Bishops Stage 'Mass' At Texas Border To Promote Immigration
Religious pro-immigration advocates gather in Texas
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A highly-politicized religious mass was held at the US/Mexico border by bishops on Saturday promoting mass immigration, insisting that “there is no ‘us’ and ‘them.’”
Vocal pro-immigration advocate and El Paso Bishop Mark Seitz celebrated the Eucharist together with Las Cruces Bishop Peter Baldacchino and Bishop Guadalupe Torres of Ciudad Juárez, Mexico.
A diocesan statement read:
“In this time of high polarization around the immigration debate, discrimination, militarization of the border, and a widespread spirit of exclusion in our nation."
“The Border Mass continues to remind us, missionary disciples of Christ, that we are primarily called to live in communion.”
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“For our Catholic faith, there is no ‘us and them,’ but one family of God,” the message continued.
“Borders, in the spirit of the Eucharist, exist not to separate and divide, but to identify and complement one another.”
“Borders are where we encounter each other and create thriving communities in unity and diversity. Borders are places where we share each other’s journey,” it said.
“When we celebrate this Border Mass here where El Paso meets Ciudad Juarez, and the U.S. meets Mexico, we are proclaiming the Good News of a Eucharistic Border,” it closed.
This is not the first time religious leaders have visited the Texas border.
In June this year, Catholic bishop Mark J Seitz walked with Central American migrants across the US-Mexico border bridge to protest the Trump administration.
CBP Shares Video of Completed Border Wall in Calexico “Areas Once Considered Dangerous are Now Secure”
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Seitz, a Roman Catholic bishop, walked with migrants across the Lerdo International Bridge in El Paso as part of his "Faith Action” protest against conditions he claims asylum seekers face 'under Trump.'
The Bishop prayed and walked a Honduran family of five across the border bridge to make a claim with Customs and Border Protection (CBP), according to the Dallas Morning News.
Bishop Seitz’s protest opposes President Donald Trump's immigration policy and the Migrant Protection Protocols.
Last month, Bishop Seitz wrote a “pastoral letter” condemning Trump’s border wall as a “monument to hate” and a symbol of exclusion and racism.
Last year, Pope Francis quietly ordered a delegation of U.S. Catholic bishops led by Cardinal Daniel DiNardo to travel to the U.S.-Mexico border in order to 'Stop Trump.'
The delegation celebrated a Mass at the Basilica of Our Lady of San Juan del Valle.
The Rio Grande Valley has long been a popular pilgrimage site for Latino Catholics.
