After receiving billions in federal grants under the Biden administration assisting aliens to illegally enter the United States, Catholic special interests are now opposing Trump’s deportation efforts.
A Chicago priest is defending his decision to lead a Eucharistic procession to a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility Oct. 11, while critics accuse him of turning the Blessed Sacrament into a political protest.
A delegation of priests, nuns, and laypeople marched roughly two miles from Maywood, Illinois, to the ICE processing center in Broadview, Illinois, around 11 a.m., according to the Chicago Sun-Times. The roughly 1,000 participants reportedly included parishioners from nearby churches and members of the Coalition for Spiritual Public Leadership.
Father Larry Dowling, who led the procession, later described the incident in a statement on his Facebook page. He said that when the group arrived, he and other clergy asked to speak with a Homeland Security or ICE representative for permission to bring the Holy Eucharist inside the facility and that state police relayed the request to federal officials who, he said, denied it.
RELATED: Profile on Fr. Larry Dowling
Fr. Dowling added that ICE did not speak with the clergy directly, saying federal authorities could not “stand in the presence of the Monstrance holding the Blessed Sacrament. No wonder. Evil is repelled, recoils in the presence of Christ.”
The Broadview ICE center has been the site of repeated protests in recent weeks. Earlier on Oct. 11, before the clergy arrived, dozens of protestors gathered outside and remained throughout the day, the Sun-Times reported. Law enforcement reportedly made 15 arrests throughout the day related to property destruction, aggravated battery to a police officer, mob action, and resisting arrest.
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