Immigration reform prayer vigil draws hundreds

Intermountain Catholic

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Catholics from the Salt Lake area, Orem and Logan gathered to pray during the May 30 prayer vigil. IC photo/Laura Vallejo

SALT LAKE CITY — A May 30 prayer vigil outside Senator Orrin Hatch’s Salt Lake City office drew about 200 people, many of whom were Catholic. The vigil was "in support of a fair and humane pathway to citizenship for the 11 million aspiring Americans in our country," according to literature provided at the event. It began at 4:30 p.m. with about 100 people, mostly from the Salt Lake area. Buses arrived later, carrying parishioners from Saint Francis of Assisi Parish in Orem and Saint Thomas Aquinas Parish in Logan.

"I do think that this is a powerful moment, for Utah especially, because Utah Catholics don’t typically organize on political issues," said Jean Hill, government liaison for the Diocese of Salt Lake City.

The vigil served as a reminder to Sen. Hatch and Senator Mike Lee "that there is a Catholic population here and that we do care about this issue and we do have deep-seated, faith-based reasons for caring about this issue," Hill said.

Several Catholic priests attended the vigil: Father Roberto Montoro of Saint Francis Xavier Parish in Kearns, Father Fernando Barrera of St. Francis of Assisi Parish, Father Omar Ontiveros of Saints Peter and Paul Parish in West Valley City and Father Eugenio Yarce of Sacred Heart Parish in Salt Lake City. They were joined by Pastor Steve Klemz of Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church and Pastor Curtis Price of First Baptist Church, who both spoke to the gathering.

The Salt Lake faith community stands with people who are undocumented "as you seek the dream for yourselves and your families and your children," Pastor Price said. "And we will continue to stand up until people begin to notice, until the people who make the laws see our faces and know our names.... We will stand and insist that our families stay together, that people not be left out in the cold, and that people who are seeking new life in freedom and asylum will find it in this great land of America."

Many of the speakers at the event were people who either are or were without legal documentation to live in the United States. One of them was Arely Cruz, a Sacred Heart parishioner who co-chaired the event.

Cruz is a college student who aspires to continue her family’s business one day.

"I was raised a Catholic and family unity has been a big issue in my family," she said in an interview. "I hear stories of other people, of how their families are breaking apart, and that breaks my heart because I feel like I’m not doing enough to help those 11 million who have their families separated or torn apart."

Among those who attended the event were two junior high school students from Treasure Mountain Junior High School in Park City, Isabella Canada and Sky Martin. The night before the prayer vigil they watched the documentary "The Dream is Now," and Martin asked her mother to take them to the vigil.

"I think it doesn’t matter where we come from, we should be allowed to get an education and live the American dream," said Canada, a second-generation American.

Martin agreed. "I came here today because I just think everyone should be equal and it doesn’t matter where you’re from," she said. "If they want to be an American, why should we stop them?"

Not everyone was in solidarity with those at the vigil; shortly after the event started, a man in a passing car yelled out the window, "Go home."