Padre Pedro Pantoja is greeted a little bit like pop royalty as he gets out of his old Ford Ranger pickup truck at the Casa de Migrantes (“migrant safe house”) in Saltillo, capital of the Mexican border state of Coahuila. The 69-year-old priest, sporting a cowboy hat and blue jeans, is immediately surrounded by migrants eager to thank him, share some hardship or simply wish him good day.Padre Pedro is head of social and pastoral care at the Saltillo safe house, the last one before the Mexican-United States border. It is a demanding and relentless role as last year 8,000 migrants sought temporary refuge at the Casa before attempting to cross into Texas, which lies nearly 200 miles to the north. There is a never-ending succession of weary and traumatised travellers, dreaming of
16 April 2014, The Tablet
‘I could never turn my back or look the other way’
Church at the margins of society
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