SAN DIEGO — “This is history in the making. We are becoming part of the history of something beautiful.”
That’s how Gloria Morales-Palos, a co-chair of the San Diego Organizing Project (SDOP), described a new, interfaith ministry focused on having people of faith accompany migrants and asylum-seekers to their immigration hearings.
FAITH, which stands for “Faithful Accompaniment in Trust & Hope,” was officially launched Aug. 4 in the chapel at the diocesan Pastoral Center. The pilot program is a joint initiative of Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Parish in Barrio Logan, the Catholic Diocese of San Diego, and SDOP.
Other speakers at the inaugural meeting included Bishop Michael Pham; Jesuit Father Scott Santarosa, pastor of Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish; and Dinora Reyna-Gutierrez, executive director of SDOP.
On June 20, World Refugee Day, Bishop Pham and other clergy accompanied immigrants at the federal courthouse in downtown San Diego. FAITH represents the transformation of that one-time event into an ongoing ministry.
Reflecting on that first outing, the bishop acknowledged that it had been a small act, but that their presence at the courthouse had “spoken so loud.”
He noted that he had received many messages afterward expressing gratitude.
“They were so thankful that we walked the talk,” he said. “We were being present with the people in time of need, and they were so appreciative of us being present.”
Some 50 people, including clergy and laity from seven faith traditions, have signed up as FAITH volunteers. Orientations are already being scheduled, with one of them immediately following the press conference.
“We are people of faith who believe that our faith impels us to do something,” Father Santarosa said at the meeting, describing the committed volunteers who make up the new ministry.
In his remarks, he explained the simple idea behind the ministry.
He said that the ministry serves immigrants and asylum-seekers who are “between a rock and a hard spot”: They will be deported if they fail to appear at their immigration hearing, but they are fearful of being arrested at the courthouse when they do.
“So, what can we do?” Father Santarosa asked rhetorically. “Our gift is a poor gift: It’s presence. We show up.”
“We trust that God, who can multiply loaves and fishes, will do something great just with our presence in the Lord,” said the priest, who shared that June 20 was “a beautiful day” on which Immigrations and Customs Enforcement made no arrests at the courthouse.
Faith leaders and community members can sign up to accompany migrants through an online form.
Immigrants will be able to request the accompaniment of FAITH volunteers either in-person at the courthouse or in advance, also through an online form.
Reyna-Gutierrez said that, if nothing else, those immigrants who receive accompaniment through the ministry “will know that they do not stand alone in that moment, which could be one of the worst moments in their life.”
For Bishop Pham, FAITH’s mission is rooted in the truth that human beings were created in the image and likeness of God.
“We are brothers and sisters – every one of us,” he said, regardless of skin color, ethnicity, language or any other superficial differences.
“I’m looking forward for us all to be hand in hand together, to help each other, to support one another in this ministry for the good of God’s people, for the good of the needs of our society … That is the task and the mission that God has entrusted to all of us as we gather here today.”
