Catholic bishops stand with migrants

For the first time in 12 years, U.S. Catholic bishops have issued a unified statement to support the country’s immigrants and oppose the Trump administration’s "indiscriminate mass deportations of people.”

- BY RUBEN VIVES

UNIONS AND immigrant rights groups rally in Los Angeles in October against federal immigration raids.

(GENARO MOLINA Los Angeles Times)

The move marked a voice of support for immigrants - long a vital part of the U.S. Catholic Church amid a year of unprecedented upheaval. It also continues a long tradition of the church as an institution of support for those in the country illegally that dates to the massive immigration sweeps in Los Angeles in the 1980s.

The special statement was issued Wednesday during the annual United States Conference of Catholic Bishops gathering in Baltimore. It was the first time since 2013 that the bishops had collectively voiced their concerns over an issue. The last time they did so was in response to the federal government’s contraceptive mandate.

To show the consensus of the body, the bishops must vote to approve the special message, which was overwhelmingly supported with 216 votes in favor, five against and three abstentions.

At St. Joseph Catholic Church in Hawthorne on Thursday, Marisela Trujillo, 45, said she was grateful for the bishops’ stance.

“They're basically speaking on our behalf,” Trujillo said. “They're amplifying our voices.”

Ona cloudy morning, six Catholic women wearing white veils and dresses sat under a tree. They carried tote bags with images of Jesus Christ and rosaries.

Amparo Duarte said the bishops’ statement was a bold move given the harsh immigration tactics employed in recent months by the Trump administration.

Duarte recalled one sweep that had taken place in June just a street away from St. Joseph in which federal agents had detained three men and a pregnant woman.

The woman and one of the men, U.S. citizens, were eventually released. Duarte said she hoped the Trump administration would take the bishops’ statement seriously.