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| CURRENT ISSUE: December 17, 2007 VOL. 45, NO. 21 • Oakland, CA |
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| Bishops call for immigration
reform |
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| Dancers from Immaculate Heart of Mary
Parish in Brentwood join in the celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe
during the annual procession through the streets of Oakland, Dec.
8. For more photos of the event, see page 15. JOSE LUIS AGUIRRE PHOTO |
Thousands of Catholics from throughout the East Bay
walked through the streets of Oakland, Dec. 8, to honor Our Lady of Guadalupe,
patroness of the Americas. During an 8-mile procession which began at
St. Louis Bertrand Church and ended at Lake Merritt, people carried decorated
banners while singing and praying. There were Aztec dancers, a dozen floats
and numerous parishioners wearing T-shirts bearing images of Our Lady
of Guadalupe.
Oakland Bishop Allen Vigneron chose the occasion to publicly proclaim
a statement on immigration issued days earlier by the state’s bishops
in which they call for just and humane immigration reform.
The statement urges immigration legislation that would provide a legal
path to citizenship for the estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants
living and working in the U.S. and would prioritize the reunification
of families separated because of mixed immigration status.
Bishop Vigneron read the statement at the close of the procession when
the walkers had gathered across the street from where the new Cathedral
of Christ the Light is being built. (Read the full text here.)
The pilgrimage, sponsored by the diocesan Latino ministry department,
was a celebration of the miraculous apparitions of the brown-skinned Virgin
Mary to St. Juan Diego at Tepeyac, Mexico, in December 1531. She left
her image on his “tilma” or cloak.
