Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe resonates with US migrants’ trials

‘Our Lady of Guadalupe she was a witness that God is here for all peoples, and we believe that everyone has dignity and rights, and therefore should be allowed to live peacefully.’

Pope Leo XIV entrusted his pontificate to Our Lady of Guadalupe on her feast day, while celebrations across the United States included poignant responses to the Trump administration’s threats to immigrants.

At a Mass in Rome on 12 December, the Pope asked Mary to come to his aid so that she could “confirm in the one true path that leads to the blessed Fruit of your womb all those who have been entrusted to me”.

In a homily delivered in Spanish, Leo said Mary allowed God’s word “to enter her life and transform it”, bringing “that joy wherever human joy is insufficient, wherever the wine has run out”. 

Referring to the visions of Our Lady of Guadalupe on Tepayac Hill (now Mexico City) to the indigenous Mexican St Juan Diego in 1531, he said that she awakened in the people of the Americas “the joy of knowing they are loved by God”. Amid “ceaseless conflicts”, Leo said Our Lady of Guadalupe had proclaimed the core of her message when she said to Juan Diego: “Am I not here, I who am your mother?”

In Washington, DC, Catholics held a prayer service on the feast day outside the headquarters of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) agency, which has been deploying masked officers in immigrant neighbourhoods to detain people who look like they might be foreign.

“So our purpose is focusing on Our Lady of Guadalupe, because she was a witness that God is here for all peoples, and we believe that everyone has dignity and rights, and therefore should be allowed to live peacefully,” said Megeen White, associate director of the National Advocacy Centre of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd.

“We are praying for just immigration laws and for the rights and dignity of all those that have been, in our opinion, illegally detained and are suffering under Ice custody, as well as the ongoing unjust seizure of individuals and the disappearance of people.”

In a message published on 11 December by the Jesuit journal America, three bishops said that “right now in our country, those who are Black, Brown, Asian and Native American live in fear of being profiled, detained or deported simply because of the colour of their skin”.

“This fear is not abstract. It is part of daily life for many in our parishes, our schools and our communities,” said the message signed by Bishop Daniel Garcia of Austin, Texas, Bishop Robert Brennan of Brooklyn and Bishop Brendan Cahill of Victoria, Texas.

“Many citizens and lawful residents have reported being detained by methods that blur the line between legitimate enforcement and discriminatory profiling. This climate of fear makes our neighbours hesitant to go to work, to attend Mass or to visit loved ones.”

They invoked “the example of Our Lady of Guadalupe and stand in solidarity with those who live in fear, as a testament to God’s abiding peace”.

The largest celebration of the Our Lady of Guadalupe in the US was held in Des Plaines, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. It began with a Mass celebrated by Fr Esequiel Sanchez, rector for the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, followed by an all-night vigil. Attendance was down in part because of fears Ice would arrest people going to or from the celebration, but 200,000 people attended despite freezing temperatures. “This year, in particular, our culture has suffered,” a pilgrim said. “Our faith is greater than our fear.”

In New Orleans, where Ice has deployed more agents to conduct anti-immigrant raids in recent weeks, the Church of the Holy Name of Jesus held a prayer service. Fr Mark Thibodeaux SJ led the gathering in prayer: “We bring before you tonight all who have been affected by the immigration raids, those who have been detained or deported, families separated in fear and uncertainty, and neighbours whose sense of safety has been shaken.”

Nativity scenes have become a point of controversy after parishes began using them to protest against the Trump administration’s policies.

Fr Stephen Josoma of St Susanna’s parish in Dedham, Massachusetts refused an order from the Archdiocese of Boston to take down a sign saying “Ice was here” placed in the scene outside his church instead of the Holy Family.

The archdiocese said religious displays should be apolitical, but Josoma asked for a meeting with Archbishop Richard Henning to discuss the issue. The priest insisted that “any divisiveness is a reflection of our polarised society, much of which originates with the changing unjust policies and laws of the current US administration”.

Parishioners reported that Josoma received applause at every Mass last weekend, along with support on social media.

Numerous other churches have displayed alternative Nativity scenes, including Lake Street church in the Chicago suburb of Evanston which features the Baby Jesus lying in a manger wrapped in a thin foil blanket like those given out in emergencies and provided as bedding to ICE detainees, and with his wrists zip-tied.

A sign at Chicago’s Urban Village church said: “Due to Ice activity in our community the Holy Family is in hiding.”

Evelio Menjivar – bishop without borders

Where have all the ‘illegal’ migrants to the US gone?

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