For years, Maria Tavares has attended the Archdiocese of Los Angeles’ annual Mass for the immigrant community to show solidarity with fellow migrants and to pray for the passage of comprehensive immigration reform.
With the presidential election a few weeks away and immigration taking center stage in the national discourse, Tavares, who is originally from Mexico and attends St. Pancratius Church in Lakewood, hopes this is finally the year that happens.
“We come here to pray for there to be some sort of reform so that all those who have not had the chance to legalize their situation will soon be able to,” she said. “There is still so much to pray for.”
Tavares was among hundreds of Catholics from the LA Archdiocese and the San Bernardino, Orange, and San Diego dioceses who turned out for the Mass in Recognition of All Immigrants Sept. 29 at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels.
The Mass, held to commemorate the Catholic Church’s observance of the World Day of Migrants and Refugees, was celebrated by Archbishop José H. Gomez along with auxiliary bishops and priests from the archdiocese, as well as Bishop Alberto Rojas of the Diocese of San Bernardino and Auxiliary Bishop Michael Pham of San Diego.
Ministry leaders and members of the SoCal Immigration Task Force were recognized at the celebration, which included a procession and a chance to venerate relics of St. Junípero Serra, St. Toribio Romo, St. John Baptist Scalabrini, and St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, saints who are especially revered by the Catholic immigrant community.
In his homily, Archbishop Gomez reminded participants that America is a “nation of migrants and refugees,” and prayed for the “renewal of America’s founding vision of one nation under God.”
“Let’s keep praying for all the men and women, all the children and families, migrants, and refugees all across the globe, who are forced to leave their homes by violence or poverty to search for dignity and a new life,” he said. “Let us pray for the leaders of nations, that they will open their hearts and work with sincerity and generosity to help those in need.”
Antonio Mendez, a Lake Forest resident who walks more than 50 miles to the cathedral every year for the Mass, said he is grateful for the new life of safety and prosperity he is living in the United States.
“I am here to thank God on behalf of all of us who have immigrated here, whether recently or long ago,” said Mendez, originally of Michoacan, Mexico. “We have what we have, not because we earned it, but because God gave it to us.”
The Mass is the latest in a series of events that local Catholic organizations have held recently to support the immigrant community during a time of increasing change and uncertainty.
Organizers say that many immigrants who have not sought legal residency or citizenship are interested in doing so now, in case guidelines change after a new president takes office.
Some also fear those plans could be hampered by recent legal challenges to the Biden-Harris administration’s Keeping Families Together process, which allows some noncitizen spouses and stepchildren of U.S. citizens to apply for “parole in place,” enabling them to apply for permanent residency without having to leave the United States for processing.
To help inform the community, the archdiocese hosted two immigration workshops leading up to the Mass to teach attendees about immigration rights, how to understand and complete citizenship and immigration forms, and how to navigate the federal immigration system.
Immigration and Refugee Services of Catholic Charities of Los Angeles has also held consultation clinics and information sessions across the Los Angeles area, where attendees are given assistance with citizenship applications, replacing or renewing permanent resident cards, renewals for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and more.
The archdiocese has also been busy lately assisting an increasing number of individual migrants seeking assistance with housing, food, and more at local churches, said Isaac Cuevas, director of Immigration and Public Affairs for the archdiocese.
In response, the archdiocese is working to educate parish leaders and staff on how to triage their needs and connect them with resources and is partnering with other groups to help get them situated and established, or onto their final destinations, he said.
No matter the result of the upcoming elections, Cuevas said the task force is prepared to help and support immigrants with their needs.
“We’re always ready to activate on a moment’s notice and do what we can to ensure the undocumented community feels safe and at ease and that they also understand what rights pertain to them as people living in this country, and that we squash those fears that may arise from misinformation,” he said.
Many of those who attended the immigrants’ Mass said they did so to pray for those who are seeking to obtain legal status, and for legislators to create just immigration laws to help those who are not yet eligible to apply.
Carmen Aquino — who is originally from Oaxaca, Mexico, and is now a parishioner at St. Boniface Church in Anaheim — said she attended the Mass to pray for immigration reform, for God to enlighten whoever may become the country’s new president, and for Catholic priests who are being persecuted in Venezuela for spreading the gospel.
“We came to intercede for the immigrants because we know that many of them are experiencing very difficult moments,” she said, wearing a bright yellow ribbon on her lapel as a symbol of hope. “With God, anything is possible.”
For Tavares, this year’s Mass was a chance to pray for friends and loved ones who can’t visit home because they lack legal documentation. She hopes the coming years will bring opportunities for them — and other immigrants — to finally obtain legalization.
“God willing, one day soon we will be returning here to celebrate,” she said.
