Archdiocese begins Lent in solidarity with the suffering
The Archdiocese of Newark marked the beginning of the sacred season of Lent on Feb. 18, not only at the altar, but behind the walls of an immigrant detention facility. Before celebrating Ash Wednesday Mass at Saint Patrick’s Pro-Cathedral in downtown Newark, Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, C.Ss.R., Archbishop of Newark, began his day at Delaney Hall in Newark, where he met face-to-face with 14 women detained because of their immigration status – listening to their stories, praying with them, and marking their foreheads with ashes.
In a Church called to conversion, the archdiocese’s Lenten journey began in solidarity with those who suffer.
Cardinal Tobin was accompanied by Father Alex Gaitan, the archdiocese’s immigration ministry coordinator, and Father Anthony Palumbo. According to Father Gaitan, each woman was personally greeted by Cardinal Tobin in her own language — French, Portuguese, and Spanish. “He spoke to them from his heart and heard about some of the issues they were facing,” he said. “Most of them were crying. It’s rare for them to experience someone who simply wants to listen and be close to them. This was a shepherd consoling his sheep.”
An experience of faith and common humanity
Coming from a family of 13 children, “with eight sisters,” the cardinal later reflected that he “couldn’t help but feel a brotherly love for these women who were so far from where they wanted to be.” Adding to their anxiety, 20-30 women had been moved from the facility the day before, their destinations unknown. “Many of the faces I normally see when I visit were suddenly not there,” Father Gaitan said.
Cardinal Tobin celebrated Mass at the facility, distributed ashes, and blessed each woman individually. “It was an experience of faith and common humanity,” he said. Throughout the day, Auxiliary Bishops Pedro Bismarck Chau and Manuel A. Cruz, along with Bishop Emeritus Gregory J. Studerus, also visited Delaney Hall to celebrate Masses, distribute ashes, and spend time listening to detainees — some of whom have been held for nine months or longer.
Father Gaitan said the archbishop and his auxiliaries ministered to more than 500 detainees on Ash Wednesday.
Reminders of those who suffer
Preaching later at Saint Patrick’s Pro-Cathedral, Cardinal Tobin spoke of urgency in a world fractured by many problems.
“There is an urgency in our time,” he said. “There is much that needs to be restored in a world that is torn apart with wars, with a displacement of people, with hunger, with a quest for power… and sadly, almost everywhere, with a lack of compassion.”
The Pro-Cathedral was filled with parishioners, workers, and students for the noon and evening liturgies. Beneath each of the fourteen Stations of the Cross around the church, photographs were displayed as reminders of those who suffer hunger, loneliness, persecution, addiction, and other life challenges. The images underscored the meaning of receiving ashes: repentance is not abstract but lived in a world marked by human pain.
The cardinal reminded worshippers of Pope Francis’s warning that “once we lose our humility and become enthralled with the possibility of limitless mastery over everything, we inevitably end up harming society and the environment.”
By receiving ashes on their foreheads, Christians are instead asking God to “open my eyes” so they can become “expressions of God’s love,” the cardinal said.
Living Lent in solidarity with others
People across the archdiocese began their own Lenten journeys with the ancient call to “Repent and believe in the Gospels,” and the sober reminder: “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
That evening, about 200 people braved a steady rain outside Delaney Hall for a prayer service expressing solidarity with immigrants and detainees. Auxiliary Bishops Michael Saporito, Elias Lorenzo, Manuel Cruz, and Gregory Studerus, along with several deacons, distributed ashes as the names of those who have died in detention were read aloud.
As the group later processed past the detention facility, the names of the four people who had died at Delaney Hall since it opened last May were also read. They then proceeded to Saint James Parish, where speakers addressed the challenges facing immigrants today and the Church’s call to accompaniment.
Reflecting after the noon Mass at Saint Patrick’s, Cardinal Tobin noted that concerned citizens gather outside Delaney Hall every day “to welcome immigrant families who are heartbroken and afraid.”
“It all begins with what you see,” he said. “If you see only problems or threats or statistics, you’ll cross to the other side of the street. But if you see people who share our common humanity, and who, more importantly, are loved by God just as God loves us, then you will respond differently.”
To view photos of the Ash Wednesday services at Saint Patrick’s Pro-Cathedral, click HERE.
Featured image: Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, C.Ss.R., Archbishop of Newark, distributes ashes at Saint Patrick’s Pro-Cathedral on Feb. 18. (Photos by Marianela Guerrero / Saint Patrick’s Pro-Cathedral. Additional photos by John Touhey / Archdiocese of Newark)
