VivirLatino

I have a special place in my heart for nuns. Yes, I realize that nuns have a long history of committing really horrendous crimes against native peoples in particular and young kids in general (looking the other way while sexual violence goes on does not absolve a person from responsibility in the violence happening in the first place).

But at the same time, nuns also brave violence that priest are too cowardly to even imagine standing up to, work amongst the people in a way that priests are often too “godly” to, and have been killed more than once because they were creating community support for something that the church and the people in power wouldn’t be able to hold off if it became fully actualized. This work doesn’t dismiss or make less important the fact the way nuns have hurt and violated people–it just shows why I have a soft place in my heart for nuns when many may justifiably feel they don’t deserve it.

And then there’s these women:

Royal Berg, an Immigration attorney who is Catholic, contacted the sisters with the idea of praying outside the Broadview facility on Friday mornings.

…

Berg and the sisters started the ritual in January 2007. For Murphy, the sight of the detainees in handcuffs and ankle shackles recalled memories of victims she met at Su Casa.

“It’s demonic,” she said, her voice rising to a shout. “What is torture other than to reduce people to nothingness? That’s what torture is, and that’s going on here.”

Soon the sisters asked for permission to enter jails where detainees are held before reaching Broadview. After they encountered difficulty gaining access to the McHenry County Jail, where the majority of detainees are held, they joined forces with other clergy as well as immigrant advocates from the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant Refugee Rights and the Chicago New Sanctuary Alliance. Together they drafted the Access to Religious Ministry Act of 2008 and fought for its passage.

The sisters’ most memorable moment came in November 2008 during a trip to Springfield with a group to lobby for the bill. After being shuttled from secretary to secretary, they were finally led to the Senate floor and came face to face with Senate President Emil Jones Jr. (D-Chicago).

Murphy grabbed Jones by the arm and said forcefully, “You have the power to do this! You have the power to change things!”

Jones laughed uncomfortably, and Murphy said, “It’s not funny. You have the power to change people’s lives.”

On Nov. 30, the bill passed unanimously in both houses.

I read this article, and I admit, I teared up. Coming from a very harshly conservative area where churches are praying for the strength to “turn away” the masses that seek to destroy our good nation, I just felt grateful that somewhere out there, there are at least a few people who believe that no matter what sin detainees have committed, they are still human beings entitled to love and compassion and human connection. On many levels, I am physically incapable of giving certain people that kind of blessed love (see: previous post), but that doesn’t mean that I don’t think somebody somewhere who CAN give that kind of love shouldn’t. In fact, I thank whatever god there is out there that even the worst of the most heinous people out there will be the recipients of such love.

Nuns are the reason why every once in a great while I still sort of identify as a Catholic. What these women are doing is the reason why I still occasionally believe in life.