Migration, USA

At border Mass, bishops call for compassion, immigration reform

National Catholic Reporter

Patricia Zapor News Catholic News Service

With the backdrop a few feet away of the rusted iron slats of the 30-foot wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, Boston Cardinal Sean O’Malley and a dozen other bishops from three countries prayed Tuesday for compassion and for a return to ideals that welcome immigrants.

Fatima Rojas, 13, holds a sign with a plea for her sister, who she said has been held at a U.S. facility in Elroy, Ariz., for months, at a news conference held by a visiting group of U.S. bishops Tuesday in Nogales, Ariz
Fatima Rojas, 13, holds a sign with a plea for her sister, who she said has been held at a U.S. facility in Elroy, Ariz., for months, at a news conference held by a visiting group of U.S. bishops Tuesday in Nogales, Ariz

 

 

 

 

 

 

More than 300 people formed the outdoor congregation on the U.S. side of the border and hundreds more participated on the Mexico side, receiving Communion pressed into hands that stretched between the slats, illustrating that, as one teenage member of the choir put it, “we are all one community — we are all bilingual and bi cultural.”

Referring to a visit by Pope Francis last summer to the Italian island of Lampedusa where migrants from the Middle East and Africa try to enter Europe illegally, O’Malley in his homily quoted the pope’s comments about the “globalization of indifference.”

A woman in Mexico peers through the slats of the border fence as a group of U.S. bishops celebrates Mass Tuesday in Nogales, Ariz.
A woman in Mexico peers through the slats of the border fence as a group of U.S. bishops celebrates Mass Tuesday in Nogales, Ariz.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“We have lost a sense of responsibility for our brothers and sisters,” Pope Francis said. “We have fallen into the hypocrisy of the priest and the Levite whom Jesus described in the parable of the good Samaritan.”

O’Malley quoted Pope Francis further: “The culture of comfort, which makes us think only of ourselves, makes us insensitive to the cries of other people.”

Bishop Gerald Kicanas of Tucson, Ariz., blesses people on the Mexican side of the border as he distributes Communion through the border fence Tuesday in Nogales, Ariz.
Bishop Gerald Kicanas of Tucson, Ariz., blesses people on the Mexican side of the border as he distributes Communion through the border fence Tuesday in Nogales, Ariz.

The Mass at the intersection of International Street and Nelson capped a two-day experience of the border region for bishops from as far away as Atlanta and Guatemala. Beginning with a Mass the day before at San Xavier del Bac Mission outside Tucson, which dates from when the entire region was part of Mexico, the bishops then walked along rough desert paths used by migrants.

Crawling under strands of barbed wire, scrunching low to walk through a culvert beneath a road, dodging cactus and sticker bushes, the group came upon empty water bottles, backpacks and other belongings abandoned by the migrants who cross the hilly, rocky terrain as they try to get past the various security measures and agents used by the Border Patrol to try to stop illegal immigration.

Then the group met with the Border Patrol at their regional headquarters, before crossing into Mexico to serve dinner at a church-sponsored “comedor,” or soup kitchen. The “comedor” serves people who have been deported or who are figuring out whether they want to try to sneak into the United States.

“We come to the desert today because it is the road to Jericho,” said O’Malley in his homily. “It is traveled by many trying to reach the metropolis of Jerusalem. We come here today to be a neighbor and to find a neighbor in each of the suffering people who risk their lives and at times lose their lives in the desert.

A group of U.S. bishops, led by Cardinal Sean O'Malley of Boston, celebrates Mass at the border fence Tuesday in Nogales, Ariz. (CNS/Nancy Wiechec)
A group of U.S. bishops, led by Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston, celebrates Mass at the border fence Tuesday in Nogales, Ariz. (CNS/Nancy Wiechec)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“The hard work and sacrifices of so many immigrant peoples is the secret of the success of this country. Despite the xenophobic ranting of a segment of the population, our immigrant population contributes mightily to the economy and well-being of the United States.”

He added that the group came also to mourn the loss of “countless immigrants who risk their lives at the hands of the ‘coyotes’ (smugglers) and the forces of nature to come to the United States.”