Pope Francis calls on immigrants in US to turn to Mary

January 13, 2017

Archbishop José Gomez of Los Angeles celebrated Mass at Dolores Mission Church on January 12 in commemoration of National Migration Week.

Toward the end of the Mass, a video message from Pope Francis to immigrants in the United States was presented.

“We are a community that also has a mother and Jesus gave her to us—his mother and our mother—and a community with a mother should feel safe,” Pope Francis said.

The Pope added:

Russian monks from the medieval period or before had a lovely saying…back then they would say: ‘When there is spiritual turbulence, take refuge under the mantle of the Holy Mother of God.’ And this is what I want to tell you, she said it to Juan Diego in his language: ‘Do not be afraid. Am I not here, I, who am your Mother?’”

The Pope’s comments were excerpted from a recent interview with El Sembrador Ministries, a Catholic organization devoted to evangelization. The full interview will air on January 29.

“This beautiful message of hope from our Holy Father reminds us that we are one family of God, that we are all God’s children under the loving protection of our Blessed Mother,” Archbishop Gomez said. “He recalls the words of Our Lady of Guadalupe to St. Juan Diego during a time of fear and uncertainty, words of reassurance to our immigrant brothers and sisters not to be afraid because they are not alone.

“Like the Blessed Mother of Christ, the Church will always be with them,” he added, stating that the “Church will continue to stand in solidarity with our immigrant brothers because for us this is not a political issue, it’s a human issue.”

 

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Further information:

• Video of Mass, with Pope’s remarks (Noel Diaz, Facebook, 57:00 for remarks)
• ARCHBISHOP GOMEZ PRESENTS MESSAGE FROM POPE FRANCIS TO U.S. IMMIGRANT COMMUNITYAS PART OF SPECIAL MASS COMMEMORATING NATIONAL MIGRATION WEEK 2017 (Archdiocese of Los Angeles)