.

Here is a brief Michael Jackson religion roundup. Make of it what you will:

• Jackson was raised a Jehovah's Witness, and there have been a variety of unconfirmed reports that at some point he was disfellowshipped by the Witnesses. Back in 2000, Jackson penned an essay for Beliefnet about his relationship to the Sabbath, and in it he discussed doorbelling to preach for the Witnesses:
  

  "Sundays were my day for 'Pioneering,' the term used for the missionary work that Jehovah's Witnesses do. We would spend the day in the suburbs of Southern California, going door to door or making the rounds of a shopping mall, distributing our Watchtower magazine. I continued my pioneering work for years and years after my career had been launched."

  
  
• Jackson's brother Jermaine is a Muslim, and there were some reports during Michael's life that he, too, converted to Islam. The Times of London rounds up the evidence in an item headlined, "Was Michael Jackson Muslim?"; there was also a roundup on Global Voices. Imam Zaid Shakir blogged about Jackson's conversion to Islam, and then retracted his blog item, concluding, "There have been many reports throughout the media concerning Michael becoming Muslim. Allah knows best as to their veracity.'' Perhaps my favorite development on the role of Islam in the Michael Jackson story, though, was this correction that ran Saturday in The New York Times, revising a comment that Jermaine Jackson made at the hospital where Michael Jackson died:
  

  "The article...misstated part of a comment that Mr. Jackson’s brother Jermaine offered for Mr. Jackson after speaking with reporters. He said, “May Allah be with you always,” not “May our love be with you always.”

• Not to be outdone, Christianity Today tackles the question, "Was Michael Jackson a Christian?" The evangelical magazine explores, and then essentially debunks, suggestions that Jackson accepted Jesus just before his death. "Initial rumors that the King of Pop had accepted Christ may have been false,'' the magazine concludes.

• The Jewish Telegraphic Agency, meanwhile, offers a story on Michael Jackson's "Jewish Ties,'' which turn out to be quite complex -- he said some offensive things, he was friends with a rabbi, he flirted with kabbalah (who didn't?) and it's possible that at least two of his children are technically Jewish because Jackson's ex-wife Debbie Rowe, who has been thought to be the biological mother of the children, is Jewish. Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, a onetime friend of Jackson, wrote a generous appraisal for Beliefnet; Rabbi Eric Yoffie, the head of the Reform movement, offers a far more critical assessment, asking,
  

  "Is it really necessary, however, now that he is dead, for those who speak in the name of the Jewish community to be joining in the adulation and offering excuses for his actions?"

  
  
• Some in the Catholic community are similarly conflicted. L’Osservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper, published a generous appreciation of Jackson's legacy, prompting Tom Heneghan of Reuters to observe: "It’s not every day that the Vatican newspaper suggests that a man accused of pedophilia and said to have converted to Islam might be immortal. But that’s what L’Osservatore Romano did today." Over at American Papist, Thomas Peters is not amused, calling the Vatican paper's assessment "fawning'' and suggesting that it could never have appeared in a parish newsletter:
  

  "Jackson, it should be noted, from all outside accounts, lived a tortured existence and the circumstances of his death should prompt an outpouring of fervent prayers for his soul, not these gushing, Hollywood-esque bon mots about how his "myth" will survive "serious and shameful" accusations. All the artistic success in the world, we must realize, is a basket of straw if your personal life was a spiritual, human wreck. I really dig Michael Jackson's music, but as a Catholic, I don't have to buy into the myth that great art makes a great man. Michael Jackson's best chance to "never die" is the mercy of Christ, not his best-selling record."

  
  

I suppose it's not all that surprising that an entertainer who often seemed confused, or confusing, about race, gender and sexuality, would also leave us wondering about his religious beliefs. Here's Juan Cole, blogging about how religion fits into the Michael Jackson identity swirl:

"Jackson was a man of multiple identities, which helped account for his enormous worldwide popularity. It seems clear that he was deeply traumatized by his rough show business childhood, and that things happened to him to arrest his development. Just as a stem cell can grow into any organ, Michael's eternal boyishness made him a chameleon. Increasingly androgynous, he expressed both male and female. A boy and yet a father, he was both child and adult. In part because of his vitiligo, he interrogated his blackness and became, like some other powerful and wealthy African-Americans of his generation, racially ambiguous. Toward the end of his life he bridged his family's Jehovah's Witness brand of Christianity with a profound interest in Islam. He was all things to all people in part precisely because of his Peter Pan syndrome. A child can grow up to become anything, after all."

(Photo, by Hasan Jamali for The New York Times via AP, shows Michael Jackson wearing a black abaya while exiting a shopping mall in Bahrain with one of his children, also veiled, and a security guard, on Jan. 25, 2006.)

And then there were 291.

The Archdiocese of Boston, which had 357 parishes back in 2002, is consolidating another pair of parishes tomorrow. Sacred Heart‐St. James (left) in Groton and Saint Joseph (right) in Pepperell will merge, forming a new parish, Our Lady of Grace. But this transition, unlike some in the past, appears to be largely peaceful. The churches, located about 8 miles apart, have shared a pastor for three years, and for the time being the new parish will hold Masses in the existing buildings, so the changes for worshipers in the short-term are relatively minor -- a consolidation of the offices, and a slight reduction in the Mass schedule. Over the long term the community hopes to construct a new parish campus, with church, rectory, and parish center, on the town line, that would replace the existing buildings.

The congregations are relatively small for Catholic parishes in the Archdiocese of Boston -- each parish currently has about 750 families, and average weekend Mass attendance runs between 500 and 600 at each church. The Groton parish is itself the result of a previous merger, in 2003, and is now trying to sell one of its church buildings and parish halls. The new parish will include not only Groton and Pepperell, but also Dunstable.

This afternoon I spoke with the Rev. Paul L. Ring, pastor of the parishes. Here's what he had to say:

Q: Is this related to the archdiocesan reconfiguration that began in 2004?
A: What happened was, back a number of years ago, during the reconfiguration, when we sat down as a cluster, it was given to us to figure out which parishes would be closed within the cluster. The cluster asked the archdiocese for a different tack, and so the archdiocese asked them to come up with a plan.

Q: How did you come up with the new name?
A: People were asked to submit names, and we came up with three that we submitted to the cardinal, and he chose. "Our Lady of Grace" comes about because a number of our people have a deep affinity for the Blessed Mother, so a number of "Our Lady" appellations were chosen. And we felt grace was needed in abundance to get through this process. Also, Lydia Longley, credited as the first American nun, was a resident of Groton, and she belonged to the School Sisters of Notre Dame, which is French for Our Lady, so that was another rationale.

Q: How are people reacting to the merger?
A: By and large the folks are happy about this, because it gives us a future. I've been encouraging folks to understand that this was the best course of action, not only for the survival of our two communities, but to build the ministries and the kingdom here in the Nashoba Valley.

(Parish photos courtesy of the Archdiocese of Boston.)

Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley's decision to require Caritas Christi Health Care to end its short-lived joint venture with Centene Corp. is generating mixed reaction among his fellow antiabortion activists, many of whom had pushed quite strongly for him to intervene. As the decision, which Kay Lazar and I reported in Saturday's Globe, rippled through the blogosphere, the activists were generally pleased with the development, but differed about whether it went far enough.

O'Malley himself posted the news on his blog Friday night, and made it clear he was upbeat about his decision. "I am happy to share with you the following statement issued this evening by Caritas Christi concerning its decision to withdraw its membership in the CeltiCare Health Plan while continuing its commitment to serve the needs of the poor among us,'' he wrote, before posting a copy of the news release.

The American Life League, which had been quite critical, offered unqualified praise for the decision:

"We profoundly thank Cardinal O’Malley for his courage, leadership and pastoral concern for the health and well-being of those youngest members of his archdiocese. He has set a beautiful example of dedication and charity for those poorest of the poor – the preborn.

Cardinal O’Malley has answered our call and beat the clock as the minutes ticked away until the July 1 launch of the new CeltiCare Health Plan and the Catholic Church’s participation in the intrinsic evil of abortion."

And Massachusetts Citizens for Life, which initially had been critical of the cardinal but then adopted a more conciliatory tone, linked to my blog item breaking the news, and said, simply:

"We at Mass. Citizens for Life maintained our conviction that Cardinal Sean would do the right thing concerning the Caritas Christi arrangements. He has just announced that Caritas has pulled out of the arrangement with CeltiCare...Deo gratias!"

Others were less sanguine, noting that Caritas will remain a provider for Commonwealth Care, the new state insurance program for low-income people, which is required to cover abortion services. (Caritas explained its handling of the issue on June 11, saying in a news release, "when a patient seeks such a procedure, Caritas healthcare professionals will be clear that (a) the hospital does not perform them and (b) the patient must turn to his or her insurer for further guidance. This, in fact, is the practice currently in place in the Caritas system as we work with other insurance companies under state laws that mandate access to procedures not provided within the Caritas system. It is the path that Caritas has always followed and will follow in its engagement with CeltiCare.'')

The Catholic Action League of Massachusetts called Caritas's withdrawal from the joint venture a "partial victory,'' saying that "any continued participation by Caritas Christi in Commonwealth Care would obligate Caritas, directly or indirectly, to make abortion referrals." The statement continued:

"Caritas Christi has indicated that a woman seeking an abortion at a Caritas hospital will be sent back to her insurer. For Commonwealth Care members that insurer will be CeltiCare, which will not only procure the abortion but will provide transportation to the abortion facility. Instead of offering compassionate alternatives to abortion, Caritas Christi will still be engaged in a two-step abortion referral. Troubling questions also remain about whether Caritas has already benefited financially from this contract, and whether it continues to have an ongoing relationship with the Centene Corporation."

And Carol McKinley, a cyberactivist who has been quite critical of the archdiocese, blogged:

"Because the Cardinal and Caritas deliberately misrepresented what was happening in the arrangement until they actually got caught on the CeltiCare website with links to the abortionists they hired and their spokesperson admitted to NARAL being the Advisory Board for CeltiCare and that they had hired phone operators to answer the calls when they referred the women back to themselves to carry out and pay for the abortions, the overall consensus is disgust and a complete lack of trust that they are being forthright now about a situation they have been lying about all along."

What would these activists have Caritas do? The Lady in the Pew (Kelly Thatcher) blogs that if a woman named Judy calls and asks for an abortion:

"What I'm supposed to do is (a) help Judy find an alternative to abortion or (b) refer her to one of the many people and/or organizations who are very good at doing just that. Duh! One good thing, though. Until this whole issue came up, I never realized that so-called Catholic hospitals in the Archdiocese of Boston did the old Pontius Pilate number with abortion/contraception seekers. Now I do."

Harsh language, but Thatcher is not alone. Here is Diogenes, blogging for Catholic World News:

"So it appears that Caritas Christi, the healthcare agency of the Boston archdiocese, won't be involved in the abortion business after all. Thank God for that. The announcement was obviously timed (after business hours on a Friday afternoon) for minimal media exposure, and offered no details about the new arrangement. A few questions linger. Among those questions: How did a Catholic agency get involved with this proposal in the first place? Do the people at the helm of Caritas Christi understand the purpose of healthcare system with a Catholic identity? A spokeswoman for Caritas Christi told the Boston Globe: 'This is the right way to move the distraction of the debate of ownership and allow us to be a provider.' The distraction. A debate over involvement in killing unborn babies is a 'distraction' from the business of saving lives. A debate over mutilating people to make them infertile is a 'distraction' from the distinctive mission of Catholic health care."

Meanwhile, a postscript from Caritas, which is arguing that it could benefit from the withdrawal because it will make reimbursements for patient treatment easier, especially since the state decided to slow enrollment in the program. An e-mail from Caritas spokeswoman Teresa Prego:

"The dramatic reduction of new potential enrollees in the Connector plan due to the sudden elimination of auto-enrollments presented a substantial financial risk due to our involvement in the insurance partnership. We faced additional risk based on the fact we had made investments in physicians and support staff to handle the additional patients from the Connector. Our decision to withdraw from the insurance partnership allows us to mitigate our risk."

Caritas Christi Health Care, the financially challenged Catholic hospital system founded by the Archdiocese of Boston, is abruptly ending its joint venture with a Missouri-based health insurer at the insistence of Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley, who has decided that the relationship represented too much of an entanglement between Catholic hospitals and abortion providers.

The dramatic development, just days before the joint venture was scheduled to start providing care to low-income residents as part of the state's efforts to establish near universal health coverage here, is a vindication of sorts for a variety of very conservative Catholic critics of the cardinal, who have been arguing angrily and loudly that it would be "evil" for Caritas to partner with a health provider that covers abortion services.

The development is also a setback for Caritas, because it represents the undoing of one of the most significant steps its new chief executive, Dr. Ralph de la Torre, had announced as part of his efforts to turn around the hospital system's finances. It was not immediately clear what the financial impact of the change is on Caritas, but the decision is a stark and public reminder from O'Malley to de la Torre and the general public that moral concerns will trump monetary concerns at the Catholic hospitals.

The change will have no effect on patient care, because Centene Corp., the Missouri-based insurer, will continue to participate in the state-subsidized program, called Commonwealth Care, starting Wednesday.

And Caritas will continue to participate in the program, but now simply as one of many healthcare providers hired by Centene to treat patients. Caritas's role as a provider will be the same as the role it plays when providing care to people covered by private insurers such as Blue Cross.

In keeping with the ethical directives that bind Catholic hospitals, Caritas hospitals will not provide abortion or sterilizations. Caritas already refers privately insured patients who seek such services to their insurance providers, and will do the same with state-insured patients. (Caritas spelled out its practices for handling Catholic ethical teachings in a statement June 11.)

Here is a statement just issued by Richard Lynch, chief executive of CeltiCare Health Plan of Massachusetts, the former joint venture, which is now solely owned by a Centene subsidiary:

FULL ENTRY

I’m now at the mosque, and directly across Malcolm X Boulevard are about a dozen or so protesters holding signs saying, “Prayer, Yes. Extremism, No!’’ The protesters have a two-man band, including a saxophone, playing an unusual medley of music ranging from “Amazing Grace” to “Embraceable You,’’ and they are handing out doughnuts to passers-by, along with brochures reading “what you need to know about the ISBCC/MAS leadership.”

In a bit of counterprotest theater, a group of young Muslims took white roses from the interfaith breakfast this morning and walked over to the demonstrators to hand them the flowers as a sign of peace and goodwill. Predictably, a shouting match ensued, surrounded by reporters and cameras, with a group of police standing warily by. Minds were not changed – it’s not even clear how well people could hear one another, if at all.

I tried to talk to a few of the protesters, but they said they had been instructed not to speak to the media, but rather to defer all questions to Charles Jacobs, who has been the mosque’s leading critic. Jacobs was critical of the flower gesture, saying, “they just want to surround me and give me flowers – they don’t want to talk to me,’’ and he urged reporters to focus on what he says has been problematic funding of the mosque by Saudi donors, and problematic literature in mosque-related facilities, such as instructions for wife-beating that were once posted on the website of the mosque in Cambridge, which, like the Roxbury mosque, is owned by the Islamic Society of Boston.

One supporter of the mosque pointed out to me that, although the vast majority of Boston’s Jewish leadership has boycotted today’s events, it seems likely that there were actually more Jews celebrating with the mosque supporters than protesting them – the breakfast’s honorary chairs included two Hebrew College officials as well as the head of the Workmen’s Circle, and the attendees included some young Jewish activists. One of the Jewish participants in the interfaith breakfast inaugurating the mosque, Enid Shapiro, e-mailed me to say, "The breakfast was quite extraordinary although I was very disappointed that representatives of the established Jewish Community (CJP) were not represented. The demonstration outside the Reggie Lewis Center was appalling and certainly did not represent me or in my mind the Jewish Community." Later, at the ribbon cutting, I ran into Rabbi Moshe Waldoks, who told me he saw around six local rabbis joining the celebration. “For those in the Jewish community who have been involved in dialogue with the Muslim community, we celebrate what our cousins are doing by establishing this symbol in the community for many years to come.”

A variety of Muslims talked to the protesters, including the Saudi architect of the mosque. Also talking with the protesters was Harvard pluralism guru Diana Eck, a religion professor and longtime mosque supporter, who brought her summer interns to today’s events to witness American pluralism in all its fervor and ferment. Eck said that the mosque “has been plagued with a series of misunderstandings, and the age-old tactics of guilt by association.’’ She called the suit and counter-suit that stalled the project “a huge blot on the face of Boston,’’ but said that the opening of the mosque, “on the positive side, has represented the kind of engagement that the new America really requires – this is the kind of engagement pluralism is really about.’’

(Photo above, by Michael Paulson/Globe Staff, shows the protests across from the mosque in Roxbury today, June 26, 2009.)

The opening ceremonies for the new mosque in Roxbury Crossing began this morning with a breakfast at the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center at Roxbury Community College. There were perhaps 200 people here, including a number of folks who have been active in the Muslim and Christian communities. On the way in, I ran into Bishop M. Thomas Shaw, the Episcopal bishop of Massachusetts, and asked him why he is here; he noted that about 400 Muslims who work downtown regularly worship in St. Paul's Cathedral, and said he wanted "to honor them,'' he also called the new mosque "a very positive contribution to the Boston community, and one that is much needed for interfaith dialogue.''

Salma Kazmi, the longtime mosque spokeswoman and community relations director who left to get a divinity degree at Harvard, emceed the breakfast, kicking it off with an understated, "this day has been a long, long time coming,'' alluding to the 20 years of controversy, lawsuits, and financial challenges that slowed and nearly blocked the project.

Harvard Divinity School Dean William A. Graham, a scholar of Islam gave the keynote speech, and sharply rebuked the mosque’s critics (some of whom are planning to protest outside today), saying, “the mindless attacks in recent years from so-called religious people will soon be forgotten as the center proves itself a center for good people.’’ Graham said the mosque is a testament to American values of freedom and diversity, and criticized “stereotypes and caricatures of Islam” that he called “distortions of a great tradition.’’

“My hope and belief is that this Islamic Center will demonstrate… the power for personal and societal good that the Muslim faith has been and can be,’’ he said. He called the mosque, “a beautiful physical presence and a talented human presence” and “a potential blessing for all Bostonians, not just Muslim Bostonians.”

“I look forward to all that this community will do and say going forward,’’ he said.

Governor Deval Patrick had to cancel his appearance at the breakfast at the last minute to attend the funeral of a soldier from Massachusetts who was killed in Afghanistan, but sent along a video greeting that made his support for the project quite clear. Patrick opened his taped remarks with the Arabic phrase, "Assalamu 'alaykum," meaning “peace be upon you,’’ and called the mosque opening a “wonderful milestone.” He repeatedly spoke of “welcoming you into the community of faith in the Commonwealth,’’ and said, “I look forward to working with you.’’

“Even as I welcome you into the community of the faithful, I eagerly invite you to be part of our civic community,’’ the governor said. “Let’s build stronger bonds and better tomorrows together.’’

Interestingly, the mosque chose one of its more controversial backers, Walid Fitaihi, to recite from the Koran. Fitaihi has been a lightning rod for criticism because he wrote an essay in an Arabic-language newspaper calling Jews “murderers of prophets.” He has since apologized and the mosque said it had reprimanded him.

A string of local religious leaders offered greetings. Bishop Gideon Thompson, president of the Black Ministerial Alliance, said, “I celebrate with you this opportunity we have to create peace and hope in our city. Boston desperately needs all the help we can get…We need you in the city…Our city needs as much peace, love, joy and goodwill that will create an atmosphere of hope that will strengthen and bless our city.’’

The Rev. Jack Johnson, director of the Massachusetts Council of Churches, which represents Protestant and Orthodox churches, offered congratulatory remarks, called the opening “a significant moment.’’ “Your entrance in this neighborhood will deeply enrich us,’’ he said.

Rabbi Sanford Seltzer of Hebrew College, one of only a handful of Jews who attended an event largely shunned by Jewish organizational leaders leery of the mosque’s leadership, also offered praise, “at long last Islam has taken its rightful place as a full partner on the American scene.’’

The Rev. Ray Helmick, a Catholic priest who teaches theology at Boston College, said “you’ve had a very rough ride here in Boston where you were confronted by a great deal of bigotry and rejection,’’ and compared the response to this mosque to the bigotry that he said previously greeted Catholics and Jews in America. He called the mosque a “beautiful monument.’’

Later this morning, there will be a ribbon-cutting at the mosque, followed by the first official call-to-worship from the minaret, and an inaugural worship service.

(Photo, by Michael Paulson/Globe staff, shows the interfaith breakfast at Roxbury Community College on June 26, 2009.)

Today begins two days of ceremonies marking the official opening of the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center in Roxbury Crossing, a project that has been underway for two decades, has cost $15.6 million, and has been highly controversial.

In today's paper, I have a story about the mosque opening, and here on Boston.com we have the lovely video above, shot by Scott LaPierre, showing the summer program for kids now running at the mosque, as well as a photo gallery showcasing some of the images Suzanne Kreiter shot at the mosque yesterday.

Yesterday I posted an item noting that Governor Patrick is going to miss the inaugural breakfast because of a funeral, and last fall I posted an item about a climb up the minaret.

I'm heading over there shortly, and will be live-blogging the day's events. Keep your comments civil if you want them to be published.

Governor Deval Patrick, who was scheduled to headline the inaugural breakfast for the new Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center in Roxbury Crossing tomorrow (Friday) morning, has had to cancel his appearance in order to attend the funeral of a soldier killed in Afghanistan.

The mosque has been controversial, and local Muslims were excited about Patrick's appearance as a signal of the mosque's acceptance by the broader community. But Patrick's spokesman, Kyle Sullivan, said that Patrick is cancelling only because he wanted to attend the funeral of the late Kevin Dupont, of Templeton, who died after a Humvee in which he was riding struck a bomb. Patrick has made a practice of attending every funeral for a fallen serviceman or woman in Massachusetts.

Patrick has agreed to tape a video tribute to be played at the breakfast, and his deputy press secretary, Kimberly A. Haberlin, just sent me the following statement from the governor:

"As the President stated so eloquently during his address in Cairo earlier this month, the United States is entering a new era of partnership with our Muslim brothers and sisters, both abroad and here at home, and the Center will play a vital role in that partnership in Massachusetts. I congratulate the Islamic Cultural Center on their commitment to enriching our community life."

Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino is still planning to attend the ribbon-cutting, and I called him up this afternoon to ask why. Here's what he said:

"When you're mayor, you're mayor of all the people, not some of them, and the folks who are part of the mosque, and Muslims, are part of the city.''

I asked the mayor what he made of all the controversy that has surrounded the mosque. His reply:

"It has been controversial, and there is controversy when you have a religion from those countries. But we've got to start building those bridges. Yes, The David Project has been objecting, but I can't pick and choose. This is the religion they believe, the religion they practice. Are there some extremists in Islam? No question. But do I have some in my religion? Yes, there are. We have to get beyond that.''

We're publishing a story, video, and photo gallery about the mosque opening tomorrow morning in the paper and here on Boston.com, and I'll be liveblogging the inaugural events here as well.

(Top photo, by Matthew J. Lee/Globe Staff, shows Gov. Deval Patrick at Thayer Public Library in Braintree on May 11, 2009. Bottom photo, by Wendy Maeda/Globe Staff, shows Mayor Thomas Menino at the Boston Harbor Hotel on June 9, 2009.)

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs (right) has just confirmed that President Obama will meet with Pope Benedict XVI in Rome. Here is the transcript, courtesy of the White House:

"MR. GIBBS: Just one quick announcement before we get going with questions. On his upcoming trip overseas, on Friday, July 10, the President will visit with the Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI to discuss a range of issues, including their shared belief in the dignity of all people. That's on the upcoming trip.

Q Does he have a church --

MR. GIBBS: I can assure you, April, we're not joining a church in Italy. (Laughter.)

Q I didn't ask that.

MR. GIBBS: I know. But you know what I did? I just fast-forwarded right to the follow-up. (Laughter.) I'm going to do that -- that's actually what I'm going to do all today. So if I don't answer your question, I will presume your follow-up and answer that instead. (Laughter.)

Q That's very efficient.

MR. GIBBS: Right, this will be like a 10-minute deal.

Q Is Mrs. Obama going to the Vatican, as well?

MR. GIBBS: She will, as far as I know, be on the entire trip, yes."

(Photo, by Ron Edmonds/AP, shows White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs speaking to reporters during his daily press briefing at the White House on June 24, 2009.)

Pope Benedict XVI and President Obama are scheduled to have their first meeting July 10, Catholic News Service reports:

"Discussions between popes and U.S. presidents usually focus on common concerns regarding world events and the church's concerns over issues or policies with special moral relevance. So in addition to discussing ongoing tensions in the Middle East, especially the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the situation in Iraq, Pope Benedict likely will bring up his concerns regarding abortion policy in the United States and renewed government permission for embryonic stem-cell research."

The visit, although in many ways unsurprising, will no doubt occasion an examination of the complex relationship between the president and the Catholic Church. Obama won the Catholic vote last fall, but before and after the election has been repeatedly criticized by Catholic prelates in the U.S. for his support of abortion rights. The Vatican, primarily through its newspaper, has offered a more nuanced take, to the dismay of some American Catholic conservatives. On foreign policy and environmental matters, Obama arguably is closer to the Vatican's views than was his predecessor, President George W. Bush. And because Obama is not Catholic, his visit does not raise some of the questions that came up when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who is Catholic, visited the pontiff in February.

(Photo on left, by Joshua Roberts/Bloomberg News, shows President Obama at a news conference at the White House in Washington on June 23, 2009. Photo on right, by Pier Paolo Cito/AP, shows Pope Benedict XVI at Padre Pio's shrine in San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy, on June 21, 2009.)

Religious congregations are often looking for publicity, but one place they don't want to wind up is in the Boston Police Department's blog. That's where the St. Anthony Shrine winds up today, as the victim of one of the lowest of crimes -- stealing from the poorbox. Here's the blog item:

"BPD Investigates Theft of Donation Box Money at Saint Anthony’s Shrine

On Sunday, June 21, 2009, at approximately 11:28pm, Officers assigned to Area A-1 (Downtown), responded to Saint Anthony’s Shrine, 100 Arch Street, Boston, for a report of a larceny.

Upon officers’ arrival, they spoke with church custodians who informed them that they observed an unknown male steal an unknown amount of money from the wooden donation box that is located in the main chapel’s first floor. A later inspection of the box showed the bottom panel to be broken from its hinges. The suspect is described as a thin white male wearing shorts and a t-shirt. The custodians immediately reported the incident to the security officer who confronted the suspect and escorted him out of the building onto Arch Street. The suspect left the area before the arrival of BPD officers.

Area A-1 (downtown) detectives are investigating this incident. Anyone with information pertaining to the unknown suspect is urged to call detectives at 617-343-4248. Information may also be relayed anonymously by calling CrimeStoppers at 1-800-494-TIPS. You may also text “TIP” to CIME (27463)."

(Photo, by David L. Ryan of the Globe staff, shows the St. Anthony Shrine on Nov. 27, 2001.)

There's been a lot of talk in the religion world about Americans' increasing habit of choosing their own religious affiliation -- survey research by Pew, in particular, has shown that half of all Americans have changed denomination during their lifetime. But there's been less attention to the ways in which Americans also have a tendency to make faith their own, accepting those beliefs and rituals that they like, and rejecting those they don't, within or outside their denominations.

I was thinking about this this morning, when I attended the funeral for a co-worker, Sarah Snyder, who died June 11 at the age of 51. Sarah was a gutsy and funny woman, and a talented journalist, who was felled much too soon by cancer. She was also, like so many folks in eastern Massachusetts (although she was not from these parts), a cradle Catholic who struggled with, but did not completely reject, her faith.

Her funeral took place at a Unitarian Universalist meetinghouse, First Parish in Milton, that is simultaneously non-creedal but, visually, quite explicitly Christian. The minister, Parisa Parsa, used a variety of generic phrases for the divine (in her bio, she refers to "that sacred power that resides in all of us") while standing in front of a large cross on the sanctuary wall and between two enormous gold-lettered quotations from the New Testament, starting with "Jesus said unto them: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind.''

As she began the worship service, Parsa declared that "Sarah loved her Catholic faith,'' but that she also struggled with it. And then, she invited the congregation to recite what the minister described as the prayer of Sarah's tradition, the Lord's Prayer, and much of the congregation recited it from memory. The rest of the service included the ambiguous back-and-forth that characterizes so much of the real faith experience of many Americans -- an excerpt from Sarah's journal trying to make sense of the afterlife; several traditional Christian hymns referring directly to Jesus; a friend describing how Sarah had tried to interpret the resurrection of Jesus this past Easter, when she knew her own body was failing; a eulogy that began with an anecdote about St. Irenaeus, an early leader of the Christian church; and a benediction that began, "In the name of God's many expressions among us.''

Of course, many Americans live in an uncertain middle ground between blind faith and avowed atheism, and we see the tension between doubt and belief all around us in any candid conversation; it's just not all that often that I see it in church, and it was interesting to watch how one service illuminated head on the contradictions that characterize so many folks' faith experience.

(Photo, by David L. Ryan, Globe staff, shows First Parish in Milton on May 12, 2000, when the steeple was under repair.)

The past year has been an eventful one for Jewish-Catholic relations – there were controversies over the revival of an allegedly anti-Semitic Good Friday prayer and the lifting of the excommunication of a Holocaust-denying bishop, and then there was the visit by Pope Benedict XVI to Israel. In the middle of it all was Mordechay Lewy, a longtime Israeli diplomat who serves as Israel's ambassador to the Holy See.

Lewy, who previously represented Israel in Germany, Sweden and Thailand, visited Boston this week, primarily to speak at a conference at Boston College, and I spoke with him Friday morning at his hotel in Newton.

Here are edited excerpts of our conversation:

Q: Why do relations with the Vatican matter?
A: We can not afford, as a Jewish state, and we can not afford as a Jewish people, to continue on after 1,900 years of bad experience, traumatic experience with the Christian world. Now, if we take the Christian world as a whole, it's quite an amorphic body. But at least if we have a well known structure, as the Catholic Church, with a top echelon of it in Vatican, I think that would be a missed opportunity not to get along with them as much as we can, knowing that we will not ever be able to come to terms on all aspects the questions which lie between us.

FULL ENTRY

President Obama this morning spoke of the power of prayer and called for immigration reform during a 12-minute address at the Esperanza National Hispanic Prayer Breakfast. His remarks on prayer were fairly generic, saying, "It was the genius of America's Founders to protect the freedom of all religion, and those who practice no religion at all" and that "Prayer helps us search for meaning in our own lives, and it helps us find the vision and the strength to see the world that we want to build."

During the run-up to this morning's event, Slate offered a smart explainer about why there are so many prayer breakfasts (why not a lunch, Slate asks?) and connected the phenomenon to the tradition of morning prayer in many faiths. An excerpt:

"The prayer breakfast got started in mid-1930s Seattle, where traveling preacher Abraham Vereide held morning meetings for politicians and businessmen to pray about—and try to combat—poverty and the spread of communism. He decided on breakfast due to the Christian tradition of morning prayers and, it's said, as a nod to John 21—wherein Jesus appears to his disciples in the early morning by the Sea of Tiberias and helps them catch fish. Breakfast was also practical, since 7 or 7:30 a.m. meetings didn't interfere with the workday or with family obligations in the evening."

Here is the full text of President Obama's remarks at the Hispanic prayer breakfast this morning:

FULL ENTRY

In today's Globe, Rob Weisman has a story about the possibility that Caritas Christi Health Care, the Catholic hospital network founded by the Archdiocese of Boston, may purchase a struggling Rhode Island hospital, Landmark Medical Center in Woonsocket:

"Caritas Christi’s board has authorized its management to move forward with negotiations, according to three healthcare industry professionals who have been consulted about the prospective deal.

Officials at Caritas Christi and Landmark declined to confirm that a deal is close. “We have looked at Landmark Medical Center, as many others have, and have not yet decided whether we are interested in pursuing a relationship with them,’’ said Caritas Christi spokeswoman Teresa Prego. A merger would require Landmark to become a Catholic hospital."

Caritas oversees six hospitals in the Archdiocese of Boston and the Diocese of Fall River; a Landmark purchase would mark its first expansion out-of-state. Currently, there is one Catholic health care system in Rhode Island (the nation's most Catholic state), St. Joseph Health Services of Rhode Island, which includes a single hospital, Our Lady of Fatima in Providence.

"The Diocese of Providence is aware of discussions relative to Landmark Hospital in Woonsocket, however, specific details have not been made available,'' Michael Guilfoyle, the spokesman for the Providence Diocese, told me in an e-mail.

It's not immediately clear how Caritas, which has been struggling financially, would come up with the cash for the purchase, and today, on his blog, Paul Levy, the president and chief executive of Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital in Boston, wondered aloud about the intentions of Dr. Ralph de la Torre, the former Beth Israel physician who now heads Caritas Christi. Here's what Levy wrote:

"When he worked here, the current CEO of the Caritas Christi system would often look wistfully to the south and ask us to consider taking over the troubled Landmark Medical Center in Woonsocket. We put the kibosh on that idea faster that you can say, 'State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.'

Now, according to this Boston Globe story by Rob Weisman, he is pursuing the same plan. I think it's time for the SEIU to investigate this. After all, they are keen on increasing state aid to a financially troubled Massachusetts hospital in the Caritas system. They can't also be in favor of transferring those state funds and charitable assets to support a financially troubled system in another state.

What's the real play here? Perhaps it is the hope that cardiac surgery cases from Landmark would be referred to St. Elizabeth's Hospital, a Caritas subsidiary. How that would help Rhode Islanders is an interesting question. Would the Boston-based doctors and hospital be paid Massachusetts-level insurance rates, which are higher than Rhode Island's? How would Blue Cross of Rhode Island feel about that? Perhaps the doctors and hospital would be paid the lower-than-Boston-market Rhode Island rates? Would Rhode Island's Lifespan system stand by idly and watch this business leave their hospitals?

This is all too hard to understand. It seems to me that if you strap two leaky lifeboats together, they sink faster. Perhaps people could be more transparent about their intentions and hopes."

Meanwhile, Caritas's joint venture with Centene Corp., which Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley of Boston is seeking to modify in some unspecified way to address concerns raised by abortion opponents, is continuing to get some attention in the blogosphere. The Catholic Action League of Massachusetts, a small organization that has been leading the charge against the Caritas venture, yesterday alleged that Caritas board members have given money to politicians who support abortion rights, prompting the American Life League's Shaun Kenney to declare, "The Archdiocese of Boston has another scandal on its hands. They are in danger of participating in state-sponsored abortion. It’s time Cardinal O’Malley put a stop to this travesty.”

Conservative blogger Carol McKinley has been posting a lot of commentary critical of O'Malley and Caritas for their handling of the venture. And Philip F. Lawler, a former editor of the Pilot, has written a critical history of the Caritas venture for Catholic World Report, where he is editor emeritus. An excerpt:

"The government contract will undoubtedly bring a critical infusion of revenue for the Caritas Christi system. The alliance with Centene Corporation in the CFHP may even lead to a successful sale of the troubled Caritas Christi system. But the apparent involvement of Catholic hospitals in a system that provides subsidized abortions—and the steadfast refusal of the Boston archdiocese to explain how that involvement could possibly be justified—is an astonishing setback for the culture of life. And it bears emphasis that this situation did not arise because the state government forced Caritas Christi into a morally untenable position; the Catholic agency deliberately sought to be involved."

Over at Beliefnet's Via Media blog, Amy Welborn, a popular conservative Catholic blogger, tries to wade through the complex maze of ethical questions involved. Welborn outlines the issues, but does not reach a conclusion:

"There are a couple of points to chew on: First, the argument that social justice demands that Catholic health care continue to exist in its present form, even if such existence requires provision of immoral procedures. Secondly, that the massive-business model centered around the acute care hospital may have to be abandoned by Catholic institutions, and this is not necessarily a bad thing. A third point, though...greed, and an enthusiastic, as opposed to reluctant, abandonment of Catholic principles on life."

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which is meeting this week in San Antonio, today called for immigration reform. The statement from Cardinal Francis George of Chicago, who is the president of the bishops' conference:

"On behalf of the United States Catholic Bishops, gathered in San Antonio, Texas, at our annual spring meeting, I would ask President Barack Obama and congressional leaders of both parties to work together to fashion and enact comprehensive immigration reform legislation before the end of the year.

It has been clear for years that the United States immigration system requires repair and that reform legislation should not be delayed.

We urge respect and observance of all just laws, and we do not approve or encourage the illegal entry of anyone into our country. From a humanitarian perspective, however, our fellow human beings, who migrate to support their families, continue to suffer at the hands of immigration policies that separate them from family members and drive them into remote parts of the American desert, sometimes to their deaths. This suffering should not continue.

Now is the time to address this pressing humanitarian issue which affects so many lives and undermines basic human dignity. Our society should no longer tolerate a status quo that perpetuates a permanent underclass of persons and benefits from their labor without offering them legal protections. As a moral matter, we must resolve the legal status of those who are here without proper documentation so that they can fully contribute their talents to our nation’s economic, social and spiritual well being.

Only through comprehensive reform can we restore the rule of law to our nation’s immigration system.

We urge President Obama and congressional leaders to meet as soon as possible to discuss and draft comprehensive immigration reform legislation, with the goal of making it law by the end of 2009. The Catholic bishops of our country stand ready to assist in this effort."