SAN DIEGO — A new, interfaith ministry focused on having people of faith accompany migrants and asylum-seekers to their immigration hearings is well underway.
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.
Participants in the ministry can be found every weekday outside the federal courthouse in downtown San Diego. More than 50 people, including clergy and laity from seven faith traditions, have signed up as FAITH volunteers.
Among them is Maria Valencia, who also serves in the diocesan Office for Life, Peace and Justice as associate director for Culture of Life.
She was one of about five volunteers present on Aug. 12 and about seven on Aug. 18.
“This is a challenging ministry, because to be there is not fun … We know what is going on there,” said Valencia, who told The Southern Cross about some of her experiences.
On Aug. 18, for example, she sat in the courtroom during the hearing of a woman who was subsequently detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. She exited the courtroom, so that she would be able to speak to the woman before she was taken to the Otay Mesa Detention Facility.
“I just told her, ‘Hey, remember, you are not alone. God is with you.’ … I gave (my rosary) to her, and she took it, and she put it in her pocket,” she recalled. “You are not trained to do that, but your immediate reaction is to help do something. And that’s what I did.”
Valencia has seen Catholic clergy, including Auxiliary Bishop Felipe Pulido; Jesuit Father Scott Santarosa, pastor of Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in Barrio Logan; and even her own pastor, Father Hily Buyco Gonzales, CS, of Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in Chula Vista, at the courthouse.
She said that about 100 people attended a recent FAITH training Aug. 18 at Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in Barrio Logan and, as a result, the number of volunteers is likely to increase. However, she said that there is a need for more clergy volunteers.
“What really makes the difference is the clergy presence,” Valencia said, explaining that those who are at the courthouse for their hearings “felt very supported with the priest and with the bishop.”
The origins of FAITH go back to June 20, World Refugee Day, when Bishop Michael Pham and other clergy first accompanied immigrants at the courthouse. FAITH represents the transformation of that one-time event into an ongoing ministry.
At the official launch Aug. 4, the bishop reflected on that first outing. He 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.”
Orientations for new FAITH volunteers are already taking place.
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.
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.”
