IMAGE: CNS photo/Bob Roller
By Rhina Guidos
WASHINGTON (CNS) — Dozens of
Catholics, including men and women religious, were arrested in the rotunda of a
Senate office building in Washington Feb. 27 as they called on lawmakers to
help young adults brought to the U.S. as minors without documents obtain some
sort of permanent legal status.
Many of the arrested included
Sisters of Mercy, who recalled the arrival of their religious order to the U.S.
and their contributions to the country, and asked that the young adults they
called “Dreamers,” a reference to a legislative proposal, be allowed
to do the same.
Though about 30 to 40 were arrested,
hundreds showed up to take part in the “Catholic Day of Action with
Dreamers,” organized by the PICO National Network, a faith-based community
organization based in California that gathered the coalition of Catholic social
justice organizations based in Washington for the event.
Jesuit Father Thomas Reese addressed
the plight of the young adults in a news conference before the arrests and said
“giving legal status to ‘Dreamers’ is not a political issue. It is a moral
issue.”
Bishop John Stowe of Lexington,
Kentucky, blessed those “standing up for their brothers and sisters,”
prior to their arrests as police began warning the group via loudspeaker
against their act of civil disobedience.
MORE TO COME
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