Spurred by Pope Leo’s Plea, Catholics Rally Nationwide Against ICE Raids

After Pope Leo XIV urged the American Church to unite and speak out “with one voice” against the mistreatment of migrants, thousands of Catholics across the country hit the streets this week.

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Thousands of Catholics gathered in cities like Washington, DC, Newark, and Philadelphia on October 22 for what organizers called a “national day of public witness for our immigrant brothers and sisters.”

In the nation’s capital, a crowd prayed and sang outside ICE headquarters at dawn as federal employees entered the building — some commuters even honked in support.

“We wanted to be a witness,” Judy Coode of Pax Christi USA in Washington, DC, told Our Sunday Visitor, noting that as Catholics “we have a responsibility to bear witness to injustices that we see… part of our tradition is to pray publicly… to call to [the powerful’s] consciences”

The same witness unfolded across the country: in Newark, a Jesuit priest led hymns outside an ICE detention center while holding up an icon of the Holy Family; in Chicago, parishioners kept vigil after reports of immigration agents lurking near a local church; and in Philadelphia, dozens of priests, nuns and laypeople lifted up Scripture and protest songs on a downtown sidewalk.

In Philadelphia, the prayer rally took place at the ICE field office near 8th and Cherry Streets, where participants reflected on Jesus’ mission “to the poor, the blind and the captive.” (Luke 4:18)

They stood in front of a very literal captivity: at least four people had been arrested by ICE in the city that morning and were being held in cells in the building right behind the vigil.

“Let us hold those people who are in holding cells behind us in our hearts, in our prayers,” one organizer urged the crowd. This mix of fervent prayer and pointed protest marked an unprecedented show of Catholic solidarity with migrants.

“We reject the culture of fear that dehumanizes,” Sr. Linda Lukiewski told attendees, “and we choose instead to stand with immigrants.”

That sentiment was echoed on signs reading “One Church, One Family” and in the voices of speakers.

“We’re trying to get Catholics across the country to listen to Pope Leo’s message: Migrants lead us, they lead us to a true set of values,” said Jerry Zurek, a NETWORK Catholic organizer at the Philadelphia rally.

He reminded everyone that Pope Leo XIV himself has praised migrants and refugees as “privileged witnesses of hope” who carry an enduring faith in spite of the obstacles that they encounter.

In other words, the Church has much to learn from those on the margins — and a Gospel duty to protect them.

“With One Voice” — Answering Pope Leo’s Call

These coast-to-coast vigils came days after Pope Leo XIV’s impassioned plea for a united, forceful Catholic stand on behalf of immigrants.

Earlier this month in Rome, Leo met with a small delegation of American migrants and their advocates, who delivered him hundreds of letters describing the terror of President Trump’s renewed deportation raids.

The first American pope was moved to tears as he watched video testimonies of families being torn apart. “The Church cannot stay silent before injustice. You stand with me. And I stand with you,” Leo told the group — affirming his solidarity and urging the U.S. Church to raise its voice alongside the vulnerable.

In frank words to some U.S. bishops present, he lamented the response of certain church leaders and insisted that the entire hierarchy must speak out “with one voice” against the cruelty at the border.

For Pope Leo, this is not politics but an urgent demand of the Gospel. He has framed the defense of migrant families as a pro-life imperative and a test of the Church’s very consciences

To be truly pro-life is to champion the dignity of the poor, the stranger, and the refugee — not just in word, but in action.

That moral clarity from the Pope has galvanized Catholics on the ground. In recent months, we’ve seen bishops, religious sisters, and lay Catholics alike stepping up their advocacy, from border dioceses to deep-red heartland.

Under Pope Leo’s leadership, the American Church is finding a newfound boldness on immigration.

Chicago’s Cardinal Blase Cupich, for example, has fiercely condemned ICE raids in his city and encouraged his priests to shelter undocumented parishioners — answering Leo’s call to speak out on behalf of the undocumented and to preserve their dignity.

As one organizer’s statement put it during the rallies this week, “as Catholics and people of deep faith, we reject the culture of fear and silence that dehumanizes, and we choose instead to stand with migrants.”

In other words, we choose to do what the Gospel commands — to welcome, protect, and accompany those in need — even when it clashes with political powers.

In fact, Pope Leo’s own stance has set the tone: he has shown that the Church must stand fearlessly with those being marginalized, even if it puts the pope on a collision course with a president.

That fearless moral witness was on full display in the streets of America this week.

In city after city, Catholic nuns, priests, students, and families prayed the rosary under ICE office windows and knelt in solidarity outside detention centers. They processed with candles, sang “Somos el Cuerpo de Cristo,” and held up photos of the Holy Family — who, after all, fled as migrants seeking safety.

It was a public profession that faith without action is dead, and that the Church will not be silent or still while our brothers and sisters are treated as disposable.

Pope Leo XIV has thrown down the gauntlet, and ordinary Catholics are responding with extraordinary courage.

In the words Leo spoke to those migrant families in Rome: “You stand with me. And I stand with you.”

The American Catholic community just showed that it indeed stands with Pope Leo — and, more importantly, with Christ present in the migrant — all the way to the streets and beyond.

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