CHARLOTTE, N.C. OSV News – On a typical Sunday at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, seats fill quickly and Masses are standing room only.
But Sunday, Nov. 16, was different: Attendance at the diocese’s largest Hispanic parish dropped by more than 50%, a stark sign of growing fear amid recent immigration-related arrests that have left some businesses closed and streets quiet across parts of the Queen City.
While no immigration actions have occurred at the Diocese of Charlotte’s Churches or schools, leaders are reassuring families, scaling back some activities, and adjusting day by day to meet community needs.
U.S. Border Patrol agents arrested more than 200 people in Charlotte between Nov. 15 and 17 during a federal immigration operation dubbed “Charlotte’s Web.”
The operation is the latest step of the Trump administration’s strategy of putting federal immigration enforcement agents at street level in some of America’s largest and most progressive cities.
Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a Nov. 15 statement that they are “surging law enforcement to Charlotte to ensure Americans are safe and public safety threats are removed.”
While federal authorities said they are targeting unauthorized migrants with criminal records, many Hispanic Catholics in Charlotte say they are living in fear of being arbitrarily swept up in the operation – regardless of their documentation status. They are quick to cite news reports elsewhere of citizens without criminal histories being arrested and families being torn apart.
“I have had parishioners who are documented tell me they are living with anxiety at this time,” said Father José Gregorio García Rubio, one of three Vincentian priests who serve Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish. “Even for me as a legally documented person, I don’t want to put myself out there too much.”
On Sunday, Our Lady of Guadalupe leaders decided to cancel scheduled activities for the week including their food pantry, hold faith formation classes virtually and remind people about their livestreamed Masses.
Vincentian Father Bruce Krause said parishioners have become increasingly tense over the past few months, but this week’s Border Patrol activity in the city has prompted many to stay at home.
“It’s an eerie feeling, like during the COVID-19 pandemic,” Father Krause said. “Yet I believe the anxiety is much higher than it was before.”
One key program affected was the Casa Marillac food pantry, which typically serves hundreds of families every Wednesday with support from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department and Second Harvest Food Bank. The parish is now exploring alternative ways to continue distributing food to those in need.
“I’ve cried all day thinking about someone in need not being able to receive the food they need,” pantry organizer Lupita Nava told the Catholic News Herald, Chalotte’s diocesan news outlet.
Our Lady of Guadalupe is not the only parish that has seen impacts from the federal immigration operation.
Our Lady of the Assumption Parish saw a 50% decline in attendance across its Spanish Masses over the Nov. 15-16 weekend. Father José Enrique González-Gaytan, pastor, said the parish is offering a livestreamed Mass for those afraid to come to Church.
Attendance at St. John Neumann Parish’s two Spanish Masses that weekend “was way down,” said Father John Starczewski, pastor. The weekend Hispanic food sale also struggled after some volunteers did not show up. Father Starczewski has shifted meetings and programs to video calls for now, responding to the current anxiety and working to reassure parishioners.
“My job is to serve them in the Church and bring them the God of salvation,” he said. “Right now, I can only play it by ear and see what is going on, and then respond and do what I can do. We just want to give them that encouragement that they are not alone.”
Just outside Mecklenburg County in Concord, attendance at St. James the Greater Parish’s Spanish Mass also fell by about 50% last weekend, to roughly 500 people. In response to some parishioners’ concerns, the parish canceled this week’s faith formation and OCIA classes.
“We keep following the direction of the bishop to be peaceful and calm … but people are in fear,” said Gustavo Gallo, the parish’s faith formation director.
Despite the concerns, Vincentian Father Marvin Navas, Our Lady of Guadalupe’s pastor, is urging parishioners to find comfort in their faith.
“We must be careful not to cause alarm and be patient as to not spread misinformation,” Father Navas said. Feeling forced to stay away from Church and the sacraments feels like a persecution, he said.
The Border Patrol activity in Charlotte came a few days after the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a “special pastoral message on immigration” Nov. 12 that voiced dismay over immigration enforcement policies and practices that disregard basic human dignity.
Charlotte Bishop Michael T. Martin supported the message and also urged everyone to consider their views on immigration through the lens of Church teaching.
“Ask yourself if your political views are forming your religious beliefs or if your religious beliefs are forming your political views,” he said. “Jesus calls us to the latter.”
On Nov. 18, in response to the federal immigration operation in Charlotte, Bishop Martin went further – sharing a special message to the people of the Diocese of Charlotte, calling on them to pray, fast, reach out to those living in fear, and contact their elected representatives.
He repeated that message the next morning during a WBT Radio interview, moments after greeting Pope Leo XIV during his general audience in Rome. Bishop Martin said he thanked the Pope for his support of the U.S. bishops’ message.
Like others, the Pope recognizes “the sad reality” of the lack of immigration reform, Bishop Martin said.
“No one wants what’s going on right now,” he said. “We’re better than this. We can all figure this immigration dynamic out in a way that serves everyone.”
“If all we do is focus on this moment of enforcement, we will miss the moment,” he said. “We should really be talking about the broader issue of immigration reform.”
Regarding the Border Patrol’s activity in Charlotte, Bishop Martin said, “I see through the lens of Jesus. … How would Jesus be calling me to value the human dignity of the person that’s in front of me, regardless of their citizenship status?
“That to me, I think, is what all people ought to do, understanding that we live in a society where there are laws that need to be followed and processes that need to be carried out. At the same time, I think the fear that is being created in carrying out these policies has some very dramatic and problematic results.”
Brian Segovia and Lisa M. Geraci are content producers at the Catholic News Herald, news outlet of the Diocese of Charlotte. This story was first published in the Catholic News Herald and distributed in partnership with OSV News.
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