Chicago Priest to Illegals: ‘Don’t Give Up on Your Dreams’

Those who leverage the power of social media to reach their target audience — this is nothing new. Using the internet to encourage readers to break the law, on the other hand, is relatively rare.

When faced with what he apparently sees as a choice between following the Catholic faith and following the law, one Chicago-based priest declares that faith wins. And he encourages other Catholics to choose likewise.

Fr. Peter Wojcik, director of the Department of Parish Vitality & Mission at the Archdiocese of Chicago, is outspoken on the issue of immigration. His Twitter followers are likely familiar with tweets in which he suggests that as followers of Christ, they have a duty to assist immigrants — regardless of the immigrants’ legal status.

In one particularly controversial series of tweets, he included an image created by St. Louis-based iconographer Kelly Latimore.

The image is of a family traveling over sparsely vegetated landscape. A man is leading the way and wears a backpack. The woman is carrying a boy in a wrap over her shoulder. The family in the iconography-style image is portrayed with anxious facial expressions. Each figure is shown with a halo; the Greek letters on the boy’s halo are roughly translated as “Yahweh.”

Most casual viewers would take the painting to be a depiction of a Mexican family sneaking across the border to the U.S.A. under the cover of darkness. So the image appears to be a modern-day comparison to the Holy Family’s journey to Bethlehem. The child in the painting is made to seem akin to Jesus — God made flesh. The implications for those encountering similar families today is pretty clear.

The text accompanying the December 23 tweeted image reads, “Don’t give up on your dreams! The story of Christmas is a story of a young woman who believed that God is faithful to his promise. We are all part of this promise as love, kindness and peace start with us!”

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Judging by the responses to the tweet, the variety of “love, kindness, and peace” encouraged by the priest did not engender an overwhelmingly positive reception. Quite the opposite happened, in fact. A few of the priest’s followers expressed agreement or appreciation of the tweet’s sentiments — but many did not. They did not mince words, either.

Some expressed exasperation at the faith leader’s attempt to bring politics into a worship issue. Others protested that the journey of the Holy Family bore little resemblance to illegal border crossings. Several tweeted angry responses expressing frank displeasure with what they believed were the priest’s instruction to aid and abet illegal aliens — and thus violate federal law.

On the day after Christmas, the priest seemed to double down on the sentiment of the tweet he posted the day before. In a December 26 tweet in which he again included the image mentioned above, he reminded his Twitter followers that “the saddest response in the Bible is: We have no room here! Like 2,000 years ago Mary and Joseph are knocking on our doors asking us to let Jesus in. Will we open? #MerryChristmas.”

“This is a despicable politicization of the Holy Family’s flight into Egypt. Which, by the way, did not break the laws of any nation. Shame on all of you.”

One respondent, @ItsJustDK (whose account has since been suspended), openly challenged the priest’s suggestion that the comparison of Joseph and Mary’s trek to modern-day border crossings is an apt one. He astutely notes, for example, that Enrique Peña Nieto, Mexico’s current president, is no Herod.

“Are you telling us that Jesus was an illegal immigrant and therefore that should dictate our immigration policy? I’m pretty sure the president of Mexico isn’t ordering the full-scale murder of children,” he wrote.

Twitter user @GregLamatrice shared @ItsJustDK’s feelings on the priest’s tweets: “This is a despicable politicization of the Holy Family’s flight into Egypt. Which, by the way, did not break the laws of any nation. Shame on all of you.”

Fr. Wojcik’s Twitter feed includes repeated invitations for followers to join him for “National Migration Week Mass,” January 7 at Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago. The Mass is titled “Many Journeys, One Family”; presiding will be Cardinal Blasé J. Cupich. In a second post from December 23, he entreats readers to “join us for our annual celebration of solidarity with those, who like the Holy Family, seek a place to call home! #Advent.”

Related: Whoa! New Census Data Show Big Immigration Spike

Last February, Fr. Wojcik served on a Regina Dominican High School student-initiated discussion titled “Executive Orders and the Travel Ban: Separating Fact from Fiction.” RDHS, a college preparatory Catholic school outside Chicago, described his contribution to the event on its webpage: “Wojcik spoke about how Catholic Charities helps a large number of refugees and that he prays a ban like this current one is not necessary.”

Fr. Wojcik is clearly heartfelt in his admonitions. He appears to believe sincerely that it’s the duty of Catholics to assist those who are needy and downtrodden. But among that group, he includes those who, in search of a better life, choose to immigrate illegally. This is why convincing parishioners and other faithful that God would rubber-stamp illegal immigration — and activities meant to facilitate it — may be a very tall order indeed.

Michele Blood is a freelance writer based in Flemington, New Jersey.