ONE PEOPLE, ONE CHURCH, ONE COMMUNITY
BY KASCHA SANOR
“I could have been one of them too. In a moment I could be. Speaking Spanish, having this skin color, makes it possible that one day I could be detained too - as has happened in many cases.”
This is how Chicago Bishop Jose Maria Garcia-Maldonado reflected on presiding over a Peoples Mass outside of Broadview ICE facility. “I am also an immigrant,” he said, “someone who came to this country 24 years ago. So this is a form of solidarity.”
On November 1st, over 2,000 faithful Catholics gathered outside of Broadview Detention Center for the Misa Popular or Peoples Mass. The hope was to offer the Eucharist and spiritual care to our fellow parishioners, beloved friends, neighbors, and people of God being inhumanely held inside. In an empty parking lot, surrounded by fencing and barbed wire, we celebrated Mass. Moments after the consecration, a delegation of Sisters, Priests, and the Bishop were missioned to approach the detention center as Eucharistic Ministers. Despite following all proper protocols, including providing advanced notice, we were denied and the eucharistic table divided.
This was one of multiple attempts to provide communion to those held in the ICE facility. Months earlier, when it was announced that ICE and the National Guard would move into Chicago for immigration enforcement efforts, the fear and
worry throughout the city was palpable and immediate. But, so too, was a faithful response.
The Coalition for Spiritual and Public Leadership (CSPL), a spiritually rooted force for good, has been the heartbeat of some stunning public faith-based witness across Chicago. Each invitation, a breathtakingly beautiful response to heartbreaking headlines.
The multi-racial, multi-generational community of CSPL is deeply rooted in the rituals and traditions of our Catholic faith. During a Eucharistic Procession, over 500 people gathered for adoration, followed by a mile-long procession to the ICE facility while praying the rosary. Every step was an intercession through Mary to guide and strengthen
did you receive the foreigner? Did you receive him and welcome him or not? And I think that there’s a deep reflection that needs to be made in terms of what’s happening. The spiritual rights of people who have been detained should also be considered.”
“Every time I’m with CSPL, I grow in devotion. I am surrounded by people who make love and goodness real.”
us: Mother Mary who once journeyed as a refugee, who revealed herself in Guadalupe, who faced poverty and oppression, who proclaims the Magnificat.
“Faith isn’t meant to stay inside the walls of our churches.” CSPL reminds us, “It moves. It resists. It shows up.” Every time I’m with CSPL, I grow in devotion. I am surrounded by people who make love and goodness real. I see friends from an old parish, former professors, community partners, and colleagues—each willing to risk, to pray, and to work for peace.
“I just cried,” said a dear friend of mine about the Peoples Mass. She is a young woman who works in university campus ministry. “I understood communion for the first time in a long while and all I could do was cry. What are we doing to the body of Christ?”
On October 21st, Cardinal Blase Cupich made the following public statement: “Families are being torn apart, children are left in fear, and communities are shaken by immigration raids and detentions. These actions ruin the soul of our city. Let me be clear, the Church stands with migrants.”
These gatherings around the greater Chicago area, and all the works of CSPL, have been an unrelenting, ongoing example of a Church that loves and serves a people hungry for peace and justice. These moments of public witness have moved not only hearts across our city but even garnered a response from Pope Leo XIV.
When asked a question about his thoughts on people being unlawfully detained and denied the Eucharist in Chicago, he responded: “In the first place, the role of the Church is to preach the Gospel. And just a few days ago we heard Matthews Gospel 25, in which Jesus says very clearly at the end of the world: how
It’s overwhelming: both the crisis and the depth of the call. But standing in a vacant lot, surrounded by Catholics of every age, race, and ability, I’m reminded that the Gospel is Good News—for all of us. And if we believe that, how does that call us to faithfully move, resist, and show up? I am grateful to have strong community here in Chicago and the leadership of CSPL, but I know this groundswell of hope extends far beyond our local community.
Since last November, there have been countless faithful witnesses across our country. In Detroit, Michigan, Sisters and Associates have been steadfast to a weekly witness for immigration justice downtown. At Delaney Hall in New Jersey, Sr. Susan Francois, CSJP has been a consistent pastoral presence. The depth of our tradition, the well of graces, the examples of women doing good works are all abundant! And you can join us!
If you’re not yet connected to a local group working for immigration justice, you can access virtual resources from and donate to CSPL on their website: csplaction.org There are also some great “Know Your Rights” trainings and advocacy actions with nationwide partners such as CLINIC ( cliniclegal.org) and the Justice for Immigrants Campaign of the USCCB ( justiceforimmigrants.org ) . Finally, it is never too late to discern and sign the Cabrini Pledge, hosted by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops ( usccb.org/ cabrinipledge).
Kascha Sanor is the director of social and environmental justice for the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph and a current board member with IPJC. She holds a Master of Divinity and Social Justice dual degree from the Institute of Pastoral Studies at Loyola University Chicago and is deeply committed to synodality.
This article was originality published in the Spring 2026 issue of imagineONE, the publication of the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph, and was reprinted with permission.
Participants of Feb 18, 2026 Ash Wednesday Mass and Procession with Cardinal Blase Cupich, Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Melrose Park, IL
Photos flickr © Paul Goyette
Above right photo from article author: Sisters of St. Joseph (CSSJ) and Associates at the Ash Wednesday Mass