The Undocumented Catholic Underground
There have been reports about the impact of roundups of illegal immigrants on the Catholic denomination. It has been hurting the numbers. Today a small window into that subculture appeared. It is quite emotional and illustrates that the round ups have a significant impact on parishes in areas with large immigrant populations. I wrote a few days ago about parishes with smaller numbers showing up at mass because feds find it easier to arrest them. The link, however, is about the underground care illegal families provide for each other in parishes where many members are undocumented. The link tells of women who are working feverishly to meet the needs of undocumented families. There is childcare, hunger, translation needs, transportation and a host of other things that volunteers help families with. This is mostly the work of women. These women in the link complain, however, that clergy take credit for the care "the church provides" while it is actually not the church providing...