Contact: Nicole Foy

(210) 313-3562; wgc.nicolefoy@gmail.com

Latinx Catholic Leaders Make National Pilgrimage This Weekend To Demand Justice in El Paso

Event features risk-taking, public action planned at the border 

San Antonio Contingent Includes Incarnate Word Sisters,

Members of the Interfaith Welcome Coalition and UIW graduate students

Leaders fighting for dignified asylum – including San Antonio-area faith representatives and advocates – are making a pilgrimage to the border this weekend to demand the end to mass detention and the criminalization of communities of color. The gathering in El Paso will include a teach-in and what organizers are calling a “dramatic” public action on Saturday afternoon.

In support, local faculty and graduate students at the University of the Incarnate Word on Saturday will hold a teach-in vigil that will feature live interviews with San Antonians taking part in the El Paso pilgrimage. The media and the public are invited to the local solidarity vigil, hosted by the Incarnate Word Sisters’ Justice, Peace, and Integrity of Creation Office and Women’s Global Connection of San Antonio.

3:15 pm

Sat., Oct. 12

University of the Incarnate Word Gorman Building, Room 119

4301 Broadway, San Antonio 78209

In El Paso, the “Jornada Por La Justicia” 3-day weekend is being sponsored by the Hope Border Institute and the Latinx Catholic Coalition. Two Incarnate Word Sisters will attend, along with those from San Antonio and New Braunfels who volunteer with the Interfaith Welcome Coalition (IWC). The group works closely on migrant outreach issues in the San Antonio area, but has been seeing the numbers they serve dwindle recently since the Administration’s controversial “Remain in Mexico” policy.

“We cannot remain indifferent to acts of violence, discrimination and xenophobia,” said Incarnate Word Sister Katty Huanuco, who is from Peru but traveling from San Antonio to El Paso for the weekend event. “I believe that the ‘Jornada Por La Justicia’ will help us to pray reflect and act personally and collectively for life. Because as Pope Francis rightly says: It’s not just about migrants. It’s about our humanity.”

Huanuco is Director of the Incarnate Word Sisters’ Justice, Peace, and Integrity of Creation Office.

NOTE TO MEDIA: We expect to know more details of the result of the planned public action in El Paso at around 6:30 pm. We can send photos and video then.

More information on event sponsors:

The Latinx Catholic Leadership Coalition: LCLC was formed in July of 2019 during the III National Symposium on Catholic Hispanic Ministry at Notre Dame. During the symposium, the participants recognized the need for Latinx faith leaders to respond to the present historical moment by taking a powerful stand in public life, https://www.latinxcatholicleadershipcoalition.org/

Hope Border Institute: The Hope Border Institute (HOPE) brings the perspective of Catholic social teaching to bear on the realities unique to our US-Mexico border region. Through a robust program of research and policy work, leadership development and action, we work to build justice and deepen solidarity across the borderlands, https://www.hopeborder.org/

Media Contacts in El Paso: Marisa Limón Garza, Deputy Director Hope Border Institute mlimon@hopeborder.org | (512) 587-6364 & Milton Javier Bravo | mbravo8@fordham.edu | (908) 458 – 3978