"These and other stark reimaginings of Christ's birth are drawing praise and outrage as churches turn the Christmas tableau into a commentary on federal immigration enforcement under the Trump administration. Their creators say they are placing the ancient story in a contemporary frame, portraying the Holy Family as refugees to reflect on the fear of separation and deportation that many families - including their own parishioners - are experiencing today."
"Mary stands nearby outside the Lake Street Church in Evanston, Illinois, wearing a plastic gas mask and flanked by Roman soldiers in tactical vests labeled "ICE." In another Chicago suburb, not far from an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility that has drawn protests over detentions, a sign at the manger outside the Urban Village Church says "Due to ICE activity in our community the Holy Family is in hiding.""
Churches in multiple U.S. cities altered Nativity scenes to portray the Holy Family as refugees and to comment on federal immigration enforcement. Displays included a baby Jesus wrapped in a silver emergency blanket with zip-tied wrists, Mary wearing a plastic gas mask beside Roman soldiers in tactical vests labeled "ICE," and signs reading "Due to ICE activity in our community the Holy Family is in hiding" or "ICE was here." Supporters framed the reimagined scenes as reflecting fear of separation and deportation; critics called them sacrilegious and politically divisive. A Massachusetts archdiocese ordered a manger restored to its sacred purpose amid intensified immigration enforcement.
Read at Boston.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]