In this time of discord and anxiety in the United States, as people of good will resist the violent and terrorizing actions of agents of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE), Pax Christi USA offers the resources below to help our members and others take action — together we pray, we study, and we act for justice rooted in Gospel nonviolence.

Watch: Witnessing ‘neighborism’ amid the US federal government siege of Minnesota, a webinar offered by Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns

Pray

photo of person holding scented candle

God of justice and compassion, we gather before You — hearts heavy with grief and anger for the violence that continues to wound our neighborhoods and nation. We remember Alex Pretti and Renee Nicole Good, beloved children of God whose lives were taken by the hands of oppression. We hold their families, their friends, and the people of Minneapolis and St. Paul in our prayer, trusting that Your comfort meets them in their mourning.

Our cities cry out with the pain of injustice, the weariness of fear, and the ache of lives lost too soon. Too many of Your beloved children live under threat and harm, their dignity denied and their hope diminished. We lament this brokenness together and pray that our longing for Your peace take root among us.

Stir within us a holy unrest. Give us the faith and the courage to see and speak the truth; to confront the powers that harm; and to stand shoulder to shoulder with those most vulnerable. May our mourning move us to mercy and our lament awaken compassion that leads to action.

God of peace, restore what hatred has broken. Grant safety to those who live in fear. Strengthen all who care for the wounded and the weary, and renew in us the steadfast hope that peace is still possible, even now.

We long together for Your peace in our nation’s streets, peace in our communities, peace in every heart. Make us witnesses to Your presence and instruments of Your love. Set things right among us, O Lord. Restore peace to the land and to our communities.

Amen.

WATCH: “Taken, broken, shared: Catholic witness today,” a 75-minute Zoom vigil, reflection, and call to action rooted in prayer, testimony, and Catholic Social Teaching following immigration enforcement tactics in Minnesota that violate human dignity.

Prayer services outside ICE Headquarters (washington, DC)

Plea to political and immigration officials and agents

We appeal to all political and immigration officials and agents who have devised, ordered and are carrying out ICE raids on immigrant communities across the United States. We remind you that we are all created in God’s image and all life is sacred. God’s love knows no borders. We implore you to respect the dignity of each person you encounter, especially the most vulnerable. We invite you to welcome our neighbors, not to arrest, detain and deport them. The cries of all those who live in fear and are detained rise to heaven more loudly each day.  We implore all political leaders overseeing immigration policy and ICE agents: Stop the cruelty of the raids! Stop the repression! Release all those unjustly held captive, reunite families, and allow immigrants to get on a path to long-term status!

A Catholic guide to resisting the ICE crackdown

Study

  • Pope Leo XIV receives delegation from El Paso, TX, November 2025
  • Pope Leo XIV says ‘inhuman treatment of immigrants’ in the U.S. isn’t ‘pro-life’
  • Catechism of the Catholic Church, from The duties of citizens, paragraph 2242: The citizen is obliged in conscience not to follow the directives of civil authorities when they are contrary to the demands of the moral order, to the fundamental rights of persons or the teachings of the Gospel. Refusing obedience to civil authorities, when their demands are contrary to those of an upright conscience, finds its justification in the distinction between serving God and serving the political community. “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” “We must obey God rather than men”: When citizens are under the oppression of a public authority which oversteps its competence, they should still not refuse to give or to do what is objectively demanded of them by the common good; but it is legitimate for them to defend their own rights and those of their fellow citizens against the abuse of this authority within the limits of the natural law and the Law of the Gospel.
  • Amidst ICE and CBP’s brutal violence, Congress is planning to give them even more money, January 21, 2026

Act

Additional resource: Pax Christi USA prayer-study-action suggestions for responding to times of crisis

Pax Christi USA practical actions for peacemakingDownload