IPJC AND THE SEASON OF FAITHFUL WITNESS: A FAITH WE CAN BE PROUD OF
BY WILL RUTT
Ihave long struggled with my Catholic identity, particularly when it comes to holding the complexity of the tradition around justice issues. This has often led to a sense of shame when publicly identifying as Catholic in social justice spaces and a hesitation to participate in explicitly Catholic public prayer. While this struggle has been difficult, I can’t remember a time when I have been prouder to be Catholic, or more compelled to boldly claim that identity, than during this Season of Faithful Witness.
As we face an administration that claims to be guided by Christian values while systematically harming immigrant and refugee communities across the country, our tradition and community offer a prayerful, dignified, and powerful form of resistance. In addition to the actions highlighted in this issue, since last November, there have been countless faithful witnesses in the Catholic community.
When IPJC was invited to serve as a regional animator for the Season of Faithful Witness, our community responded in formidable and prophetic ways. Beginning on the Monday of Holy Week, we gathered for The Way of the Cross, walking through Seattle’s Beacon Hill neighborhood while praying the stations. In this historically immigrant community, marked by resilience, joy, and pain, we bore witness to the suffering of our immigrant and refugee neighbors.
During the seventh and eighth stations, when Jesus falls a second time and meets the women of Jerusalem, a community member shared his experience of being wrongfully detained for over three months, forcing him to close his beloved food truck business. After recounting the pain, fear, and isolation he endured, he dropped to his knees, thanking the community for bearing witness to his story and offering a vision of belonging that welcomes all and upholds human dignity at all costs. In that moment, I felt the Spirit moving among us encouraging us forward and consoling us in a time of fear.
A few months later, our community gathered in Tacoma, Washington, for We Are One Body: A Eucharistic Procession for Migrant Dignity. We began with Mass at St. Leo’s and processed behind the Blessed Sacrament through the streets to the Northwest Detention Center. Singing with one voice and praying the sorrowful mysteries of the rosary, we affirmed that when one part of the body of Christ suffers, we all suffer.
As we prayed and sang outside the detention center, Deacon Juan, who ministers inside, shared that he had informed those detained that we stood in solidarity with them. In a note afterward, he wrote that our encouragement and support gave strength and hope to the people detained and their families. In a time when words feel insufficient, prayer and song allowed us to offer consolation.
The images in this article are all taken during the eucharistic procession on May 15, 2026. More than 450 people walked from St. Leo's parish, where Mass was celebrated, to the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, Washington.
Page 8: A participant places flowers in the fence of the detention center.
Page 9 (clockwise from top left): Youth leaders hold a canopy over the Blessed Sacrament, which is held by Father Gary Lazzeroni, pastor of St. James Cathedral, Seattle.
Community leaders share testimony about the impact mass deportation and detention has had on their lives.
“As we face an administration that claims to be guided by Christian values while systematically harming immigrant and refugee communities across the country, our tradition and community offer a prayerful, dignified, and powerful form of resistance. ”
Over the course of the Season of Faithful Witness, more than 750 Catholics gathered to proclaim that all are welcome! Our community embodied a Catholic faith grounded in lived experience that demands the transformation of systems of injustice through holding leaders accountable to enacting policies that promote human dignity and protect the right to migrate.
At a time when assaults on human dignity feel relentless, when culture often feels transactional and performative, and when principled leadership is absent, our faith community, grounded in gospel values, has both an opportunity and a responsibility to foster hope through public prayer and action. In doing so, we offer an encounter with the sacred that has the power to transform our world.
Participants offer a blessing over immigrants and refugees and those who minister to them.
Pope Francis called for a “torrent of moral energy that springs from including the excluded in the building of a common destiny.” At IPJC, we are continuing to build a movement that unleashes that moral energy for immigration justice, one that all Catholics can take pride in and participate in as an authentic expression of both tradition and personal belief. I am proud of how our local church has come together to proclaim the gospel boldly, and I feel emboldened by the Spirit to continue practicing our faith publicly as we build the kingdom of God together.
Will Rutt has served as IPJC's executive director since 2021. With experience both in community organizing and working with youth, Will brings a particular passion for shaping future social justice leaders and accompanying communities to claim power together. For most of his career, he has focused on issues of immigration, particularly as it impacted students. He lives in Seattle with his partner and two daughters.