{"id":301344,"date":"2019-08-20T10:50:49","date_gmt":"2019-08-20T14:50:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/?p=301344"},"modified":"2019-08-20T11:19:20","modified_gmt":"2019-08-20T15:19:20","slug":"gone-pastor-says-half-of-his-parishioners-were-seized-in-ice-raids","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2019\/08\/gone-pastor-says-half-of-his-parishioners-were-seized-in-ice-raids\/","title":{"rendered":"Gone: Pastor says half of his parishioners were seized in ICE raids"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

The video below, from a recent Mass, shows some of the emotion involved at the Mississippi communities impacted by the raids.<\/p>\n

<\/iframe><\/p>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.clarionledger.com\/story\/news\/2019\/08\/20\/ice-raids-mississippi-half-one-church-parishioners-gone-father-mena-catholic-guatemala-poultry-plant\/2013258001\/?fbclid=IwAR0oU0K2Lw0GtPpKE9mdXGneYWvosJ98KdNSDCmJb4tWF7IL3BpsDvMXhcg\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Details:<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<blockquote>\nFirst, the\u00a0Rev. Roberto Mena called forward\u00a0a couple celebrating 23 years of marriage. He blessed them\u00a0and the congregation applauded. Next up\u00a0were two nuns, marking more than two decades in the Catholic Church.<\/p>\nMena then turned his attention to the immigration raids. When\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.apnews.com\/bbcef8ddae4e4303983c91880559cf23\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-track-label=\"inline|intext|n\/a\" class=\" decorated-link\">agents flooded seven Mississippi food processing plants<\/a>\u00a0on Aug. 7 \u2014\u00a0including two facilities\u00a0in nearby\u00a0Morton\u00a0\u2014 dozens of Mena\u2019s parishioners were taken away.\u00a0During a Thursday evening service, several people whose family members were locked\u00a0up approached the front\u00a0of St. Michael\u2019s Catholic Church to\u00a0receive the priest\u2019s\u00a0prayers.<\/p>\nNearly all\u00a0Mena\u2019s time these days is spent dealing with the aftermath of\u00a0the raids. He estimates half those\u00a0who attend St. Michael\u2019s and a\u00a0sister congregation, St. Martin de Porres,\u00a0in Morton, were detained \u2014 people from about 90 families. Mena and the majority of his congregants are Guatemalan, with services offered in English, Spanish and Vietnamese.<\/p>\nMena, 52, has been fielding such a\u00a0steady barrage of\u00a0calls from worried parishioners\u00a0\u2014 wanting spiritual advice, wanting to know how to find legal help, or where to get food\u00a0\u2014\u00a0that he must recharge his phone twice a day. In church and on the phone, he said, his message has been consistent.<\/p>\n\u201cThe church is with them, and we are a community,\u201d Mena said he stresses, adding some congregants have been fearful about attending Mass after the raids.\u00a0\u201cWe are going to hold them in this difficult situation that they are facing\u00a0\u2014 they are not alone.\u201d<\/p>\nAbout 100 packed the small brick church on Thursday evening, filling nine rows of pews and overflowing into the entryway. Mena rotated between speaking English and Spanish, and several parishioners delivered lessons in Vietnamese. A band played in the\u00a0corner.<\/p>\n\u201cWe take everything that happened, and we take it to prayer,\u201d Mena advised his congregants. He mentioned the Virgin Mary, saying that she was concerned about her sons and daughters in this difficult moment. He added:\u00a0\u201cWhen we are suffering and in pain, we connect with the suffering and pain of Jesus Christ.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.clarionledger.com\/story\/news\/2019\/08\/20\/ice-raids-mississippi-half-one-church-parishioners-gone-father-mena-catholic-guatemala-poultry-plant\/2013258001\/?fbclid=IwAR0oU0K2Lw0GtPpKE9mdXGneYWvosJ98KdNSDCmJb4tWF7IL3BpsDvMXhcg\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Read more.<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The video below, from a recent Mass, shows some of the emotion involved at the Mississippi communities impacted by the raids. Details:\u00a0 First, the\u00a0Rev. Roberto Mena called forward\u00a0a couple celebrating 23 years of marriage. He blessed them\u00a0and the congregation applauded. Next up\u00a0were two nuns, marking more than two decades in the Catholic Church. Mena then […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":132,"featured_media":301347,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11746,45],"tags":[12681,12684,1535],"class_list":["post-301344","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-immigration","category-ripped-from-the-headlines","tag-guatemala","tag-ice","tag-refugees"],"yoast_head":"\n<title>Gone: Pastor says half of his parishioners were seized in ICE raids<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The video below, from a recent Mass, shows some of the emotion involved at the Mississippi communities impacted by the raids. 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