Young U.S., Mexican Catholics find unity at a retreat on the border

Published: 2007-10-30

NOGALES, Mexico (CNS) -- The teens and young adults who filed off buses for Mass along the U.S.-Mexico border Oct. 21 confronted the wall that separates the two countries. While others see division, they saw unity. The 100 or so young Catholics, who came together in Nogales for an educational retreat Oct. 19-21 at Casa Misericordia, saw artists' renderings of hope and fear painted on the border barrier. One mural depicted an immigrant caught by a Border Patrol agent while illegally crossing the border. Above the image, someone had written in Spanish, "Live to be free. Die to stop being a slave." Other metallic images, called "milagros," hung from the wall: caricatures of hands, coyotes, skulls and dollar signs. The teens and young adults, from the Phoenix and Tucson, Ariz., dioceses and the Archdiocese of Hermosillo saw these images in a different light after they spent time together. The weekend experience, which grew out a partnership between the three dioceses and Catholic Relief Services called "Diocese Without Borders," helped Catholics from the United States and Mexico get to know each other. "You could feel the excitement. You could tell they wanted to be there," said Jose Robles, director of Hispanic ministry for the Diocese of Phoenix. "They were showing a lot of respect for each other."

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