St. Boniface:
St. Benedict:
Housing:
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Faithful receive ashes, and a special gift
Parish for deaf adds adoration, 3 other programs
Matching homeowners, renters eases crisis
CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO Newspaper of the Archdiocese of San Francisco
www.catholic-sf.org
Serving San Francisco, Marin & San Mateo Counties
March 9, 2017
$1.00 | VOL. 19 NO. 5
More than 300 prepare to enter Catholic faith at the Easter Vigil Tom Burke Catholic San Francisco
(Photo by Dennis Callahan/Catholic San Francisco)
Book bearers carrying the Book of the Elect for their respective parishes lead the Rite of Election procession March 5 at St. Mary’s Cathedral.
The Rite of Election, a step in the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, took place at St. Mary’s Cathedral March 5 in an afternoon prayer service with Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone presiding. More than 1,300 people were in the assembly. An estimated 150 catechumens, men and women who will receive all three sacraments of initiation – baptism, Eucharist and confirmation – at the Easter Vigil, became the elect at this annual liturgy. Another almost 200 people in RCIA programs, already baptized Christians coming into full communion with the Catholic Church and known as candidates, were recognized in a Rite of Welcome. Candidates make a profession of faith
to the Catholic Church, are confirmed and receive first Eucharist, also at the Easter Vigil. The liturgy was bilingual in English and Spanish. The catechumens and candidates represented more than 40 parishes in the Archdiocese of San Francisco. In his homily, Archbishop Cordileone asked that the catechumens and candidates be warmly welcomed to the “faith that Christ calls to be a light.” The Rite of Election always takes place on the First Sunday of Lent at the cathedral and celebrates the acceptance of the archbishop of those who have been preparing to enter the Catholic Church at Easter into the order of the elect – meaning they have see rite, page 12
Faith communities collaborate in unified response to deportation fears Christina Gray Catholic San Francisco
About 125 members of San Francisco faith communities, including several Catholic parishes, signed up at the St. Dominic parish hall on Feb. 24 to serve on a unified “rapid response” team to support immigrants during anticipated enforcement actions by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. The event, “Practicing Solidarity During Immigration Raids,” was hosted by St. Dominic’s Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation Ministry, formed last year to help parishioners reflect and act on issues relevant to Catholic social teaching. The archdiocesan Office of Human Life and Dignity, Pangea Legal Services, PICO California and California Immigrant Youth Justice Alliance co-hosted the two-hour training.
The meeting took place three days after U.S. Department of Homeland Secretary John Kelly issued orders to DHS staff on implementing President Trump’s recent executive orders on border security and enforcement of the immigration laws. Agencies are to deploy “all lawful means” to secure the border with Mexico, to prevent further illegal immigration into the United States, and to repatriate illegal aliens “swiftly, consistently, and humanely,” DHS said in a news release. DHS also is authorized to add 5,000 border agents and empower state and local law enforcement to support federal enforcement of immigration law, “to the maximum extent permitted by law, and to ensure that prosecution guidelines place a high priority on crimes having a nexus to our southern border,” the agency said. “With extremely limited exceptions,
DHS will not exempt classes or categories of removal aliens from potential enforcement,” the agency said. The actions also authorize DHS to expand expedited removal of undocumented immigrants, although as of Feb. 20 no details had been released, according to the Immigration Action Project of the National Lawyers Guild. Since the actions were announced, local immigrant families have been fearing the “5-o’clock-in-the-morning knock on the door” from ICE, said Lorena Melgarejo, parish organizer for the archdiocese. The goal of the meeting, said Melgarejo, was to form one broad network of trained individuals prepared to offer “sanctuary in action” for local undocumented families who call a hotline before, during or after an ICE action. Rapid response teams from St. Agnes Parish and others will be
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wrapped into the one larger network, she said. “When ICE comes to your door, you can’t run,” said Melgarejo. “So the idea is, we bring the congregation or sanctuary to them.” A rapid response team is a network of committed individuals trained to witness, accompany and advocate for immigrants when ICE shows up. They serve as a presence for the family, verifying the raid and serving as moral and legal observers if it is one. Nilou Khonsari, executive director and an immigration attorney for Pangea Legal Services, a San Francisco-based agency that provides direct legal representation to immigrants especially in the area of deportation defense, talked to the group about how and why to document in detail what’s happening during an ICE action. see immigration, page 3
Index On the Street . . . . . . . . 4 National . . . . . . . . . . . . .9 World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Faith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Calendar . . . . . . . . . . . 23