PHOTOS | The Silent March That Spoke Volumes: Catholics Grieve and Hope Outside Aurora ICE Detention Center

In the footsteps of Jesus’ Passion, Archbishop Aquila, Bishop Rodriguez and the faithful lift up the cries, sorrows, and hopes of immigrant families.

(Photo by André Escaleira, Jr.)

You could hear the crunch of the dry Denver grass underfoot — that’s how quiet it was in the north-east Metro on Saturday morning. 

Led by Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila and Bishop Jorge Rodriguez and sponsored by the Committee for Pastoral Care for Migrants, several hundred from more than 36 local parishes gathered in fervent prayer and peaceful procession around the ICE Detention Facility in Aurora, reflecting on Jesus’ own Way of the Cross, his journey towards his crucifixion to save every one of God’s children. 

For those gathered, the parallel was evident, and a powerful reason for quiet reflection: the Stations of the Cross being prayed aloud are being shared by countless migrants in our own day. 

“We are in front of the GEO Detention Center, that in some way symbolizes the Calvary of many of our brothers and sisters, immigrants who came with the dream of a better future for their families, worked hard to make it real and woke up facing deportation and separation from the dear ones,” Bishop Rodríguez said at the beginning of the Stations of the Cross.  

The immigration crisis, ongoing for years, recently came to a new inflection point for Catholics when Pope Leo XIV expressed his heartfelt concern over the treatment of migrants in the United States. Soon after, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), the united voice of the Catholic bishops in the U.S., at their fall plenary assembly issued a “Special Message,” the first in twelve years, in a near-unanimous vote that was met with a standing ovation. 

In this context, the Church united to lift up her suffering children in prayer and to witness to the dignity of every human person — a dignity too often violated in our day. 

“Every day in my job, we hear devastating stories of workers being intimidated, exploited by wage theft due to immigration status, receiving threats of deportation by unscrupulous employers, and some already deported without due process,” explained Mayra Juarez-Denis, a committee member and the executive director of Centro de los Trabajadores, a local nonprofit that supports immigrant workers. “There are many of our families scared, wondering if they will be back from work to pick up their kids from school.” 

Despite the bleak landscape, full of fear and anxiety, the community has felt the support of the Catholic Church in Denver, Juarez-Denis said, through local parish efforts “to bring legal support, education, and emergency planning to their parishioners, transforming their anger against injustice towards compassionate and communitarian action. 

“I am proud to be here today among this strong community of faith, fighting together for a more dignified treatment of our immigrant families,” she continued. 

In this time of challenge, through concrete action and the day’s continued intercession, the Catholic Church in Denver united at the foot of Jesus’ Cross. 

“We are in this place with a spirit of prayer," Bishop Rodríguez expressed. "Following the steps of Jesus on his way to Calvary, we cover spiritually the long journey of suffering of so many of our brothers and sisters who migrated to the United States. We are grief-stricken for the violations of human dignity many of them have been suffering. We pray for them.” 

(Photos by André Escaleira, Jr.)

Though silent as they processed and prayed, as if weighed down by a share in the weight of Jesus’ own Cross, a cross shared by innumerable immigrants today, those gathered came together with each other and with Jesus in a saintly solidarity, a union that transcended words. 

“To you, migrant brothers and sisters, we say: the Church stands with you,” said Monsignor Jorge De los Santos, pastor of Our Lady Mother of the Church Parish in Commerce City. “We stand with those who suffer in silence, with parents who fear being separated from their children, with young people who grew up in this country and now see their future threatened, and with those who have contributed for years to the economic, cultural and spiritual life of the United States. Your tears, efforts and hopes do not go unnoticed by us.” 

“We want to express our solidarity with all those detained in this detention Center, and to the Immigrant community in Colorado at large,” Bishop Rodríguez added, “and we want them to know that we care for them, that we stand with them, and that we pray for them. That they are not alone.” 

And indeed, on Saturday morning, those migrant brothers and sisters were not alone. They were accompanied by men, women and children of a variety of ages, cultures, languages, states of life, denominations and political affiliations who had all come together to witness publicly to one simple truth: every human life matters. 

“The Stations of the Cross are reminders to us of God's love for all people and for the immigrant, for the stranger, for those who are sick and suffering, and all of those who are in need of our prayer,” Archbishop Aquila emphatically said as he closed the time of prayer. “We must remember the dignity of every human being, and that dignity is not bestowed by any government. That dignity comes from God and God alone.” 

The archbishop noted that both political parties have “failed horribly when it comes to immigration,” especially when it comes to recognizing the inherent, God-given dignity of migrants.  

“They have treated immigrants as pawns for their own elections, for their own desires, and they have failed every immigrant,” he continued. “They have not served people well.” 

In such an environment, Archbishop Aquila said, the Church and her children are called to step into the breech and give courageous witness to that foundational truth, to defend the dignity of every human life. 

“It is important for us as Catholics and as Christians and as people of goodwill to give witness to the dignity of the human person,” he said, “that every human being, whether they believe it or not, whether they be atheist, agnostic, whether they be Hindu or Muslim, whether they be Jewish or Christian, every human being is created in the image and likeness of God. It is important to always understand that.  

“God never ever stops loving a human being. No matter who that human being is, no matter who that president may be, no matter who that person in Congress may be, no matter who that world leader may be, God is love, and it is impossible for God not to love,” he continued. “We have walked this Way of the Cross and seen how much God loves us, that he has died for you and your sins. Whether you believe it or not, he has. Whether you receive it or not, he offers it still to you.” 

Flowing from that foundational dignity and that prayerful solidarity came a call to more: an exhortation to meaningful change and reform. 

“We pray also for a comprehensive reform of our country’s immigration system,” Bishop Rodríguez said, noting its extreme complexity and injustice. 

“We invite all Catholic communities to strengthen a culture of welcome, solidarity and defense of human rights,” added Monsignor De los Santos. “We also urge civil leaders at all levels to promote humane, prudent and compassionate immigration reforms that respect family unity, protect the most vulnerable and recognize the richness that the immigrant community brings to this nation.” 

“What we see in the brokenness of our immigration system is horrendous, especially when it comes to human trafficking, when it comes to sex trafficking, the trafficking of children, and the trafficking of drugs. That all undermines the dignity of the human person,” Archbishop Aquila said, noting recent reports of a new bipartisan Congressional attempt to address the failures in the immigration system.  

As of now, the archbishop continued, it seems that this bill aims “to take care of immigrants who have come to this country. They may not have come with documents, but they have been living here peacefully for 10, 20, 30 years — many of us know this. And they need a path to citizenship. … Our system is broken, and it is because we put political parties before the dignity of the human being.” 

As the Church prepares to begin Advent, a holy season of hope-filled expectation for Jesus’ coming at Christmas and at the end of time, those gathered turned to the Blessed Mother, who embodied that holy waiting perfectly, even in the strife-riddled tension of the broken world at her time. 

“We commend all those affected to the intercession of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mother of the Americas and comforter of migrants,” Monsignor De los Santos concluded. “May she accompany those who live in uncertainty, inspire those in positions of authority and fill with hope all who continue walking toward a more just and secure future.”