Several Los Angeles-area religious leaders, including Archbishop José H. Gomez, offered words of encouragement at an interfaith vigil in downtown LA Tuesday evening amid protests over federal immigration sweeps.
“Our country was founded on the belief that every man and woman is created with human dignity and human rights…and this beautiful belief is what makes America great,” Archbishop Gomez told the thousands gathered at Grand Park.
By 6 p.m., a large crowd had gathered around a stage at the park, where faith leaders stood and delivered two-minute speeches. Several families could be seen standing together holding candles of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Young adults carried flags representing their heritage.
“Being a [first generation] myself, I see my family’s faces in my brothers and sisters,” said Karen Luna, director of Faith and Justice at Verbum Dei Jesuit High School.
The school serves the majority of the Latino population in Watts. Luna was at the vigil accompanying Verbum Dei’s principal, Dr. Jesse Rodriguez.
“For me, living my faith in action as a Catholic woman,” said Luna, who previously worked as coordinator of Young Adult Ministry for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.
“In this year’s Jubilee of Hope, we’re building that hope by being here physically” in solidarity with immigrants, she said.
Meanwhile, Rodriguez was handing out song sheets so people in the audience could “participate in worship.”
“We have a 75% Latino community in Watts, and we have a number of families who this impacts directly,” Rodriguez said. By showing up to the vigil, “we’re showing our support for the immigrant community and refugees.”
Father Greg Boyle, SJ, founder of LA-based Homeboy Industries, attended the vigil with 40-50 people from the Homeboy community, largely made up of formerly gang-involved and previously incarcerated adults and youth.
“This is a community that’s familiar with the demonized, because they [the Homeboy community] have been demonized,” Boyle said. “And the disposable, the people who are used to being thrown away, we stand with them.
“We want to return to the gospel values of inclusion and nonviolence, unconditional love, kindness, and compassionate acceptance.”
In his remarks, Archbishop Gomez prayed that “our leaders in Washington will find a way to come together for the good of our nation and finally fix our broken immigration system.”
At the same time, the archbishop emphasized, “immigration is about more than politics. It is about us, it is about what kind of people we want to be, about what kind of country America is meant to be.”
Beyond the stage, some Catholics brought physical items representing what they were praying for that evening.
“I brought an image that my mother-in-law gave me of St. Oscar Romero,” said Hannah Peterson, who is a part of the LA Catholic Worker. “For me, [Romero] is the patron saint of the working person, of the poor, and the forgotten.”
On top of everything going on, Peterson and her husband were just married this past weekend.
“We decided not to go on a honeymoon right after, not knowing that this would happen, but it's almost, in a way, very divine that we’re able to be here with our community and with people that we love,” she said. “So, it’s part of our marriage.”
She remarked, “This is their faith — love ‘in action.’ ”
“My faith really does call me to stand for and with migrants,” said Allie Holmquist, a campus minister from Loyola Marymount University.
Reflecting on the words of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew — “What you do for the least of those you do for me” — Holmquist said she asked herself, “How have we gotten so far away from the message of Jesus, who’s asking us to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, to walk with the poor, marginalized?”
She explained, “That’s his call to all Christians and all people of like goodwill.”
After the vigil ended, peaceful protesters — joined by faith leaders — gathered for a prayer walk through the federal buildings. They walked past the place “where immigrants check in for court every day,” aware that “in this very building, families are being torn apart,” said Joseph McKellar, executive director for PICO California, a faith-based community organizing network.
He had stopped for a few minutes in front of the National Guard and soaked it all in.
“I got overwhelmed by just the gravity that so many families in our communities are experiencing, the fear, the isolation, the pain of mothers, not having their husbands come home, children, not having their mothers.”
“I thought about my abuelita, [grandmother] who immigrated from Culiacán, [Mexico], and what it was like for her to try to make a life here in Los Angeles,” McKellar said.
As the clock struck 8 p.m., there was a momentary pause. Alerts buzzed on phones, reminding everyone of the curfew mandate. From different directions, police officers arrived, shouting, “Move to the side!” as some protesters began dispersing.
McKellar told Angelus he’s planning a procession for families every Wednesday from La Placita Olvera to Los Angeles City Hall “as an act of faith” to remind people that “all families are sacred, that anything that divides or separates families is not from God.”
