CHICAGO (AP) – Heckel Villa noticed something different as tens of thousands of Catholics made their annual pilgrimage to a suburban Chicago shrine to Mexico’s revered patron saint.
As always, they brought daily concerns about family and health, but the daughter of Mexican immigrants who’s worked and worshipped for years at one of the largest shrines to Our Lady of Guadalupe in the U.S. said it was fear and anxiety about President-elect Donald Trump’s approach to immigration that permeated their prayers.
“The spirit was there, but people were actually afraid,” she said Monday during the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. “Their main goal was to pray to make sure that they get some type of answer and trying to make sure our (incoming) president thinks differently, changes his way of thinking, especially with Hispanic people.”
The sentiment was echoed in small parishes and big city cathedrals across the country as Trump’s win and aggressive pledges on immigration changed the dynamic of one of the biggest Catholic holidays, particularly in Latin America.
In response, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops urged churches to make the holiday Monday a “day of prayer” in solidarity with immigrants and their families and reiterated support for immigrants, regardless of legal status.