New US citizens get welcome from Bishop Wenski

“And so today, after many years and many struggles, you too will be Americans,” Orlando’s Bishop Thomas Wenski tells a gathering of soon–to–be naturalized citizens on World Refugee Day.

FLORIDA CATHOLIC STAFF REPORT

Posted: 06.30.09

CHARLES HODGES | FC
Bishop Thomas Wenski congratulates Joseph Chol Akot Chol, from Sudan, on becoming a new American citizen during ceremonies at the World Refugee Day celebration held at the Orlando Public Library, June 20, organized by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

ORLANDO | The World Refugee Day celebration June 20 at the Orlando Public Library downtown included a naturalization ceremony for 25 people who settled in the area. The new citizens came from the countries of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Burundi, Cambodia, China, Colombia, Cuba, El Salvador, Ghana, Haiti, Iran, Kazakhstan, Lebanon, Morocco, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Poland, Romania, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Thailand, Turkey, Vietnam and Zimbabwe.

The celebration was organized by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. World Refugee Day is celebrated around the world “to draw attention to the plight of millions of people uprooted by conflict and persecution,” according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

Bishop Thomas Wenski, as keynote speaker, expressed admiration for the new citizens and shared a personal story as well. “Today, a group of refugees who had made new lives for themselves here in central Florida will become American citizens. The situation of refugees is filled with many shadows. These people, however, represent rays of light, rays of hope. They have known adversity. They have experienced being uprooted. They have faced the challenge of adapting to a new language and a new culture. And today, they begin to write a new chapter in their own personal biography: one that can be titled, ‘Today, I am an American.’

“I remember my father – who came to this country as a child because of the political and economic situation of his homeland – once told a young Polish man who came to the U.S. in the mid-1980s seeking asylum after the crackdown on the solidarity movement in that country: ‘You could live in France for all your life, and you never would be considered a Frenchman. But here, in five or six years, you will be an American.’ And so today, after many years and many struggles, you too will be Americans.

“Too many of us here in America have become apathetic about the blessings that liberty affords us in this great democracy; yet, there are millions throughout the world who can only dream of the freedom and opportunity we enjoy. I would hazard to say that these men and women this afternoon, having studied for their citizenship tests, know more about the U.S. Constitution than many native-born Americans. Having experienced life without the liberties that we Americans take for granted, they readily embrace the values of the Constitution and are eager to contribute to their adopted nation. They are anxious and willing to embrace the privileges and obligations, the rights and duties of citizenship in this great nation.”

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