Migrants gather in El Paso to welcome the Holy Father

Friday, Feb. 26, 2016

EL PASO, Texas (CNS) — A group of people, mostly migrants, joined Pope Francis from afar as he celebrated the Mass that closed his visit to Mexico.

Gathered less than a football field length from the altar where the pope prayed Feb. 17 in Ciudad Juarez, across the border in Mexico, the group of about 550 people cheered as they welcomed the pope to their community, knowing he understood the reason people migrate from their homelands in search of a better life.

The Diocese of El Paso called them “Pope Francis VIPs” – to underline the pope’s message of mercy and his closeness to the poor and migrants.

Pope Francis acknowledged their presence with a wave and a blessing as they assembled on a levee on the U.S. side of the border.

About 100 of the Pope Francis VIPs were unaccompanied minors who were detained by U.S. immigration officers and live in three shelters in El Paso.

In addition to the VIPs, U.S. bishops, pastors, religious sisters, social workers and others who have been helping migrants and poor people along the border were on the levee.

Ernesto Tapia, a program director at Southwest Key Programs, which runs several shelters throughout Texas, brought one group of teens from his shelter to the levee. “Faith is such a big part of the kids’ journey,” he said, “and seeing the pope today is the ultimate experience for them. It gives them hope.”

One of the minors, a 17-year-old girl who declined to give her a name, said she had many problems in Tijuana, Mexico, before she came to the U.S., and that friends had been shot by gangs.

Arturo Chavez, president of the Mexican American Catholic College in San Antonio, said that he had learned that the initial plan had been to extend the pope’s platform across the river into the United States, but that it had not been possible. “To me that was a very significant and powerful symbol: that even the pope can’t cross this border. He can only go this far,” he said.

“We need to find a way to bridge these two nations,” Chavez added. “We share one faith. I’m excited that the pope cares enough about this whole situation to come all this way and to be with us today, so my hope is that his compassion, his love, his mercy will inspire us to do the same and to do our part.”

Sister Carolyn Kosub, a Missionary Sister of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, traveled to El Paso from the impoverished border town of Penitas, Texas, in the Diocese of Brownsville, where she and two other women religious have dedicated their lives to ministering to poor migrants. “We came here today,” she said, “representing the immigrant people in our colonia.”

She said she was moved by Pope Francis’ call to conversion in his homily.

“The Holy Father told us in his homily that we cannot continue to live the way we have been living; he called us to transform our lives. We cannot continue to exploit people, to deny them their human dignity. I think it’s a very powerful message, a message that the whole world should ponder,” Sr. Carolyn said.

Asked what message she would bring back to her community, she said, “I am going to tell them that the Holy Father has walked where they have walked, that he understands their lives and their dreams, and that he believes as much in them as they believe in him. Also that there’s a brighter future that awaits them and that they have so many people on their side, including the pope. Their life is a hard struggle, but it’s worth it. And that they can continue in their faith and that they are not alone.”