NEWARK, NJ - According to officials, on Wednesday, Sept. 4th at 10 a.m. at the St. Mary’s Church/Newark Abbey, a coalition of Catholic sisters, priests, brothers, lay Catholic advocates and immigrants including the Archbishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of Newark, Cardinal Joseph Tobin will gather to continue a strategic campaign to pressure the Trump administration and Congress to “stop the inhumanity.”
The campaign calls for an end to the detention of children and families which is contrary to Gospel values as written in Matthew chapter 25 where we are called to welcome the stranger, feed the hungry, and care for the sick.
The leaders will gather for a prayerful assembly before processing to the ICE Office at the Federal Building for a vigil which will include personal testimonies from Catholic leaders, clergy and long-time advocates based in New Jersey as well as family members who have been impacted by our nation’s immoral immigration policies.
As a part of the event, several Catholic leaders from many different organizations will engage in nonviolent civil disobedience and risk arrest to draw attention to this moral crisis.
This action grew out of a similar launch event which took place in July at the Russell Rotunda in Washington, D.C. where 70 Catholic leaders and supporters were arrested as a call to action.
Newark was chosen as the site of this second action because of regional energy flowing out of the D.C. event and New Jersey Catholics having advocated for an end to immigration detention for more than 20 years.