VATICAN CITY (RNS) — Rosa Bonilla knows firsthand the fear and anxiety that has gripped the Latino community in the United States amid Trump’s deportation policies and ICE raids.
Originally from El Salvador, Bonilla serves in the Dolores Mission Church in Los Angeles, a Jesuit parish known for its outreach to migrants, especially from Mexico and Central America. She accompanies families through grief and celebrations, helps them find housing, employment and health care. She is there when they need food, or they get sick. She also puts people in touch with pro-bono lawyers when necessary.
“People are really scared to go out — even those with papers,” Bonilla said. She said that Mass attendance has dropped in some cases, while parish staff adapts to best serve the community. She told of a woman who hadn’t yet buried her deceased 23-year-old daughter, worried that if she was deported she would not be able to visit her daughter’s grave. Bonilla and the community gathered around the woman, eventually convincing her to cremate the remains of her daughter so they could never be separated.
These stories are why Bonilla came to Rome for the Vatican’s Jubilees of the Missions and of Migrants, which took place Oct. 2-5. As she walked throu …