Chicago, IL (December 16, 2014) – Hundreds of immigrant and native-born priests, religious sisters and brothers, and lay leaders will participate in a Posada, a symbolic search for shelter that offers
hope, justice and human dignity for all immigrants, on Friday, December 19, beginning at 7 a.m., outside the United States Center for Immigration Services, 101 West Congress Parkway in downtown Chicago.
The ninth annual pilgrimage, sponsored by the Office for Immigrant Affairs of the Archdiocese of Chicago, will include prayers in gratitude for President Obama’s recent executive action that will defer
deportation for potentially tens of thousands of immigrants, a first step in the journey for comprehensive immigration reform. Pilgrims will also pray for the 2015 passage of comprehensive legislative reform that is compassionate and that effectively and permanently responds to the
needs of families and the economy.
The one-mile journey will include symbolic stops outside the Metropolitan Correctional Center, 71 West Van Buren; DePaul University, 1 East Jackson Boulevard; Dirksen Federal Building, 219 South Dearborn
Street; and St. Peter’s in the Loop, 110 West Madison Street, where the event will conclude with a celebration at 9 a.m. Each stop will include special prayers and reflection. Participants will include a
number of representatives from Archdiocesan parishes and high schools, as well as university students and seminarians. Most Rev. John R. Manz, Auxiliary Bishop of Chicago, will lead the opening prayer at the start of the Posada and Most Rev. Alberto Rojas, Auxiliary Bishop of Chicago, will lead the closing prayer at St. Peter’s in the Loop.
A directory of Posadas taking place at around eighty parishes across Cook and Lake counties can be found on the Office for Immigrant Affairs’ website at www.catholicsandimmigrants.org.
Since May 2005, the Archdiocese of Chicago, its Bishops and members of the Office for Immigrant Affairs, Priests for Justice for Immigrants, Sisters and Brothers of Immigrants, Pastoral Migratoria and Polish Immigrant-to-Immigrant Ministry have been a voice for immigrants through the Catholic Campaign for Immigration Reform. The Campaign was established by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops to educate Catholics and the general public about the need for comprehensive immigration reform and to influence legislation for a permanent and fair solution to immigration issues in this country.
For more information about these events and other immigration efforts of the Archdiocese of Chicago visit www.catholicsandimmigrants.org, or contact Elena Segura, Director of the Office for Immigrant Affairs, at
312-534-5333 or [email protected].