In NJ’s largest sanctuary city, Catholic churches are on the front lines of helping immigrants (Migration Week)
“Finding new ways” is a favorite phrase of Father Camilo Cruz, pastor of Saint Patrick’s Pro-Cathedral in Newark, when discussing the immigrant journey. It is a journey that he knows well, as he came to the U.S. from Colombia 19 years ago. He left his culture, his home, and his family and had to learn a new language in order to become a priest. He persevered because he found new ways to adapt to life as an immigrant, Father Cruz said.
He notes, however, “I didn’t have to worry about a place to live or food to eat.”
That is where his own story differs from the stories of the many immigrants who come to his church every week. Just in the last two months, Father Cruz and his parish have helped seven families find food and shelter. Young parents, with teenagers and babies, come to Saint Patrick’s after spending multiple nights on the streets. Many of them emigrate from Ecuador, cross the Mexican southern border, and arrive in Newark not knowing anyone, Father Cruz said.
“The wave of immigrants has been increasing and increasing, and many of these people cross the border, and they don’t have any family, any friends, they just come, and they take the risk,” he said. “So, there are no connections, and through the parish community, they can establish some connections. We welcome them to the community, and we invite them to stay and worship with us. Some of them become active members [of the parish] because they find people from their same countries.”
Out of desperation, he said, they come to the U.S. to find new ways of living.
The local churches of Newark, many of which have established Spanish-speaking communities, are there for these families and individuals when they have nowhere else to turn. In response to rising immigration nationwide, from Hispanic countries, but also war-torn countries such as Haiti, Nigeria, and Syria, the parishes have had to “find new ways” of welcoming and helping migrants and refugees.
Welcoming the stranger
Father Paul Donohue, M.C.C.J., pastor of Saint Lucy’s Church in Newark, is a grandson of Irish immigrants who learned to speak Italian while studying in Rome and then picked up an African language while traveling the continent. Now in his 70s, he admits that learning languages is more difficult than in his younger years, but he is working on his Spanish.
Saint Lucy’s is a parish that originated as a historically Italian community, however, due to recent immigration, it is increasingly becoming Hispanic-based. Father Donohue believes that the key to welcoming these newcomers is to make an effort to learn some of their language. Despite this, some people struggle to do so, he said.
“[As a pastor] if you’re saying, ‘I don’t want to learn your language’ then you’re not going to learn their stories either,” he said. “Because when you learn the language, you also are beginning to learn something of the psychology of the people.”
Only when the language barrier is unlocked can the pastor engage with his growing parish community on a deeper level.
“It widens my vision of faith because [the Hispanic community] believes in a different way. They have different symbols and a different perspective [of our faith],” he said.
To engage his growing Hispanic community, he also added a Spanish-language Mass to Saint Lucy’s weekly offering. It quickly became the most well-attended Mass mostly by families with young children.
“The future of this parish is the Hispanic community,” he said.
Saint Lucy’s Church in Newark has a vibrant Hispanic community, consisting mainly of immigrants from Ecuador and Peru, who bring their devotions from their home countries to the parish. (Saint Lucy Church)
‘They ain’t going back home’
Saint Mary’s Church in Newark, one of the oldest churches in the Archdiocese, was founded by Benedictine Monks in 1842 to serve German immigrants. The migrant landscape has changed drastically in 181 years, but Saint Mary’s remains the same, now welcoming immigrants from Africa and West Africa, with the largest group coming from Nigeria and the second largest from Ghana.
Father Philip Waters, O.S.B., pastor of St. Mary’s, said most of the immigrant parishioners came to the U.S. willingly, for college or for work, and gradually turned school visas into work visas and then into green cards. The parish assists its parishioners with longer-term needs, such as offering advice during the visa and green card processes, along with providing a stable spiritual home for their communities.
Saint Mary’s parish community is less transitional than other immigrant-based parishes, but over the last few years, the reasons for staying have changed, especially for Saint Mary’s Nigerian community. As Nigeria continues to deteriorate under violence, Father Waters says that none of his parishioners are going back.
“I have Nigerians who are afraid to go home,” he said. “I had a woman whose mother died, and she was getting set to go back for the funeral and someone called her up from the village and they said we’ve had four more people murdered in the last week. When they get here [to America], they ain’t going [back] home.”
Saint Mary’s Church in Newark has an active community of Nigerian immigrants, many of whom are afraid to return to their home country. (Saint Mary’s Church).
Faith in action
Father Cruz points to Scripture when he explains his passion for helping the immigrants who arrive at Saint Patrick’s.
“Because I was an alien and you welcomed me. It’s in the Scripture,” he said. “And I strongly believe that this is the start of the call for Christ: because I was hungry and you gave me food, I was naked and you clothed me. It’s right there. And every time you did it to one of my little ones, you did it to me. It’s my core of beliefs.”
This is reflected in the parish’s determination to help the immigrants who arrive with nothing. Father Cruz screens each family when they arrive. The church then provides them with clothing, toiletries, food, and shelter for the first three weeks. For those families that haven’t found a footing by then, he refers them to the Mother Teresa House in Montclair, run by Catholic Charities and St. Teresa of Calcutta Parish, which provides additional resources and housing.
In response to the heightened need of immigrants at their parish, Father Cruz established a Social Concerns Ministry seven months ago, in honor of Saint Oscar Romero, that accompanies immigrants as they find their way. This begins with the screening process but continues with follow-up visits inviting them into the life of the church. The ministry, while new, isn’t just specific to immigrants, but seeks to walk with all of those in need in their community.
Saint Lucy’s also has a dedicated Pastoral Work ministry, run by Omar Navarro, that seeks to accompany the immigrants who come to their church. The parish regularly partners with organizations like First Friends of New Jersey & New York to find lawyers who can represent detained immigrants. The partnership has saved some from deportation over relatively minor infractions, Navarro said.
The church has also played a significant role in bringing about legislative change through the years. Parish staff spent 10 years working with Faith in New Jersey to rally local leaders and lobby the state government until undocumented immigrants were legally allowed to obtain driver’s licenses.
“In the eyes of God, we are all His children,” Navarro said. “We should be encouraged to follow the example of Jesus Christ and help the people in need, especially people who are out of their country — strangers in this land.”
Additionally, Saint Mary’s in Newark has one of the largest emergency food assistance programs in the city, the Pierre Toussaint Food Pantry, which has been active for the past 23 years and now serves more than 300 households — an increasing amount of which are immigrant families.
At this moment in time when immigrants and refugees arrive at record rates to sanctuary cities all across the country, Catholic churches are on the front lines of the immigration crisis. How they respond can be looked at as a “call to action for what we believe” as Father Cruz says. It can be looked at as making the effort to understand the stranger, as Father Donohue says. Or it can be seen as simply as Father Waters’ approach: “The Church does what needs to be done. These are the people that come to me, and I do what I can for them.”
Featured image: Parishioners of Saint Patrick’s Pro-Cathedral in Newark gather for a Hispanic retreat, which includes many immigrants who became parishioners of the church. (Marianela Guerrero / Saint Patrick’s Pro-Cathedral)
