Letter from Bishop Seitz
March 12, 2025
An Open Letter to the Borderlands Community in El Paso Most Rev. Mark J. Seitz, Bishop of El Paso March 10th, 2025
Una carta abierta a la comunidad fronteriza en El Paso Mons. Mark J. Seitz, Obispo de El Paso 9 de marzo del 2025
Dear Community,
As a pastor in the borderlands, I am sensitive to the palpable anxiety which has taken hold of
so many of our residents in recent months, both immigrant and non-immigrant alike.
Over just the past several weeks, we have seen the closure of the border to the vulnerable,
immigration enforcement actions against our neighbors and the denial of reasonable
protections for our schools, hospitals and places of worship. In recent days, I myself have lost
friends who have chosen to self-deport back to immensely challenging conditions in their
home country.
The heartwrenching pain coursing through our community is real. Indiscriminate immigration
enforcement, the denial of due process and the pulling apart of families strike at our
community and are grave attacks on human dignity. The threat of mass deportations is
untenable and immoral and demands a credible response.
Therefore, I invite all of our El Paso residents – all people of faith and everyone committed
to the common good – to come to San Jacinto Plaza at 6pm on Monday, March 24, 2025,
on the Memorial of Archbishop Oscar Romero, for a March & Vigil organized in
collaboration with the Hope Border Institute.
There, we will be joined by an international delegation of bishops as well as many of our
community leaders. Together, we will march in solidarity with all our neighbors gripped by fear
at this moment.
Let us walk together, confident that God is present in our desires for a more just world and in
our actions to make them a reality.
Imágenes exclusivas de Vatican Media que recogen la llegada y las actividades del Papa a la isla de Tenerife, en España, en el séptimo día de su viaje apostólico
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Pope Leo brings his Apostolic Journey to Spain to a close in the Port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, stressing that “no human being is an island”.
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Concluding his Apostolic Journey to Spain, Pope Leo XIV thanks the Spanish people for their welcome and urges the world to "lift up its gaze".
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En la Solemnidad del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús, en el Puerto de Santa Cruz de Tenerife, el Papa exhortó a los isleños a cultivar su vocación a la acogida, pero no solo de aquellos que llegan por turismo, reduciendo todo a un mero comercio y beneficio, sino de quienes con su bagaje de pobreza y dolor enfrentan rutas migratorias peligrosas y violentas buscando una oportunidad, una ayuda.
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Meeting organisations working with migrants in Tenerife, Pope Leo XIV calls integration a shared responsibility that restores dignity and belonging, while urging human traffickers to repent before facing divine justice.
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PORTA OF SANTA CRUZ OF TENERIFE, Spain (CNS) -- After hearing the stories of men and women who survived harrowing journeys in unsafe boats and then faced exploitation by their captors, Pope Leo XIV harshly condemned such criminals, and he admonished those who turn a blind eye.
ORLANDO, Fla. - The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) gathered June 10-12 for their Spring Plenary Assembly in Orlando, Florida. The assembly began with the bishops sending prayers and a message to the Holy Father . Archbishop Paul S. Coakley addressed the body of bishops for the first time as Conference president. He was followed by Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, apostolic nuncio to the United States, who delivered his first plenary address to the U.S. bishops since Pope Leo XIV appointed him nuncio earlier this year.
El acto tiene lugar en vísperas de la solemnidad prevista en el calendario litúrgico y en el marco de las celebraciones del 250 aniversario de la firma de la Declaración de Independencia: «Que nuestros corazones se unan al vuestro, para que nuestras familias y comunidades gocen de paz y felicidad», reza, entre otras cosas, la oración específica.
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La visita del Papa León XIV a Barcelona estará marcada por uno de los momentos más simbólicos de la historia reciente de la Sagrada Familia: la bendición de la Torre de Jesucristo, coincidiendo además con el centenario de la muerte de Antoni Gaudí. Así lo destaca el rector de la basílica, el padre Josep María Turull, quien subraya la profunda dimensión espiritual de la obra del arquitecto catalán y la relevancia de la presencia del Pontífice.
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Al responder a las preguntas de los periodistas, antes de partir de Castel Gandolfo, León XIV pide a las autoridades que ayuden y acompañen en la reconstrucción a la población de la Franja que «está sufriendo». Hoy en día, la guerra se libra con la IA, que no tiene en cuenta las vidas humanas, como «en el Líbano» y en «otros lugares del mundo», dice, por lo que hay que desarmarla; es necesario continuar el diálogo con las grandes empresas, como está haciendo el Dicasterio para el Servicio del De
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