ST. LOUIS — The Archdiocese of St. Louis cracked down on its Immigration Task Force following a webinar in which panelists appeared critical of the Trump administration’s handling of refugees.
Marie Kenyon, who oversees human rights issues for the archdiocese as director of the Peace and Justice Commission, also was put on leave over the matter. She couldn’t be reached for comment Friday.
Church officials said they knew nothing of the webinar before the archdiocese recently hosted the program on Facebook, the first in a series titled, “Immigration and the 2020 Election: Education and Action for People of Faith.†They said the content pushed the limits of a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization and that the message didn’t fully represent Roman Catholic teaching.
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“The church doesn’t necessarily disagree with some of what they were sharing, but their opinions are their own and are not fully accurate representations of teachings of the archdiocese on immigration,†said Peter Frangie, spokesman for the archdiocese, which oversees the Catholic experience in St. Louis and 10 counties in eastern Missouri.
“I am not going to do a line item on it,†Frangie said of the specific passages, adding: “The proper policy and procedures regarding the hosting of these webinars were not followed.â€
According to a Post-Dispatch review of the , participants pray for justice and study immigration trends. While political parties and candidates weren’t explicitly endorsed, analysis came off as critical of the Trump administration, as it relates to refugees.
Naomi Steinberg, of , a refugee protection organization based in Silver Spring, Maryland, said in the webinar that the United States has fallen from being the global leader of refugee resettlement, which has a ripple effect across the globe.
“For us, this is not about supporting any candidate over any other,†Steinberg said. “The facts really do speak for themselves. Put quite simply, the U.S. refugee protection systems will not be able to withstand additional years of relentless attacks.â€
Ken Schmitt, an immigration attorney from south St. Louis County, reported approval rates for asylum seekers at immigration courts across the country have dropped from 48% in 2015 to 26% in 2020, and from 36% to 4.5%, respectively, at the nearest immigration court in Kansas City. He explained why he thought leadership at several federal agencies drove the precipitous drop.
“This is what we are up against,†he said, adding with a smile that he’d grown out his facial hair in protest of the current administration.
Alyssa Banford, director of civic engagement at the , asked viewers to let compassion lead their vote at election time.
“Human rights should not be a political discussion,†she said. “Every human being deserves safety, a home, opportunities, the ability to live without the fear of persecution.â€
Sara John, program coordinator for the , brought attention to immigration policies that turn desperate migrants away at the southern border or force them into deadly crossing points.
“Our political system is actively perpetrating harm by separating families, criminalizing asylum seekers, immigrants and all communities of color,†she said. “Our silence makes us accomplices to these inhumane polices. So help us speak up and demand change. We are called to denounce injustice.â€
Throughout her closing, she paused at times as participants prayed this together: “Give us the courage to stand up for justice.â€
Everyone watching didn’t join in.
, a Catholic website that leans traditional, wrote a scathing online story. It issued an action alert calling on Catholics to immediately contact St. Louis Archbishop Mitchell Rozanski to “stop this diabolical campaign to elect pro-abortion†candidates such as Joe Biden, who is Catholic.
The alert also takes aim at the Right Rev. Deon Johnson, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Missouri, who, Church Militant said, “announced his homosexual marriage†during the opening prayer of the webinar.
Frangie, spokesman for the archdiocese, said Church Militant didn’t influence the decisions that were made to take action against the task force.
“The wheels were already set in motion,†he said. “The archbishop and his leadership team were already reviewing this webinar.â€
On its website Friday, Church Militant ‘s move to defeat “the liberal agenda.â€
Frangie said the archdiocese and the archbishop, who spoke in Spanish during part of his installation ceremony, “remain fully committed to our immigrant brothers and sisters.â€
He said the work of the Immigration Task Force will continue but with more oversight.
