Advertisements ad

June 8, 2008

‘We are all God’s family’ Catholics join members of other faiths in march, vigil for immigration reform

By Michelle Martin

ASSISTANT EDITOR

About 1,000 people made their way into Chicago’s historic Holy Family Church May 29, singing and praying as they walked — one woman on her knees — to declare that “We are all God’s family,” and ask that immigration policies that separate families be changed.

The people came from Chicago and its suburbs, with groups of Latinos and Anglos mingling as they walked in procession from the John Paul II Newman Center at the University of Illinois at Chicago, 700 S. Morgan St. to Holy Family, 1080 W. Roosevelt Road, a distance of a little more than a half-mile.

At the church, they participated in a two-hour interfaith prayer service, with testimony from people affected by deportations, recognition of “signs of hope,” Scripture and prayer. Participants brought family photos that were presented during the service to demonstrate the unity of the family.

Prayers and blessings

Prayers and blessings were offered by Catholic, Jewish, Presbyterian and Muslim clergy, and the walk started with a Native American cleansing ceremony.

Auxiliary Bishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller, who helped lead the service, said the church must demonstrate that it stands with immigrants who are vulnerable and frightened, who have seen high hopes for comprehensive immigration reform legislation in 2005 peter out.

“It’s to encourage people, to say you are not alone,” Bishop Garcia-Siller said. “We are with one another. Even though nothing is happening, nothing is impossible with God.”

Cardinal’s statement

During the service, Auxiliary Bishop John Manz read a message in English and Spanish from Cardinal George.

“My brother bishops of the United States and I have stated very clearly that our current immigration laws are broken,” wrote the cardinal, who did not attend because he was ordaining two priests the same evening. “Through the vehicle of the Catholic Campaign for Immigration Reform, we continue to work together with you to encourage, support and work toward compassionate, comprehensive immigration reform that will enable the many good, hardworking immigrants who are currently undocumented to have a path toward citizenship, and that will reunify families that have been torn apart. With you I decry the too-frequent human rights abuses that occur as families are broken by deportation. With you I reject the hatred against immigrants perpetrated by some individuals and groups in our society.”

Father Larry Dowling, the pastor of St. Agatha Parish, read an opening statement in English, saying, “We are at an in-between time, between two special holidays, Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, when we celebrate the gift of the women and men who gave us life and nurtured us in faith; but because many mothers and fathers are being separated each day due to deportation, it is also a time between despair at the pain caused to these families and hope that we can work together to reunite spouses and parents with their children; between a time when inadequate laws cause unnecessary pain and hardship in our immigrant communities, and a time when the path to citizenship will be guaranteed; between a time when we are still divided as people of faith on fully embracing the undocumented mothers, fathers and children among us and the time when we will stand together with our brothers and sisters — Polish, Asian, African, Latino and so many others — to demand their full inclusion in the American dream.”

Waiting for deportation

Among those standing up was a man named German, from Good Shepherd Parish. German, who did not give his last name, spoke in Spanish and told how Homeland Security agents came into his home last year with a warrant and took him away in handcuffs. Within hours, the agents determined that he was not the man they were looking for, but because he is undocumented, they started deportation proceedings.

His second deportation hearing is in October. He said he does not think it is right, but he will go if he is ordered to. The decision that must be made now is whether his wife and two daughters, both citizens, will follow him to Mexico, because he and his wife want his little girls to grow up with every opportunity open to them.

Anna Jakubek, an organizer with the Northwest Neighborhood Federation, spoke in Polish and English about the difficulty she had finding undocumented Poles who would share their stories.

“We do not share our fears openly,” she said. “If we speak openly, we fear we will be exposing ourselves and our families to the unknown.”

Signs of hope

Among the signs of hope held up were the passage of Illinois House Bill No. 2747, to allow pastoral care of detainees held by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Illinois county jails. The bill passed the House unanimously May 14; it has not yet been acted on in the Senate. Also, the Sisters of Mercy who started a court-watching program were there, and attorney Roy Berg, who with the sisters started a weekly Friday morning rosary outside the Broadview detention and processing facility. Up to 200 people are deported from the facility each Friday, some of the 280,000 people who have been deported in the last year.

Also recognized were St. Turibius Parish’s ministry to families affected by immigration raids, St. Ann Parish’s “Know Your Rights” campaign for immigrants, Old St. Patrick’s Parish’s listening circles for young adults and the “Pilgrims and Witnesses” program that brings speakers to parishes who have little understanding of the situation of immigrants.

Walkers give witness

Among the walkers in the procession were many members of Priests for Justice for Immigrants and Brothers and Sisters for Justice for Immigrants.

Maria Cearvantez of St. Pius V Parish in Pilsen traversed the last block and the church steps on her knees.

With the pastor of St. Pius, Dominican Father Brendan Curran, translating, Cearvantez said that coming on her knees “is her way of prayer, so that our government would see the need to change.

“It’s a prayer and an offering on this special day together, to remind us and keep in perspective what God did for us.”

Teens from Mision Juan Diego and St. James Parish, both in Arlington Heights, also attended.

Alyssa Gustafson, Kaileen Mc- Gourty and Vanessa Vargas, all 16, and Anaid Torres, 12, walked together, helping keep an eye on the younger children who came with them.

McGourty said she publicly stood up for immigration reform at her school, despite great opposition.

“They need to make it easier to become ‘legal,’” she said, because people who are suffering will not wait years for a visa to come and work legally. “We’re all children of God.”