OSV News photo/Gregory A. Shemitz

ATLANTA—In May 27 letters to U.S. Senators Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, Georgia’s Catholic bishops express support for the Religious Workforce Protection Act (RWPA), recently introduced on a bi-partisan basis in both chambers of Congress.

Archbishop Gregory J. Hartmayer, OFM Conv., of Atlanta and Bishop Stephen D. Parkes of Savannah, joined by Atlanta’s auxiliaries Bishop Joel M. Konzen, SM; Bishop Bernard E. Shlesinger and Bishop John N. Tran, urged the senators to co-sponsor the measure and work toward its passage so that workers lawfully present in the United States can continue to serve.

“Without this relief, faithful men and women will increasingly be forced to abandon their ministries, preventing them from meeting people’s spiritual and physical needs and hindering the free exercise of religion in our state,” they wrote in the letter.

The legislation was introduced in the Senate by Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, Tim Kaine, D-Va., and Jim Risch, R-Idaho, and in the House by Reps. Mike Carey, R-Ohio, and Richard Neal, D-Mass. If signed into law, it would permit religious workers already in the U.S. on temporary R-1 status with pending EB-4 applications to stay in the U.S. while waiting for permanent residency, Collins’ office said. All five of the legislation’s sponsors are Catholic.

The Archdiocese of Atlanta serves approximately 1.2 million registered Catholics, with 80,000 registered in the Diocese of Savannah.

In the letters to Senators Ossoff and Warnock, Georgia’s bishops explained what is at stake if Congress does not act soon.

Between the two dioceses, 33 of the 378 diocesan and religious order priests are currently navigating the immigration process. Most of those 33 priests have a temporary status, including R-1 and H-1B visas.

“Five priests serving in the Archdiocese of Atlanta may have to leave the country because of the backlog in processing I-360 applications,” wrote the bishops. “Three of Savannah’s foreign-born priests with temporary status have adjustment of status applications that have been pending with USCIS for approximately 5.5 years. Five others have not been able to file for adjustment because of the EB-4 backlog.”

This potential loss of clergy members “would be significantly damaging to the people they serve and to the Catholic community of Georgia,” said the bishops.

They outlined the invaluable pastoral and sacramental care that priests provide including celebration of Mass, teaching catechesis, counseling, visiting the sick and elderly and providing guidance and supervision to parish members.

The backlog and inaction effects many other churches, the bishops said.

“Across the religious spectrum, Americans in every state depend on the essential contributions of foreign-born religious workers. Therefore, we would greatly appreciate your support for this simple, common-sense measure and the relief it would bring to so many communities across our nation.”

Georgia Catholic leaders maintained in the letter that the RWPA would provide flexibility to foreign-born religious workers who are subject to a severe backlog in the employment-based, fourth preference (EB-4) visa category.

“Because religious workers are limited in their ability to rely on alternative pathways, this has effectively crippled the Religious Worker Visa Program, which Congress established for the specific purpose of ensuring religious organizations have access to the workers they require and to promote the free exercise of religion in our country,” they wrote.

According to the bishops, the legislation would not increase the number permitted to immigrate to the country.

“If this straightforward bill were to be enacted, those already in the United States on a nonimmigrant religious worker (R-1) visa who have applied for adjustment of status through the EB-4 category would be able to remain in the country for renewable, three-year periods until they receive their green card,” they wrote. “Currently, R-1 visa holders are capped at five years in the United States and must be outside of the country for one full year before possibly returning on a subsequent R-1 visa. That is simply not sustainable for most religious organizations, their workers, or the people they serve.”

US bishops appeal to Congress

In an April letter to members of Congress, Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and head of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services, as well as Bishop Mark J. Seitz of El Paso, Texas, chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Migration, urged lawmakers to pass the legislation to “to ensure communities across our nation can continue to enjoy the essential contributions of foreign-born religious workers who lawfully entered the United States on a nonimmigrant religious worker (R-1) visa.”

They said that there are many Catholic priests, women religious and laypersons working in ministries in that category.

“Some parishes, especially those in rural or isolated areas, would go without regular access to the sacraments, if not for these religious workers,” the bishops said. “Additionally, dioceses with large immigrant populations rely on foreign-born religious workers for their linguistic and cultural expertise. We would not be able to serve our diverse flocks, which reflect the rich tapestry of our society overall, without the faithful men and women who come to serve through the Religious Worker Visa Program.”