Finding Solidarity in Suffering
As Pope Leo said, “The Church Cannot Remain Silent”
In my column last week, I mentioned the Catholic bishops’ message against mass deportations that came out of their Baltimore assembly following Pope Leo’s call to action. This week, their statement has echoed throughout the news. The statement made their stance clear, saying, “We oppose the indiscriminate mass deportation of people.” That is a direct rebuke to Trump’s policies. Calling out Trump by name would have made the statement even stronger, but many bishops have done that since. The bishops are showing up at detention centers because they agree that statements are not enough—action is required.
I am impressed that these bishops have been able to do what many in the faith community have had a hard time doing. When bishops speak up on something, they’re usually cautious, if they even speak at all. But this time, they spoke prophetically to the reality of fear that many within their congregations have been living in. Bishop Seitz of the Diocese of El Paso said, “Allow me to state the obvious: our immigrant brothers and sisters, from those who are undocumented to those who are naturalized citizens, are living in a deep state of fear.”
Whenever bishops or the Pope speak, the rest of the Catholic church is supposed to listen. Tom Homan, a self-proclaimed lifelong Catholic who was appointed as border czar by Trump, has openly defied the bishops, claiming they did not understand that “secure borders save lives.” But as the bishops rightly said, “Human dignity and national security are not in conflict. Both are possible if people of good will work together.” Every time Homan, or another baptized Catholic like JD Vance, says they are only going after dangerous criminals, they are lying. And lying is un-Christian. If we want to have true faith, we do not get to pick and choose which truths to follow. We care for all of the vulnerable, not just a few. The faith community has the most power as a united front.
I do hope that the whole faith community, not just Catholics, follows Pope Leo’s advice to listen to the bishops and stand up for immigrants. In my years as an activist, the faith factor has united us for success when standing up against racism, poverty, and war—from Vietnam to Iraq, from nuclear weapons to defeating the violent U.S. “contra war” in Nicaragua and brutal apartheid in South Africa. Only in unity could we push both sides of the political aisle to say the word “poverty” out loud.
One of my students is from Evanston, Illinois, where local pastor, Rev. Michael Woolf, was recently arrested along with 21 other people outside an ICE facility. Now that the militarization has moved into North Carolina, hundreds of people are showing up at churches throughout the week in places like Charlotte to be trained in how to practically protect immigrants now under attack in their state. In my podcast this week, I talked with Archbishop Thomas Wenski of the Diocese of Miami. He told me about his priests and laypeople traveling to the immigrant detainee camp called Alligator Alcatraz in the Everglades. When he said some of them came on motorcycles, I said, “Wait a minute, an Archbishop on a motorcycle rode up to the ICE immigration center in the Everglades?” He smiled and said, “That was me…it helps clear my head.” Faith leaders like Rev. Woolf and Archbishop Wenski are leading us in unified opposition to unlawful and cruel mass deportations.
This week, we also witnessed another united front standing up to Trump. This time, it was not a group of bishops or faith leaders, but survivors of sexual assault and trafficking at the hands of Jeffrey Epstein. During a candlelight vigil when the Senate vote was announced, many Republican staffers were in tears, reaching out to the survivors. It was a deeply moving display of unity and solidarity. After doing everything he could to delay and avoid the release of the Epstein files, Trump signed the bill. But we know that he will continue to put up roadblocks, and we also know that those women survivors will not give up. The women will be back in DC, perhaps at the White House this time, until justice is served, and we must continue to support them in their fight.
Solidarity in suffering. Those are the words that came to me while watching those courageous women at the Capitol. I spoke about the women last night in a local church class and with my Georgetown students this week. We reflected together on what it feels like to suffer alone versus suffering in solidarity. That is exactly how these women just beat Trump. Solidarity was at the core of the Civil Rights movement when Black Church members in the pews suffering every day decided to stand up together.
And that is what we must seek to do. We must stand up together for moral justice. Because there is no losing as long as we follow our moral conscience and calling to stand in solidarity with one another. Whether it is Catholic bishops and priests, Protestants outside of ICE facilities, or women standing up to powerful men, unity brings strength. Jesus joins the suffering of the vulnerable by showing up through solidarity to bring healing and liberation to all of us. Let’s continue to come together, unified and willing, to speak truth to power on behalf of immigrants, women, and all the vulnerable in our communities.
I’ve read random accounts of ICE either standing outside Catholic Churches or planning to do so in order to detain people based on physical characteristics.
Can this possibly be true?