Updated
Feb. 28, 18
By
Rhina Guidos
WASHINGTON
(CNS) — Dozens of Catholics, including men and women religious, were arrested
near the U.S. Capitol Feb. 27 in the rotunda of a Senate building in Washington
as they called on lawmakers to help young undocumented adults brought to the
U.S. as minors obtain some sort of permanent legal status.
Some
of them sang and prayed, and many of them — such as Dominican Sister Elise
Garcia and Mercy Sister JoAnn Persch — said they had no option but to
participate in the act of civil disobedience to speak out against the failure
of Congress and the Trump administration to help the young adults.
“I
have never been arrested in my life, but with the blessing of my community, I
am joining with two dozen other Catholic sisters and Catholic allies to risk
arrest today as an act of solidarity with our nation’s wonderful, beautiful
Dreamers,” said Sister Garcia. “To our leaders in Congress and in the White
House, I say ‘arrest a nun, not a Dreamer.'”
She
said she was there to support those like Daniel Neri, a Catholic from Indiana
who was present at the event and would benefit from any legislation to help the
1.8 million estimated young adults in the country facing an uncertain future.
“What
are we doing to the body of Christ when are hurting families? When we are
hurting people?” he asked.
He
also said, he wanted people to know that “we are not criminals, we are not
rapists, we are good people.”
Young
adults called “Dreamers” — a reference to the DREAM Act, one of the proposed
pieces of legislation that could help them stay in the country legally — have
to go through extensive background checks, he said, and they wouldn’t pass
those checks if they were troublemakers.
Jesuit
Father Thomas Reese said he was representing Jesuits from the West Coast and
other Jesuits, who know exactly who “Dreamers” are.
“They
are our students, sitting in our classrooms, they are our parishioners,
kneeling in our churches,” he said. “They are our friends, they are our
colleagues who have invited us into their homes.”
Pointing
to the U.S. Capitol building, where lawmakers gather, he said, “it is time for
the people who work in that building to realize that this is a moral issue. It
is a justice issue, and the political gamesmanship must stop.”
Sister
Persch said she was there, too, to support Dreamers. She took part in what was
billed a “Catholic Day of Action With Dreamers,” organized by the PICO National
Network, a faith-based community organization based in California, largely out
of frustration, she said.
“My
prayer, my work for comprehensive immigration reform has had no impact on this
administration,” she said. “I stand with Dreamers now at this moment of truth,
which to me is a moral issue. When these traditional strategies we have used
have no impact, we have to move to action that could involve taking a risk to
disrupt this unjust system in some way.”
And
if that meant being arrested, she was willing to do so, she said.
“As
a woman of faith, I am called to be wise … courageous, a prophetic voice,” she
said. “That is a challenge to every person who says they are a Catholic, a
Christian, a person of faith. And this applies to Paul Ryan as well as all
those in Congress.”
House
Speaker Ryan, R-Wisconsin, is Catholic and many said they took issue with what
they see as his lack of action on several issues involving immigrants. At
various moments, including one near the U.S. Capitol, the crowd chanted, “Paul,
Paul, why do you persecute me?” referring to the speaker.
In
the rotunda, many of those who risked arrest, began by joining hands, singing
hymns and praying “Hail Mary.” They included Father Reese, along with Sisters
Garcia and Persch. U.S. Capitol Police began warning them repeatedly to stop or
be arrested. Of the 30 or 40 arrests, eight were Mercy Sisters.
Bishop
John Stowe of Lexington, Kentucky, extended his hands in the air and said: “We
stand with the Dreamers, we are one with the Dreamers. And now I ask God’s
blessing upon those who are acting in civil disobedience, part of a
long-standing tradition of not supporting unjust laws.” The bishop was not
among those arrested. He and the others who did not engage in civil
disobedience fell back from the center of the rotunda as the arrests began.
Those
being arrested were asked to put their hands behind their backs. Police placed
plastic handcuffs around their wrists and the protesters were led away, some in
prayer, some singing. They were charged with disorderly conduct, crowding,
incommoding and obstruction. The 40 or so who were arrested paid a $50 fine,
and all were released by late afternoon.
Just
as those who were arrested at the Capitol were stepping out of out their
comfort zones, so, too, the young adults they were advocating for are facing an
even greater discomfort, the bishop said, as they face their greatest moment of
uncertainty.
Copyright
©2018 Catholic
News Service / U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
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