WASHINGTON — In encouraging maximum dedication to the three pillars of Lent this season—prayer, penance and almsgiving—Bishop Bruce A. Lewandowski, C.Ss.R., has implored the faithful to “Go Big, or Go Home.”
On March 5, the bishop put his faith into action in a very Go Big way, leading a 24-hour Pilgrimage for Prayer and Advocacy for 35 diocesan priests, deacons, religious and lay people to Capitol Hill, where they met with members of Rhode Island’s congressional delegation to advocate for “meaningful immigration reform and for just and sensible policies for immigrants and migrants.”
But it was only minutes into the visit with the first of the Ocean State’s four-member federal delegation—all Democrats—that Bishop Lewandowski was apprised of how polarizing for the local electorate even his visit to Washington was to discuss the hot button issue of illegal immigration.
“Bomb Iran and don’t meet with the bishop,” Congressman Gabe Amo, representing Rhode Island’s 1st District, told Bishop Lewandowski of the many calls his office had received from constituents eager to stay the course with the Trump administration’s very vigorous enforcement of immigration laws, in which Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents sweep cities to rapidly detain and deport all undocumented immigrants.
Bishop Lewandowski said that while Catholics do recognize the legitimate role of law enforcement as one aspect of furthering the common good, he’s opposed to the “enforcement only” approach to immigration that effectively treats our immigrant brothers and sisters as “problems to be solved.”
“Our current immigration laws are not meeting the needs of families, employers or communities, and the prosperity of our country depends on its ability to receive and integrate immigrants in a positive way, just as it has for generations,” the bishop said.
Bishop Lewandowski shared with Rep. Amo the way an increasing number of parishioners and others from across the diocese have been participating in the monthly Rosary Prayer sessions he’s been leading outside the Wyatt Detention Center in Central Falls in support of migrants swept up in enforcement actions housed within for deportation.
“We’ve been drawing bigger and bigger crowds and people appreciate the prayer and support, but at the same time, as a group, we’ve talked about the importance of doing something, of action, that prayer and action go together,” he said.
The bishop said the Diocese of Providence began its campaign of action when it hosted in December a summit for the whole Northeast region in which dozens of bishops, priests, religious and lay people and representatives of Catholic Charities participated in discussions led by Kevin Applebee, of the Center for Migration Studies in New York, which is working to “organize the Church against deportations.”
Applebee, who has been very familiar with working the halls of Congress in his work, participated in the Pilgrimage for Prayer and Advocacy, attending the meetings with the legislators along with Bishop Lewandowksi and James Jahnz, director of diocesan Catholic Charities and Social Ministries.
Fathers Nolasco Tamayo and Jairon Olmos-Rivera, and Stephen Dandeneau—who concelebrated a special Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., in solidarity with immigrants while Bishop Lewandowski was at the Capitol—attended the pilgrimage, along with Deacons Fernando Botelho and Eduardo Birbuet, and several religious from the Missionary Sisters, Servants of the Word (HMSP) order.
At least three other dioceses from the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic—including the Archdioceses of Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington— also participated in the pilgrimage, which was first conceived by Bishop Lewandowski as a way of elevating the Catholic elements of immigration reform into the foundation of a larger movement to bring dignity to immigrant brothers and sisters in need.
Rep. Amo said that given both the Congress’s and nation’s sharply divided opinions on the issue of immigration, the best that anyone should hope for at this point if legislators do not have the support needed to pass a comprehensive reform package is to support less broad legislation that addresses individual aspects of ensuring a basic framework that would allow certain categories of illegal immigrants to remain in the country and hopefully be put on a path to citizenship.
“Don’t go for the full package, go for smaller pieces of legislation,” that focus on different aspects of immigration reform, Rep. Amo advised.
Bishop Lewandowski acknowledged that there’s pieces of potential legislation that he and his brother bishops have talked about quite a bit.
“One is, how do we keep a family together?” he said, reacting to seeing the horror of many families that have been torn apart in current enforcement actions.
“The current approach to immigration enforcement and its impact on families and communities underscores just how much a meaningful reform of our immigration system is needed,” Bishop Lewandowski said.
The pilgrim groups crisscrossed the Capitol from below ground, utilizing the electric subway that customarily transports representatives and senators from their respective nearby office buildings to the Capitol itself.
In also meeting with Rep. Seth Magaziner (District 2), and Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse, to round out the Ocean State federal delegation, the bishop and the other pilgrims called on both bodies of Congress to pursue immigration reform based on several elements: Enforcement efforts should be targeted, proportionate and humane; humanitarian protections and due process should be ensued; longtime residents should have an earned pathway to citizenship; family unity should remain a cornerstone of the U. S. system; legal pathways should be expanded, reliable and efficient; and the root causes of forced immigration should be addressed.
Bishop Lewandowski is especially concerned about immigration enforcement being conducted in sensitive locations and that detainees be given access to religious services.
“Unfortunately, we have seen hostility from some government officials in response to lawful efforts by people of faith to serve newcomers in our country,” the bishop said.
The pilgrims are also advocating for co-sponsors of the Religious Workforce Protection Act (H.R 2672/S. 1298), a bipartisan bill that would support the free exercise of religion in communities across America by providing limited flexibilities to religious workers who are legally present in the country and waiting to receive their green card.
They are also asking for co-sponsors for House’s Frederick Douglass Trafficking Prevention and Protection Reauthorization Act (H.R. 1144), a bipartisan bill that would reauthorize programs to combat human trafficking in the U.S. and around the world. It would also establish a new program to assist trafficking survivors to reintegrate in to society and become self-sufficient, which would help prevent them from being trafficked again.
Bishop Lewandowski was very pleased with the advocacy all had done and felt it was necessary to go to the heart of government to make a personal appeal for immigration reform instead of taking the easier approach of meeting the senators and representatives in his office or their local district offices.
Pilgrim David Estes is the principal of The Prout School, in Wakefield. He has attended the bishop’s Rosary Prayer events outside the detention center.
“I believe that we are responding to a particular issue on which we are seeing leadership from Pope Leo through U.S. Catholic bishops, and certainly with Bishop Bruce and I’ve been very impressed with the opportunities to pray for the imprisoned,” he said.
“What we’re proposing is very reasonable, it is grounded in Church teaching. This has also been a wonderful reception by our local Rhode Island delegation. We feel personally that this was a great act of faith, and it was a pleasure to have all these people come from around the state to be here.”
Eva Mancuso, a parishioner at Christ the King at URI, and a 40-year trial attorney, said that her interactions with the bishop inspired her to want to take part in the pilgrimage and promote dialogue with the federal delegation.
“He inspires involvement,” Mancuso said. “Because of the way he is so open he makes you feel so comfortable. The way he greets everyone and is so open to people from all walks of life.”
The bishop is talking about human rights and individuals’ rights and when people see him speaking out, they take notice and want to hear more, she noted.
Celso Vera, the coordinator of Hispanic Ministry for the diocese, said it made a difference to the legislators to see the bishop lead a group of pilgrims to the nation’s capital.
“It’s an honor to me to participate in this delegation. When you talk with people and they see the bishop there they see the difference and they want to address his concerns,” to the issues presented, he said.
Adrian Bautista, 18, was the youngest pilgrim on the trip. A college student, he followed the advice of some of the Missionary Sisters, Servants of the Word, he has encountered at Mass.
“It motivates me to keep moving forward, knowing the bishop is fighting for immigration,” Bautista said.
He applauded everyone’s efforts as the pilgrimage returned to where it had started.
Jahnz said that he would like to see the pilgrimage grow and be repeated.
“This is something we can and should do again, and I’m confident that we could fill two buses next time,” Jahnz said.
“You put in a full day on this,” he told them as the bus pulled back into Holy Apostles Parish at 4 a.m. Friday, after leaving the same grounds 23 hours earlier.
“We went big for our immigrant brothers and sisters, now go home,” he added, still filled with energy despite the long day and early hour.
