Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller and his Failure to be our Shepherd

by Sonja Harris on August 8, 2019 at 12:01 PM

Having grown up as a cradle Catholic, I find myself questioning more and more the motives of the bishops of the church.  When you are young it’s easy to follow and believe what they say because there was and is a certain naiveté.  There is also that indoctrination all Catholics go through….it’s scandalous to talk about the Church, about the archbishops.

Well, it’s time Catholics “go out and evangelize” as we are asked to do at the end of each mass.   We must also take our ‘shepherds’ to task.  It’s been a long time coming.  Living in the San Antonio Archdiocese has been extremely difficult under the guidance of Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller.

CANON LAW 212
1) Conscious of their own responsibility, the Christian faithful are bound to follow with Christian obedience those things which the sacred pastors, inasmuch as they represent Christ, declare as teachers of the faith or establish as rulers of the Church.

3) According to the knowledge, competence, and prestige which they possess, they have     the right and even at times the duty to manifest to the sacred pastors their opinion on matters which pertain to the good of the Church and to make their opinion known to the rest of the Christian faithful, without prejudice to the integrity of faith and morals, with reverence toward their pastors and attentive to common advantage and the dignity of persons.

Archbishop Garcia-Siller became a naturalized US citizen in 1998.  He took an oath when he became a citizen and should be a role model for all immigrants that come across legally so they too can live the ‘American Dream’.

Oath to become a US Citizen
“I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty, of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bare true faith and allegiance to the same;that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law; and that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God.”

His actions are far from what most Catholics consider being a compassionate, loving archbishop. For example, he has protested against the sanctuary cities ban passed by the Texas legislature and has been part of the movement of bringing illegal aliens to Texas.

I have written several articles on what is going on in our San Antonio ‘Catholic’ high schools and colleges and sounded the alarm that we, as Catholics, are being abandoned by our priests.  There are way too many homilies that try to indoctrinate us to go against Catholicism and America.  It cannot continue.

America is divided: those that want freedom and those that want to embrace socialism.  You cannot be a socialist and be a Catholic.  IF we become a socialist nation, the government will become God.  There will be no freedom of religion, no freedom of speech, no right to bear arms…how frightening is that.

Archbishop Garcia-Siller is for the illegal alien and has done absolutely nothing to hide that fact. He apparently has no understanding of the human trafficking in Texas and the United States, otherwise he would address and show concern for that aspect of the migration from Central America.

Catholics should not have been surprised that the archbishop called our president a ‘racist’ in his tweets.  He joined the ‘mob’ mentality and is echoing words of socialists like the Castro brothers and Robert O’Rourke that claim to be ‘Catholic’.  Blaming the president for the shootings and calling him a ‘racist’ are exacerbating the situation. Do we need this in Texas, in San Antonio?  No, we need shepherds to show us how to stay calm, how to stop the rhetoric of violence and how to counter hate with love.   We do not need a rebel rouser.  Catholics definitely do not need anyone, especially an archbishop, calling the president ‘racist’, or  calling for ‘gun control’ at this very emotional time.  His ‘gun control’ tweet was not deleted.

The archbishop’s tweets did a lot of damage simply because he is the head of the San Antonio Archdiocese.  A diocese with almost three million Catholics and 139 parishes.
All his ‘racist’ tweets have been deleted.

The shootings in El Paso and Dayton, Ohio have spurred the Left to attack our president mercilessly all the while promoting their progressive agenda.  The Democratic National Committee has targeted Texas to turn ‘blue’.  They are using the shootings as a means to raise money by supporting the lie that the El Paso shooter was inspired by our president’s words therefore making the shooting the president’s fault.   Ridiculous!

Unfortunately, there have been many shootings and everyone has an opinion as to WHY? What we need are godly men to lead us in prayer, to turn to God, more homilies that inspire and not devalue the dignity of the president of the United States or his supporters.   Using the words ‘White Supremacist’, referring to the president, coming from the pulpit is very discouraging and disturbing.  It accomplishes absolutely nothing.

The ‘shooter’ is the only one responsible for his actions.  The following is part of a prayer from Fr Frank Pavone, the founder of Priests for Life:
Lord, God, we ask you today too, that we may recognize that the evil, the violence is not in the weapon that we use, but in the will to use it. The evil is not in what we hold in our hand but rather what we hold in our hearts, that evil is not contained in the weapons but in the users of the weapons, Lord God strengthen us in this hour. Give us your peace, bring us to salvation through Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen

Archbishop Garcia-Siller offered a video regretting his words….but was it an apology? If you like you can go to the website of the San Antonio archdiocese to hear for yourself. He never once mentions the word ‘evil’ in referring to the shooter. He continues to use the word immigrant when in essence the word is ‘illegal’ alien. The president has mentioned numerous times that we need legal immigrants coming into the United States. I am a daughter of immigrants who became US citizens. I’m afraid his motives for his ‘regrets’ are not sincere, and are tied to the collection basket, but you decide.

Archbishop Garcia Siller regrets his tweets August 6, 2019 (excerpts)

https://www.archsa.org/

To my parishioners and the wider community and all the dedicated priests of the archdiocesan of San Antonio.  Please know that it is my ministry to serve your special needs and to express myself in ways that convey compassion, civility and build up unity.

I regret in my recent tweet remarks were not focused on the issues but on an individual.  All individuals have God given dignity and should be accorded respect and love as children of God. Especially in our conversations and interactions.  We should be aware of this in our discourse of the office of the president of the United States which is due our respect.

If I have added to anyone’s pain at this emotional time I deeply regret it.  My hope is always to bring comfort through actions that reflect the love and healing power of Christ.

There is growing fear and harassment and at times American public discourse uses rhetoric that instigates fear against foreigners, immigrants and refugees.

CATHOLIC CATECHISM 2241
The more prosperous nations are obliged, to the extend they are able, to welcome the ‘foreigner’ in search of the security and the means of livelihood which he cannot find in his country of origin.  Public authorities should see to it that the natural right is respected that places a guest under the protection of those that receive him.

Immigrants are obliged to respect with gratitude the material and spiritual heritage of the country that receives them.  To obey its laws and to assist in carrying civic burdens.

The archbishop’s opinion calling our president a ‘racist’ will linger on in CNN, the Washington Post, The Hill, and Fox News media not to mention all the local news media.  His opinionated remark will only make it difficult for civil discussion in explaining that a Socialist must not be our next president.   Should we blame the archbishop IF President Trump loses and we become a socialist nation?