Prayer vigil held in front of ICE headquarters

On Friday, October 3, some 50 peacemakers, including members of the Pax Christi USA National Council who were together for their semi-annual meeting that weekend, held a prayer service and vigil in support of immigrants outside of the headquarters of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency in Washington, DC. The prayer service, with the theme “Love Thy Neighbor,” was co-sponsored by Pax Christi USA, Pax Christi Metro DC-Baltimore, the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker, Franciscan Action Network, Congregation Action Network, Sisters of Mercy, the Quixote Center and other groups. 

Related: “Migrants, missionaries of hope,” and the One Church One Family campaign

The service began with a welcome from Pax Christi USA Executive Director Charlene Howard. Sherry Simon, outgoing chair of the National Council, then read this message from Pax Christi USA Bishop President John Stowe, OFM Conv.:

I wish I could be there in person with Pax Christi USA and others for this witness on this eve of the Feast of Saint Francis. I hope that the words of Cardinal McElroy from the march on the World Day of Migrants and Refugees are still resounding in DC and beyond. He called out the assault on the most vulnerable that is taking place in DC and many places throughout the country. It is so vital that we who call ourselves Christians remind ourselves of the most fundamental Christian values, love of God and love of neighbor. As you bear witness in the nation’s capital you are affirming the importance of human dignity, which is God-given and is more basic than our nationality or citizenship. You are also striving to uphold the common good, recognizing that we are one community in the US, brought together from all over the world and our immigrants have made us stronger and better and will continue to do so. Let us remember the biblical imperative that we welcome the stranger, and recognize that it is Christ himself whom we welcome. Let us insist on the respect for human dignity and the rights of all, for law-enforcement personnel to clearly identify themselves and their authority, and continue to work for the comprehensive immigration reform that can allow millions of our immigrant sisters and brothers to leave among us without fear.

The participants then sang Sweet Honey in the Rock’s song, “We who believe in freedom shall not rest,” which was followed by this reflection from Pax Christi USA 2016 Teacher of Peace Art Laffin:

St. Oscar Romero, martyred archbishop of San Salvador, declared: “A church that doesn’t provoke any crises, a gospel that doesn’t unsettle, a word of God that doesn’t get under anyone’s skin, a word of God that doesn’t touch the real sin of the society in which it is being proclaimed — ​what gospel is that?” 

On March 23, 1980, the day before he was assassinated, Archbishop Romero made the following appeal in his Sunday Mass homily: “I would like to make a special appeal to the men of the army, and specifically to the ranks of the National Guard, the police and the military. Brothers, you come from our own people. You are killing your own brother peasants when any human order to kill must be subordinate to the law of God which says, “Thou shalt not kill.” No soldier is obliged to obey an order contrary to the law of God. No one has to obey an immoral law. It is high time you recovered your consciences and obeyed your consciences rather than a sinful order. The Church, the defender of the rights of God, of the law of God, of human dignity, of the person, cannot remain silent before such an abomination. We want the government to face the fact that reforms are valueless if they are to be carried out at the cost of so much blood. In the name of God, in the name of this suffering people whose cries rise to heaven more loudly each day, I implore you, I beg you, I order you in the name of God: stop the repression.”

We thank God for the exemplary Gospel witness of St. Romero. Today, followers of Jesus need to heed St. Romero’s admonition regarding how to respond to state-sanctioned violence and injustice. As it relates to the present immigration policy, a similar appeal, like the one St. Romero issued, must be made by church leaders and people of faith to those responsible for this unjust dehumanizing policy of terror.

National Council member Sr. Annie Killian, OP prayed:

We would like to make a special moral appeal to political and immigration officials and agents who have devised, ordered and are carrying out ICE raids on immigrant communities across the US.

We are all created in God’s image and all life is sacred. God’s love knows no borders. As followers of Jesus, we are mindful that Jesus was born as a migrant and exiled as a refugee. As people of faith, as descendants of immigrants ourselves, we are called to love and welcome our neighbor, not to arrest, detain and deport them. When a human order to oppress or harm another human is given, Christians and people of faith must be subordinate to God’s law of love. No ICE agent is obliged to obey an order contrary to the law of God. No one has to obey an immoral law. It is high time for those carrying out the current unjust immigration policy to obey their consciences rather than a sinful order. As people of faith, who believe that God’s law supersedes human law, and that the dignity of every person must be respected, we cannot remain silent as our immigrant sisters and brothers are targeted and criminalized, unjustly detained, imprisoned and deported, and separated from their families. In the name of God, in the name of all those who live in fear and are detained, and whose cries rise to heaven more loudly each day, we implore all political leaders overseeing immigration policy and ICE agents: Stop the raids of immigrants! Stop the repression! Release all those held captive and reunite families that have been separated!

National Council member James Watts offered this prayer:

Loving God, we remember all immigrants and refugees past and present who have been crucified to a cross of exploitation, racism, oppression and war. We remember, too, those who have been driven from their homes and have died crossing the Mexico-US. border. O God, help us to learn to love and welcome the immigrants in this land. Give us the courage to stand for justice for all immigrants. Give us the courage to speak out and expose how our country’s policies of globalization and free trade are driving people to leave their countries and tearing families apart. Help us to take down the walls of division and fear that create physical walls of separation on our border. Teach us the words of love you would have us speak as we work for a just immigration policy in this land.

Rev. Julio Hernandez from the Congregation Action Network offered a prayer, which was followed by a statement from Bishop Anthony Taylor of Little Rock, AR, read by Sherry Simon:

To those of you standing in peaceful vigil with Pax Christi USA protesting the mass deportation of immigrants in our country, I share my closeness to you in prayer this day. But more importantly, I share my spiritual closeness with our many immigrants who now live in fear within our country.

I think we all recognize that the rights to due process can vary depending on the type of legal proceeding and the legal context. But even if the kind of due process may vary, some kind of due process should still be considered a fundamental human right—not merely a right extended to citizens or those with legal status. Sadly, with mass incarcerations and mass deportations, we have gone down the slippery slope of ignoring this fundamental human right at even its most basic level.

As Catholics, we are called to stand up for the stranger in our midst as a sign of our faith. But this issue is deeper than simply a “Catholic issue.” It is a human rights issue. Our understanding of natural law tells us that each person, from the moment of conception, has inherent human dignity, and thus certain unalienable rights. And when we ignore someone’s “due process rights” at even the most basic level, we’re not just ignoring some amorphous rights to due process—we’re ignoring the inherent human dignity of the other, created in the image and likeness of our same Creator. And we ignore this to our own peril.

In the wake of so much violence in our country—directed towards churches and schools, towards politicians and political activists—I pray that we find ways to respect each other’s common dignity. That even amidst our deepest disagreements, we find ways to love and respect one another, rather than to attack one another. And one way we can do that is to start showing love and care for the stranger in our midst—to plead for the end to indiscriminate and mass deportations—and to recognize that each person is owed equal, unique, inherent, dignified treatment in the eyes of our one Creator.

Jessica Sun, a member of the leadership team of the Pax Christi Young Adult Caucus, led the following litany of lament:

Let us take a few deep breaths and feel deeply the grief that courses through our individual bodies and our collective body as members of the human family, as part of God’s creation. Together, we mourn the injustices and wounds inflicted on pilgrims seeking refuge because of the systemic sin carried out by our country. Lord, have mercy on us. 

For immigrants that have been kidnapped and disappeared;
ALL: Jesus, move us to action.

For allowing masked, unidentified, and un-uniformed agents stop and arrest even those suspected of being immigrants;
ALL: Jesus, move us to action.

For first generation immigrant citizens enduring the terror of being falsely detained or deported because of their accent or the color of their skin;
ALL: Jesus, move us to action.

For children fearing that their parents will be kidnapped from them each time they separate;
ALL: Jesus, move us to action.

For immigrants terrorized into fearing going into their own house of worship;
ALL: Jesus, move us to action.

For students who are terrorized and blocked from receiving the education they deserve;
ALL: Jesus, move us to action.

For mothers and fathers who have sacrificed everything in the name of hope for their families;
ALL: Jesus, move us to action.

For allowing our National Guard to be involved in arresting their newborns;
ALL: Jesus, move us to action.

For giving daily quotas of arrests to ICE agents to arrest their peaceful neighbors;
ALL: Jesus, move us to action.

For all our migrant sisters and brothers currently being held in ICE detention centers without due process, and without sufficient food, water, and bedding;
ALL: Jesus, move us to action.

For all people of the conscience in the streets and outside the humanitarian disasters that are ICE concentration camps around the country, for our friends around the country who have been brutalized violently for standing for their migrant sisters and brothers;
ALL: Jesus, move us to action.

For immigration lawyers of conscience and those within the legal system working tirelessly for due process and justice for all;
ALL: Jesus, move us to action.

For spending billions of dollars on building immigration concentration camps, hiring extreme numbers of ICE agents and other ICE spending rather than funding the feeding of the hungry, housing the homeless and caring for the sick;
ALL: Jesus, move us to action.

Jesus, may your light and love fill the broken places in our hearts, and give us the grace to move us into action for our sisters and brothers enduring great injustices by our taxpayer dollars on their journeys of migration. Give us your desire for liberation for all people, and grant us the patience, strength, and courage to be channels of your peacemaking. O Eternal Love, from whom every family on earth derives its name, have mercy on all those who sojourn in this world through our hands and feet. 

Pax Christi USA Ambassadors of Peace Scott Wright (left) and Jean Stokan shared the following reflection on Pope Leo’s message regarding the 111th World Day of Migrants and Refugees:

In his 111th World Day of Migrants and Refugees message, themed “Migrants, Missionaries of Hope”, Pope Leo XIV highlights how migrants and refugees in a special way can become witnesses of hope and tenacity amidst adversity and calls for a future of peace and respect for human dignity. He begins his message underlining how the world is “faced with frightening scenarios and the possibility of global devastation.”

“The prospect of a renewed arms race and the development of new armaments, including nuclear weapons, the lack of consideration for the harmful effects of the ongoing climate crisis, and the impact of profound economic inequalities make the challenges of the present and the future increasingly demanding, he explained, adding that these issues have forced millions to leave their homelands.

For Pope Leo, “it is important there be a growing desire in people’s hearts for a future of peace and of respect for the dignity of all.”

The pope further explains that migrants and refugees thus have an important role to play in showing hope in a better future. For the Catholic Church, “the virtue of hope responds to the aspiration to happiness which God has placed in the heart of every man and woman”; and this search is “certainly one of the main motivations” for migrants, refugees and displaced persons, making them “messengers” and “privileged witnesses of hope.”

“Indeed, they demonstrate this daily through their resilience and trust in God, as they face adversity while seeking a future in which they glimpse that integral human development and happiness are possible”, he says, comparing the experience of the people of Israel described in the Bible.

“In a world darkened by war and injustice, even when all seems lost,” he stresses, “their courage and tenacity bear heroic testimony to a faith that sees beyond what our eyes can see and gives them the strength to defy death on the various contemporary migration routes.”

We thank the pope, and those US bishops who strongly speak out for our immigrant sisters and brothers, such as Bishop Seitz, Bishop Stowe and many others.  From them, we are beginning to hear the prophetic voice of Bishop Romero, which is much needed in our time, calling on all of us to stop cooperation with the acts that dehumanize and disappear increasing numbers of our migrant sisters and brothers.

After some final announcements, Pax Christi USA Ambassador of Peace Bob Cooke shared a prayer from Pope Francis for the 2024 World Day of Migrants and Refugees:

God Almighty, we are your pilgrim Church, journeying towards the Kingdom of heaven. We live in our homeland, but as if we were foreigners. Every foreign place is our home, yet every native land is foreign to us. Though we live on earth, our true citizenship is in heaven. Do not let us become possessive of the portion of the world you have given us as a temporary home. Help us to keep walking, together with our migrant brothers and sisters, toward the eternal dwelling you have prepared for us. Open our eyes and our hearts so that every encounter with those in need becomes an encounter with Jesus, your Son and our Lord. Amen.

Pope Francis, World Day of Migrants and Refugees 2024