WASHINGTON - News of the detention in Lebanon of Maronite Archbishop Moussa El-Hage, O.A.M. last month, as he was returning from a routine visit to his Episcopal See in Haifa and the Holy Land, has caused great concern. In solidarity with Patriarch Bechara Boutros Cardinal Raï and the Maronite Church, Bishop David J. Malloy of Rockford, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on International Justice and Peace, issued the following statement:

“The arbitrary detention and interrogation of Archbishop Moussa El-Hage, the Maronite Archbishop of Haifa and the Holy Land, by Lebanese security, is cause for alarm. The archbishop was returning from one of his regular visits to the Holy Land and bringing much needed aid that the Lebanese diaspora in Israel wanted to send to family members in Lebanon. All this was confiscated by Lebanese security forces, along with his cell phone and passport.

WASHINGTON – Bishop David P. Talley of Memphis, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, has shared the statement of Cardinal Blase J. Cupich of Chicago, Catholic co-chairman of the National Catholic-Muslim Dialogue.

Full text of Cardinal Cupich’s statement, “Catholics in the United States Stand in Solidarity with Our Muslim Neighbors,” follows:

WASHINGTON - Earlier this week, the Afghan Adjustment Act (S. 4787/H.R. 8685) was introduced in the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives. If passed, this legislation would provide newly arrived Afghans with an opportunity to become lawful permanent residents in the United States, require the President to establish an Interagency Task Force on Afghan Ally Strategy, and increase support for those who assisted the U.S. mission in Afghanistan.

Bishop Mario E. Dorsonville, auxiliary bishop of Washington and chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on Migration, sent a letter to Congress endorsing the Afghan Adjustment Act and urging both chambers to pass it without delay, stating: