On Corpus Christi, US parishes show solidarity with migrants, refugees and urge their protection

The noonday sun shone over Columbia Heights in Northwest Washington as people moved between corner markets and families pushed strollers past Salvadoran pupuserías, Dominican and Mexican restaurants, pho shops and fruit vendors shaded beneath bright umbrellas.

In that same neighborhood, every pew inside the Shrine of the Sacred Heart was filled June 7 as worshippers gathered beneath mosaic-covered walls where immigrants have prayed for more than a century.

"The Jesus who gives himself to us in the Eucharist is also present in each one of his sons and daughters, especially in those who suffer, the vulnerable, the forgotten and those who carry heavy burdens," Bishop Evelio Menjivar-Ayala said in his homily connecting the celebration of the Eucharist to the suffering and dignity of immigrants.

Menjivar-Ayala, a Washington auxiliary bishop appointed by Pope Leo XIV May 1 as the new bishop of Wheeling-Charleston, West Virginia, celebrated the Spanish-language Mass for the solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, also known as Corpus Christi Sunday.

Bishop-designate Emilio Biosca Agüero – the Sacred Heart pastor named by the pope May 13 as the new bishop of Venice, Florida – concelebrated the Mass along with priests from across the Archdiocese of Washington.

Following the Mass, hundreds of Catholics joined in a Eucharistic procession, walking in solidarity with immigrants from the Shrine of the Sacred Heart to the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle.

The Mass and procession in the nation's capital were part of the Season of Faithful Witness rooted in prayer and Eucharistic devotion to show solidarity with immigrants amid the Trump administration's hardline immigration enforcement policies and mass deportation push. This witness, beginning on Ash Wednesday and ending on Corpus Christi, has been observed across the country.

In Pittsburgh, members of Pittsburgh Area Pax Christi gathered for a Corpus Christi prayer vigil.

Nearly 250 people in New York City processed through the city to publicly affirm the dignity of every person. The witness drew clergy, religious, lay leaders, parishioners and community members.

In La Crosse, Wisconsin, the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration partnered with Viterbo University to host a Eucharistic procession. The daylong Wisconsin event began with Mass at the university's San Damiano Chapel, and the procession through the city made prayer stops focused on access to healthcare, education and housing. It ended with Eucharistic adoration and Benediction at Mary of the Angels Chapel at the Franciscans' convent. More than 80 people participated in the event, which concluded with a shared meal and fellowship.

In Washington, Menjivar-Ayala said in his homily that immigrant families often walk paths marked by uncertainty and sacrifice while searching for safety, work and dignity, trusting only in the providence of God.

Drawing from St. Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians, Menjivar-Ayala said in his homily that the Eucharist unites Catholics not only to Jesus Christ, but to one another.

"We are the body of Christ," he said. "And if we are one body, then when one member suffers, all suffer with that member. ... We cannot adore Jesus in the monstrance and then ignore him when he appears in the face of the migrant, the refugee, the poor and the fearful."

"The Eucharist moves us beyond ourselves so that we may accompany those most in need of our closeness," he said. "It calls us to build communities where no one feels like a stranger, where no one is left alone in suffering, and where all may discover that they are beloved sons and daughters of God."

Hundreds of faithful participated in a Eucharistic procession along 16th Street and Rhode Island Avenue following the Mass. Along the route, the procession stopped at various stations of prayer, where testimonies were shared about the difficult situation faced by many immigrants who lack legal authorization to live and work in the U.S.

Some prayed the rosary while others sang hymns in Spanish and English. Families carried banners, pushed strollers and held photographs of loved ones and community members detained or deported amid immigration proceedings.

Incense smoke drifted upward from thuribles carried by altar servers as pedestrians stopped to watch, record the procession on their phones or ask, "What's going on?" as it passed by.

Organized by the archdiocese's Office of Justice and Peace, the procession was rooted in the Catholic belief that Jesus Christ is truly present – body, blood, soul and divinity – in the Eucharist.

Beneath a white-and-gold canopy, Menjivar-Ayala, Agüero and Bishop-designate Robert P. Boxie – the latter was named by Pope Leo on May 1 to be a new auxiliary bishop of Washington – took turns carrying the monstrance holding the Blessed Sacrament during the nearly two-mile procession.

At several points along the route, the procession paused at temporary altars prepared by parish communities and ministries from across the archdiocese, including St. Camillus Parish in Silver Spring, Maryland, Holy Trinity Parish in Washington, and St. Martin of Tours Parish in Gaithersburg, Maryland.