Walking in the footsteps of those crossing the border
SALT LAKE CITY — He walked into the desert, climbing over a guard rail, under barbed wire, through a culvert like a little cement tunnel. He saw the items cast aside by those who had gone before him: jackets and backpacks, water bottles and food wrappers. The day was warm, in the 70s. He was glad it was spring, not summer, when temperatures soar close to 120 degrees. His thoughts were of his brothers and sisters who had died a lonely, agonizing death in the hot sun, abandoned by those paid to guide them to safety. Although the Sonoran desert spread before him in all its sere beauty, "I had a feeling of sadness," said the Most Rev. John C. Wester, Bishop of Salt Lake City, of his March 31 trek near Nogales, Ariz., accompanied by eight of his brother bishops from across the United States. The bishops, led by Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston, began their "border action" with a Mass at San Xavier del Bac Mission near Tucson, which was founded in 1692 by Jesuit Father Eusebio Kino. After their walk in the desert, they visited with members of the U.S. Border Patrol; toured Sonora, Mexico; and the next day celebrated an open-air Mass near the 30-foot iron fence that separates the two countries. (See related story, page 10.) "The purpose of the trip, really, was to walk in the footsteps of Pope Francis and to heighten an awareness of the plight of the immigrant, particularly those immigrants who have died in the desert, and ultimately call attention to the fact that we want to pass comprehensive immigration reform," Bishop Wester said. Last July, Pope Francis visited the Italian island of Lampedusa, where he celebrated a Mass, praying for the estimated 20,000 African immigrants who have drowned in the Mediterranean Sea over the past 25 years, trying to reach Europe. About 400 bodies are found each year in the U.S./Mexico border region; 6,000 to date. "Too many people are suffering," Bishop Wester said. "It’s terrible that we’re waiting and waiting and waiting for the politicians to act, and in the meantime people are suffering. This is a human issue. This is a moral issue, not just a political issue." Last year the U.S. Senate passed a comprehensive immigration bill, but the legislation has stalled in the House of Representatives. The bishops are hoping that the House will pass a bill this year, despite political opposition, Bishop Wester said. "They have to transcend those issues and get this done because the sanctity of human life demands it," the bishop said. "They tell us that it’s an election year. It seems like every year is an election year, so that, to my mind, is becoming a very lame excuse. We bishops want to say loudly and clearly that we need comprehensive immigration reform now." Nevertheless, the issue of immigration is complicated, he said, as his trip to Nogales brought home. He came away from his visit with members of the U.S. Border Patrol with the thought that "the majority of those serving with the Border Patrol are conscientious and want to treat the immigrants with respect and dignity," he said. "Despite this fact, tragedies have occurred, including the killing of an adolescent about 18 months ago. He was shot in the back. We’re still waiting for the results of the FBI investigation into that shooting. But the Border Patrol also has lost men. It’s a very complex situation." The drug cartels also are active along the border, using bribery, murder and extortion against law enforcement, citizens and immigrants to smuggle drugs and weapons, Bishop Wester said. "It’s very tense. It’s very dangerous." During their visit to the Mexican side of the border, the bishops were escorted by trucks full of men with machine guns, he said. "It’s a symbol of how dangerous it is there. I pray for those poor people who don’t have the luxury of bodyguards." Bishop Wester also met several people who have been deported from the U.S., speaking at length with two men who each left behind a wife and children under 10 years old. Both men said they intend to try to return to their families, despite the fence, the armed guards, the desert and the antiquated immigration laws that separate them from their loved ones. "They know the dangers more than anyone," Bishop Wester said, "but they’re going to keep doing it because they love their families. You can see it on their faces when you talk to them. They long to be united with their families. They long for a life where they can provide for their families. They’re not looking for luxury, they’re just looking to live." The April 1 Mass in Nogales, celebrated by a dozen bishops from three countries, was "to pray for the immigrant, to pray for those who have died in the desert," Bishop Wester said. "To me, this is where Jesus would want to be. He would want us to bring the Eucharist to where the people are, right where the people are suffering, right where there’s so much tension and strife and violence, there at the border. Christ always came to where the people were to be one with them." There has been criticism from some quarters that the bishops staged the Mass as a political gesture, but "when we were praying the Mass, that was not a political protest by any means," Bishop Wester said. "It was a genuine and sincere desire to pray with God’s people. People are suffering at the border, so we want to be there at the border with them, celebrating the Mass. Jesus gave us such a precious gift in the Eucharist. It allows us to be one with him and others so beautifully. What better way to express our solidarity than to be right there where they are, celebrating with them the Holy Eucharist?" While celebrating the Mass, Bishop Wester could see plainly how the 30-foot iron fence separated the churchgoers in Mexico from those in the U.S. "Christ came to tear down walls; he came to gather the flock together," Bishop Wester said. "The symbolism of the fence took on even more meaning as something that points to our failures as a country to do something about this terrible problem."
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