After Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents showed up on church grounds in San Bernardino County last month, Diocese Bishop Alberto Rojas issued a decree last week that absolves people of their Catholic duty to attend church every week. Despite fear of ICE enforcement, parishioners remain grounded in their faith.
Almost every seat was filled at Our Lady of the Rosary Cathedral in San Bernardino during Sunday mass this weekend, July 13. Outside, a woman who asked to be unnamed, said that she’s afraid of ICE, but still wants to come to church.
“Que dios nos protega,” or in English, she says ‘god help protect us’ and asks President Trump to have “a good heart” so he could leave them in peace.
Meanwhile, during mass at Our Lady of Guadalupe Shrine in Riverside, parishioner David Martinez says that church leaflets are typically gone by 11 a.m. But he said, dozens of them remain.
“So I dare to say that early masses didn't have very many parishioners today,” he said.
After two arrests in June at churches in Highland and Montclair, John Andrews, spokesman for the diocese, says that attendance at Spanish-speaking parishes has dropped 50%. In Montclair, Andrews said a longtime parishioner, who worked as a groundskeeper, was detained.
Andrews says the Diocese doesn’t endorse criminal activity or open borders, but supports hard-working immigrants who want the chance to become citizens.
“This is not the profile of the person that was represented by the federal government that they were going to prioritize,” said Andrews. “It was, ‘first we're going to get violent criminals.’ And you know, that's not what we're seeing here, at least in these two cases.”
Martinez agrees and believes that there should be a better pathway for longstanding undocumented immigrants who have “laid roots” in the country.
“I know a lot of people that the best day of their lives was when they took the oath to be an American citizen,” said Martinez. “They own home…their roots are here now. Those are the people that deserve to be here.”
Alicia Galvan Hidalgo, 86, says she’s been a part of several congregations in Ontario in the more than six decades she’s lived in the United States. Galvan said she’s following Bishop Rojas’ decree during mass last weekend by opting for livestreaming services from home. Despite being a citizen, she’s afraid of being racially profiled.
“I’m just trying to avoid a bad moment,” Galvan said from her living room in Ontario. “There’s always been immigration [enforcement], but not like this.”
Galvan also believes that the amount of young people and children at her congregation has diminished since Trump’s inauguration in January.
“At least that’s what I think,” she said. “There’s a lot of adults and elders there, but not so many young people.”
The Diocese of Nashville said in May that Catholics aren't obligated to go to Mass if it puts their safety at risk. The San Bernardino Diocese is the first to issue a special dispensation.
Includes reporting from NPR and Religion News Service
