Bishop Burbidge’s Immigration Comments Undermine Christ’s Social Kingship
The Catholic News Agency portal (November 15, 2025) reports on statements by “Bishop” Michael Burbidge of Arlington regarding immigration. The article quotes him asserting that “respecting human dignity” must align with “safeguarding the nation,” while opposing “indiscriminate mass deportation.” Burbidge claims this position flows from Jesus’ teachings and expresses gratitude toward “elected officials” for dialogue. The commentary frames immigration as a humanitarian issue requiring “safe pathways” to citizenship, devoid of any reference to the supreme law of Christ the King over nations or the subordination of civil policy to the salvation of souls (Finis primarius Ecclesiae).
Naturalism Replaces Supernatural Order
Burbidge’s statement that “a country has a right to protect its borders for the sake of the common good” employs the modernist trick of isolating natural goods from their divine purpose. Pius XI condemned this error in Quas Primas (1925): “When once men recognize, both in private and in public life, that Christ is King, society will at last receive the great blessings of real liberty, well-ordered discipline, peace and harmony.” The “bishop” reduces the common good to mere temporal stability, ignoring St. Augustine’s teaching that true peace is the tranquillitas ordinis (tranquility of order) under Christ’s reign.
The term “indiscriminate mass deportation” constitutes emotional manipulation divorced from Catholic principles. As the Syllabus of Errors (1864) declares: “It is an error to believe that the Church ought to adapt her doctrines to the opinions of civil society” (Proposition 63). The Church judges immigration policies by their conformity to lex aeterna (eternal law), not humanitarian slogans. Burbidge’s silence on nation-states’ duty to preserve Catholic identity exposes his alignment with Vatican II’s heresy of religious liberty (Dignitatis Humanae).
False Ecumenism Masks Apostasy
By praising “immigrants who have contributed to our country” without distinguishing between Catholics and non-Catholics, Burbidge advances the condemned error of Americanism. Pope Leo XIII warned in Testem Benevolentiae (1899) against “the assumption that the Church ought to adapt herself to our advanced civilization and relax her ancient rigor.” His call for “dialogue” with civil authorities contradicts Pius IX’s condemnation in the Syllabus: “In the present day it is no longer expedient that the Catholic religion should be held as the only religion of the State, to the exclusion of all other forms of worship” (Proposition 77).
The article’s reference to “fear and anxiety” among immigrants deliberately omits the primary spiritual danger: souls risk eternal damnation when nations abandon their Catholic foundations. Pius X’s Lamentabili Sane (1907) condemned the proposition that “Revelation was merely man’s self-awareness of his relationship to God” (Proposition 20) – precisely the anthropocentric heresy underlying Burbidge’s rhetoric.
Structural Apostasy of the USCCB
The “bishops'” statement opposing deportations flows from their illegitimate claim to moral authority. As the Defense of Sedevacantism document proves: “A manifest heretic cannot be Pope or a member of the Church” (Bellarmine, De Romano Pontifice). Since the USCCB operates under antipope Leo XIV’s false magisterium, its documents lack any binding force. The Syllabus explicitly rejects the notion that “Ecclesiastical law… does not apply to authors engaged in scientific criticism or exegesis” (Proposition 1) – a parallel error to Burbidge’s claim that politicians may ignore divine law in policy-making.
Conclusion: Kingship of Christ Versus Humanitarianism
Burbidge’s statements constitute blasphemous substitution of natural virtue for supernatural truth. As Pius XI declared: “When countries refuse to obey Christ the King, they incur sentence of condemnation” (Quas Primas). The article’s focus on “respect” and “harmony” while ignoring Christus Rex‘s dominion exemplifies the “cult of man” condemned at Vatican I. Until nations recognize the Social Reign of Christ the King, no immigration policy – however “compassionate” – can fulfill God’s eternal law.
Source:
Respecting human dignity can align with safeguarding nation, Bishop Burbidge says (catholicnewsagency.com)
Date: 15.11.2025