“Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” Gospel of Matthew, 10:14.
In its latest Justice and Peace Alert, members of the Conference of Major Superiors of Men tackle the conditions of migrant children being detained at the border:
Child abuse continues. Key members of the U.S. Administration, Department of Homeland Security, Border Patrol, Congress and others are increasingly being exposed for their clear patterns of child neglect and abuse.
A 15-year-old girl told one of the lawyers that there’s nothing to do but cry. A 16-year-old mother sleeps with her baby on a cement floor. A 12-year-old wakes up in the middle of the night from hunger. A 5-year-old is sick and has no socks. An 11-year-old cries in a cell and is only allowed outside a few minutes a day. Read their stories.
Bishop Sietz courageously crossed the border to accompany asylum seekers into the US rather than being forced to “remain in Mexico” in dangerous circumstances. What if we continually replicated this as Catholic leaders?