Jesus is Being Tear Gassed at Broadview: An Open Letter from Chicago Clergy
allow for the hunting and terrorizing of immigrant communities. But it’s not only the words of the King that inspire our actions. n October 17, 2025, more than 100 ChicagoIt’s the teachings of Jesus. area clergy signed and published this open Specifically, The Sermon on the letter, calling for the support of migrants and Mount is an instruction manual condemning ICE attacks on peaceful protesters outside of detainment facilities. Among those who signed for nonviolent action on behalf are many Catholics, including Passionist Father Enzo Del of the persecuted. Here Jesus Brocco, the president of Catholic Theological Union; Jesuit blesses the poor, the meek, the Father Patrick Gilger, a professor at Loyola University hungry, the peacemakers and the in Chicago; and Dominican Father Brendan Curran of persecuted, and promises them The Resurrection Project. You can read the original the kingdom of heaven. letter and see the names of all those who signed here: We accept that following bit.ly/Chicago-Clergy-Open-Letter Christ’s example may mean Maximino Cerezo Barredo, Viacrucis IX, 1984, servicioskoinonia.org we are mocked and assaulted, opposed and even arrested. Jesus has guidance for this as “Can I use my pastoral expense account to buy a gas mask?” well, saying, “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute It’s a question dozens of Chicago pastors asked our church you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you.” If he were boards this month. Few of us expected to be met with this degree living today, we believe he might add “pepper spray, body slam of hostility and cruelty at the Broadview detention center, as and arrest you” to his beatitude. we remain committed to nonviolent action and the peaceful Jesus further stipulates how we must treat strangers. He exercise of our First Amendment rights. Our group comprises famously told his disciples, “I was a stranger and you invited me dozens of pastors and is still only a fraction of the clergy who are in.” When asked what he meant by this, he said, “Whatever you showing up and standing in support. did to one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you Unfortunately, peaceful actions—such as prayer and did unto me.” communion—have meant little to ICE agents. They lob tear gas, use pepper spray and bully sticks, body slam and drag protestors. One of our colleagues was hit in the face multiple times with pepper balls and rubber bullets. This is the brutality we are now accustomed to. We come offering bread and prayer, hope for justice and healing—we leave washing pepper spray In other words, when our friends and congregants are out of each other’s eyes. kidnapped, forced into hiding, torn away from their families— We willingly submit to these risks. What Kristi Noem and those things are happening to Jesus in real time. As Christians, her ICE agents are doing is immoral. They aren’t arresting crim- we cannot look away. We must act to stop this evil and witness inals; they are arresting our neighbors. They are tearing families to the goodness and dignity of all God’s children. For us, the apart. They wait at bus stops to detain children and use them as stakes couldn’t be higher. As Matt 25:46 clarifies, those who bait to lure parents from their homes. People of all ages are in refuse hospitality to the stranger, refuse to see Jesus in the faces hiding, businesses shuttered, and our friends and congregants— of the persecuted, stand condemned. the people we have been ordained to serve—are being taken to The good news, of course, is that anyone at any time can Broadview in unmarked vans. change their heart. It applies to all of us. Those who have been Despite these facts, pastors are asked by well-meaning sitting on the sidelines can get involved. They can join us at people—those both inside and outside the church—why we put Broadview but there are many other ways to help. They can our bodies on the line. Aren’t the ICE agents simply doing their write to [their local and national] officials, go to protests in their job and following the law? Why do we oppose their actions? And communities, support families with food and necessities and what does any of this have to do with the teachings of Jesus? reach out to those who are fearful. It isn’t lost on us that the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. encounThe Trump administration and the ICE agents, too, can have tered the same questions. After Bull Connor aimed his hoses at a change of heart. They can set aside their indifference and protestors and King was arrested, he penned his famous “Letter cruelty. They can put away their assault rifles and bully sticks. from the Birmingham Jail.” In it, he says that there are just and They can give up their pepper spray and rubber bullets. They unjust laws, and one has not only the option but the moral obli- can choose not to do this, cross to the other side of the fence and gation to refuse unjust laws. We oppose the laws and orders that join us for communion.
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“We accept that following Christ’s example may mean we are mocked and assaulted, opposed and even arrested.”
A M AT T E R O F S P I R I T
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