Trump’s immigration policies generate fear and faith in Masses in Spanish in the US.

The numerous changes in the immigration policies introduced by the Trump administration, since their inauguration in January, have caused that some dioceses call “terror”, takes over the Spanish -speaking Catholics in the United States.

CNA – Ewtn News advertisement – asked the dioceses of the whole country what effects, if any, the new policies in the assistance to the Mass in Spanish have had. While the answers varied – some dioceses have noticed descents, while others have seen an increase in assistance – a topic was recurrent: immigrants are full of fear.

“It’s more than fear: it’s terror.”

The Archdiocese of Atlanta has not compiled data on Mass assistance, and any change in participation, if any, is “very small”, according to Yolanda Muñoz, director of Hispanic and Latin ministries of the Archdiocese.

Muñoz told CNA that, although people are “very afraid”, their “faith is strong and find ways to overcome their fears.” Some share the car with people with legal status. Many have created WhatsApp chats “to inform each other if there are danger zones that should be avoided.”

Muñoz said that some priests even go to places where “there is a large concentration of immigrants, such as rolling house parks” to officiate Mass.

The archdiocese has held informative meetings in parishes to educate immigrants about their rights, as well as how to plan and protect themselves and their families in case of deportation.

Although the current situation “is very difficult and sad, we must continue to remember that Christ is in the boat in the middle of the storm,” Muñoz said.

The Archbishop of San Antonio, Mons. Gustavo García-Siller, told CNA that he had not heard of the priests that people were avoiding going to the church, although the day he spoke with CNA, the prelate commented that he had just heard from a priest about three families that were arrested.

He emphasized that “fear is there. It’s more than fear: it’s terror.” However, he said that at least in San Antonio, people “trust the church and their communities” because they have faith.

The archbishop also considered that the city of San Antonio is unique because there is greater acceptance of immigrants, due to the integration that has occurred for decades.

“In San Antonio, we have masses in Spanish in almost all parishes … Hispanics here attend any parish,” he said.

According to the archbishop, until February of this year, the federal government had asked the Church in San Antonio to help immigrants, and the Church responded through Catholic charities with humanitarian aid, medical and legal assistance, counseling and spiritual support.

“The beautiful thing to see in San Antonio is that these services not only provide professionals, but also people from the parishes, lay, religious, religious and diocesan priests,” he said.

“In recent months I have seen more people in need. People eat less, avoid accessing medical care and some even avoid going to school,” he added.

“We don’t ask them if they have papers or not,” he continued. “Due to rhetoric in the country, people are very affected, very scared. We avoid divisive narratives.”

The prelate said that immigrants “know that we, as a church, the body of Christ, are with them.”

“Less likely to stay after Mass”

A spokesman for the Archdiocese of Las Vegas declared CNA that the archdiocese had noticed a decrease in participation in some Hispanic parishes, “particularly in the assistance to Mass and enrollment in religious education.”

“A parish that normally received about 1,500 children in its First Communion program has about 860 this year,” according to the Archdiocese. “In addition, families seem less likely to stay after mass for community activities and socialize.”

Parishioners express “apprehension and fear”

The Secretary of Communications and Public Affairs of the Archdiocese of Boston, Terrence Donilon, told CNA that the climate of “uncertainty” has generated “a stressful period for the ethnic communities of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts”, with parishes reprogramming or seeking “alternatives” for the summer festivals that are carried out for parish and Fund collection.

“As an anecdote, some parish priests, although not all, have noticed a decrease in mass assistance among non -English -speaking parishioners during this period of concern,” Donilon said.

Alayna Fox, from the Diocese of Burlington, Vermont, told CNA that “although Burlington’s diocese does not have a large population of native Spanish speakers, a decrease in assistance to the masses offered in Spanish has been reported.”

The director of communications of the Diocese of Manchester, New Hampshire, Tara Bishop, said that a decrease in assistance had recently occurred, although she said that the diocese could not definitely attribute it to migratory policies.

He also explained that many faithful had expressed apprehension and fear of participating in various parish events.

However, Bishop said that it is common to observe a significant decrease in assistance to Eucharistic celebrations during the summer months, so this decrease could be part of a seasonal tendency and not a direct result of changes in immigration policies.

Need for a spiritual dimension in these times of stress

In line with Bishop, Fr. Will Banowsky, of the Catholic Church of the Holy Spirit, located in the southwest of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City, said that the seasonal effects on assistance, and not the fear of immigration measures, seemed to explain the decrease in participation in the Mass in Spanish during the summer.

“Many people returned to their countries in summer or went on vacation,” he said. Many returned to the beginning of the school year, he added.

There were 920 people in a recent Mass in Spanish in the Holy Spirit parish, whose congregation is approximately 50% Hispanic and where the average is between 650 to 800 people.

Banowsky declared CNA that assistance figures, higher than the average in August, could be attributed to people knowing that they need that “spiritual dimension in these moments of stress.”

Although he said that his parish and others in the archdiocese have not had problems with participation, he said that there is still much fear among Hispanic parishioners and that “social networks do not help.”

“We try to make sure that people can find a refuge here for their fears, whatever they are,” he said.

Translated and adapted by the ACI Press team. Originally published in CNA.