Two of Southern California’s largest Roman Catholic dioceses have criticized the federal government over raids and roundups of undocumented immigrants over the last few weeks.
The Los Angeles Archdiocese and San Bernardino Diocese have responded differently in tone and action. Yet both have asked the government to show restraint and empathy toward migrants.
Here is a look at how Los Angeles Archbishop José Gomez and Bishop Alberto Rojas of San Bernardino have responded to a historic moment that upended the lives of countless congregants in immigrant communities they serve.
Why the church is outspoken
Combined, roughly 5 million people claim to be Catholics in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and Diocese of San Bernardino, which includes Los Angeles, Riverside, Santa Barbara, San Bernardino and Ventura counties.
About 58% of people living in the United States who were born abroad consider themselves Christian, according to findings from the Pew Research Center released this year. Of those, 30% identified as Catholics, the largest share of any denomination.
In the Los Angeles and Riverside metro areas, 28% of all Christians consider themselves Catholic, the highest of any denomination by several points, according to Pew.
What action is the San Bernardino Diocese taking
Rojas told his diocese of roughly 1 million parishioners on July 8 that they can stay home on Sundays to avoid Mass because of concerns over area federal immigration sweeps.
Rojas wrote in the decree that many churchgoers have shared “fears of attending Mass due to potential immigration enforcement action” and that “such fear constitutes a grave inconvenience that may impede the spiritual good of the faithful.”
The dispensation was announced after multiple people were arrested at or near diocese churches on June 20, including a man at Our Lady of Lourdes in Montclair, according to the National Catholic Register.
ICE officials disputed any allegation of targeting churches.
“The accusation that ICE entered a church to make an arrest [is] FALSE,” wrote Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin in an email to The Times earlier this month. “The illegal alien chose to pull into the church parking lot [and] officers then safely made the arrest.”
Rojas wrote on Facebook that he respected and appreciated law enforcement’s role in keeping “communities safe from violent criminals,” but added that “authorities are now seizing brothers and sisters indiscriminately, without respect for their right to due process and their dignity as children of God.”
What’s going on in Los Angeles
The Archdiocese of Los Angeles announced plans to bolster delivery of hot meals, groceries and prescription medicines to parishioners living in fear of deportation amid ongoing enforcement raids.
Immigrants targeted by raids are “good, hard-working men and women” who are “making important contributions to our economy,” Los Angeles Archbishop José Gomez said in a statement.
“Now they are afraid to go to work or be seen in public for fear that they will get arrested and be deported,” he said.
Yannina Diaz, a spokesperson for the archdiocese, said she was unaware of any arrests made on Archdiocese of Los Angeles property. She also said Gomez was not considering issuing a dispensation for its congregants yet.
In an open letter, Gomez wrote that he was “deeply disturbed” by the detentions and called on the government to reform the immigration process.
We’ll continue to follow how the church reacts and adapts to the Trump administration’s immigration policy.
