Serving Christ and Connecting Catholics in Western North Carolina
In recent weeks, President Donald Trump has taken steps to make it easier for immigration officials to conduct enforcement actions in “protected areas” (often referred to as “sensitive locations”), including places of worship. In other words, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security can arrest noncitizens at church, even for non-criminal offenses. Parishioners are afraid.
One of the enduring memories from a recent family pilgrimage to Italy occurred early one morning when my two oldest children, ages 7 and 5, accompanied me to morning Mass at the tomb of St. Francis of Assisi. While we arrived a little early for the once-a-month English Mass scheduled there, we could see there wouldn’t be a seat.