Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Iowa Church Is a Beacon After Immigration Raid
NY Times ^ | July 12 2008 | Samuel Freedman

Posted on 07/11/2008 4:33:16 PM PDT by DemonDeac

"Once a month or so, Father Ouderkirk drove back to St. Bridget’s to officiate at a wedding or baptize a baby. He savored those rituals, proof that the Hispanic immigrants who had arrived over the past decade to work in Postville’s kosher-meat plant were setting down roots. Some had bought their own homes. Their children had graduated from high school, even been selected for the National Honor Society."

"Then came the morning of May 12, when both satisfaction and retirement ended for the 75-year-old priest. Federal immigration agents raided the Agriprocessors factory, arresting nearly 400 workers, most of them men, for being in the United States illegally. Within minutes of the raid, with surveillance helicopters buzzing above the leafy streets, the wives and children of Mexican and Guatemalan families began trickling into St. Bridget’s church, the safest place they knew."

"Gone were all but two members of the choir he had assembled over the years. Gone was all but one of the eight altar servers. Gone were the husbands from the weddings he had performed, and gone were the fathers of the children he had baptized."

"“It’s like God saying, ‘I gave you a little practice,’ because this is the worst,” Father Ouderkirk said in an interview"

"Probably every child I baptized has been affected. To see them stunned is beyond belief.”"

"The only redemptive thing that can be said, perhaps, is that in the crisis at Postville — with nearly 400 immigrants imprisoned and facing deportation, with 40 mothers under house arrest awaiting their own court dates, with families that had two working parents now forced to survive on hand-outs from a food pantry — the beacon of the Catholic church to immigrants has rarely shone more brilliantly."

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: aliens; buildthefence; catholic; dncfalseprophets; falseprophets; immigrantlist; immigration
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-23 last
To: DemonDeac

Render unto Caesar. Jesus never advocated breaking the law.

This traitor should move to Mexico and open a mission.


21 posted on 07/12/2008 7:51:11 AM PDT by Travis McGee (--- www.EnemiesForeignAndDomestic.com ---)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Travis McGee

Render unto Caesar. Jesus never advocated breaking the law”

He also spelled it out.

John 10

1Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.


22 posted on 07/14/2008 7:50:31 AM PDT by philetus (Keep doing what you always do and you'll keep getting what you always get.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 21 | View Replies]

To: philetus

Nice catch! That’s a keeper!


23 posted on 07/14/2008 9:19:36 AM PDT by Travis McGee (--- www.EnemiesForeignAndDomestic.com ---)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 22 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-23 last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson