San Antonio\u2019s archbishop is urging Catholics and the broader community to take a more active role in supporting migrants, unveiling a new pastoral letter during a crowded morning Mass Monday at San Fernando Cathedral.<\/p>\n
Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller delivered the message as he introduced the letter, titled \u201cWe Will Come to You,\u201d which he said is rooted in faith, not politics. \u201cWhile my journey is not the same as many who suffer today, I recognize their fear. Today I say, I will not abandone you. The church will not abandon you,\u201d Garcia-Siller said, drawing applause.<\/p>\n
He described the letter\u2019s purpose in direct terms: \u201cThis pastoral letter seeks to console those who sufer, awaken the indifferent and confront injustice with the courage of The Gospel.\u201d<\/p>\n
The more than 50-page letter, published in both English and Spanish, is intended as a roadmap for how the church and members of the community can carry out public service in ways that help migrants feel more accepted.<\/p>\n
Sister Denise, who already leads outreach efforts, encouraged others to do more. \u201cWe can\u2019t just stand by and say, well, it doesn\u2019t involve me. It doesn\u2019t bother me, so I\u2019m not gonna get involved. It may not involve me today, but what about tomorrow?\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Another speaker criticized the current climate around immigration, saying, \u201cI think there\u2019s a lot of persecution of immigrants righ now for now reason. They\u2019re law abiding people, they\u2019re contributing and it just seems they\u2019ve become a scapegoat for the problems we have.\u201d<\/p>\n
Garcia-Siller also emphasized the broader context of migration, saying, \u201cMigration is part of our story.\u201d<\/p>\n
Church members said the message is especially timely amid a polarized political environment. Recent polling by The Associated Press found 39% of U.S. adults approve of President Trump\u2019s performance on immigration, down from 49% at the start of his second term.<\/p>\n
Garcia-Siller, an immigrant from Mexico, said his call is directed beyond the Catholic Church. \u201cTo fellow Christians, all people of good will and civic leaders, let us work together to uphold the dignity of every person and build a society where all are welcomed, protected, promoted, and integrated,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The archbishop\u2019s pastoral letter comes on the 100th anniversary of San Antonio\u2019s elevation to a metropolitan archdiocese, and as the nation marks 250 years of independence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"San Antonio\u2019s archbishop is urging Catholics and the broader community to take a more active role in supporting…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":397013,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[82,84,83],"class_list":["post-397012","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-antonio","tag-san-antonio","tag-san-antonio-headlines","tag-san-antonio-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397012","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=397012"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397012\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/397013"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=397012"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=397012"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=397012"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}