Prayer Vigil for Children of Immigrants at OLPH

Last Thursday, the Sisters at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Convent held a prayer vigil in support of St. Camillus Church. St. Camillus, located in Hyattsville, Maryland, prayed alongside other interfaith churches for children of immigrants being deported. 

The Rev. Vidal Rivas, a senior priest at St. Matthew’s/San Mateo Episcopal Church in Hyattsville, is currently caring for a 4-year-old-boy and an 18-month-old girl whose mother was detained while seeking asylum. He and his wife also signed documents that make them the standby guardians for 26 children of parents fearing they’ll be deported. 

Padre Vidal’s gospel response to the suffering these families are experiencing was incorporated into the prayer at OLPH. 

“For all those coming to court this day seeking compassion, justice, and a peaceful future for their children, we pray

For all those families, especially the children, in incarceration centers that they be treated with dignity, receive proper food, healthcare, and spiritual nurturance, we pray

In gratitude for those who accompany our immigrant sisters and brothers: lawyers, social and healthcare workers, religious leaders, like Rev. Vidal Rivas and his wife, we pray,” read the petitions from the prayer service. 

Sr. Marie Chiodo, DW, wrote the prayer vigil and has supported the ecumenical community in Hyattsville, Maryland, at prayer vigils for over a year.

Sr. Evelyn Lamoureux, DW, who volunteered with the Long Island Immigration Clinic, spoke about her feelings on the situation.

“I feel terrible. Because I myself, when I was working, came across families that were separated because some of them were illegal, so to speak. Nobody is illegal,” she said. 

She believes the situation could be handled better “if we at least had a heart for the children.”  

“Many of these people, if they were sent back, they’re sent back to be killed, [because] they came out of situations where there was such violence. And how can we condemn them to death, really?”