San Antonio archbishop discusses his childhood in Mexico and why he won’t issue a Mass dispensation

San Antonio’s Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller spoke with EWTN News recently about a variety of topics: experiencing the persecution of the Church during his childhood in Mexico, his thoughts on recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) measures in his archdiocese and whether he will issue a Mass dispensation to those afraid of immigration enforcement, and his recent appointment of a new president and CEO of Catholic Charities.

The archbishop said that unlike some of his brother bishops throughout the country, he will not be giving a dispensation from attending Mass to those who fear deportation.

“To tell people not to come to the sacramental life of the Church, and the community? No, I would not,” he said, expressing his hope that ICE officials will focus their energy on violent criminals and leave alone immigrants, many of whom “were in the process legally” and who are “hardworking.”

“I believe in a country of laws, and of order, and I will not lose my hope that it will come to its senses in the midst of this persecution,” he said.

“I am so surprised we haven’t learned” from history, he said, and “how eventually all those systems fall. We’re such a great nation, yet we have not learned the consequences of the suffering of innocent people.”

Instead of dispensing the Mass obligation, the prelate said he wants to “reach out to those who are hidden. That’s our work. We will go and find them in their homes, bring catechists and Communion to their homes,” he said.

In addition to addressing their spiritual needs, “if they need food, clothing, medication, services the government isn’t giving to them; because they are human beings, we will do all that we can … for the elderly, those without insurance, we are going to do something, in limited ways. It would be helpful if the government was helping, but if they don’t, we’ll find other ways.”

He lamented that the administration has halted legal immigration programs such as temporary protected status (TPS), effectively creating illegal immigrants of people who were “in the process legally.”

“That is not acceptable. We have to be the voice of the voiceless. We don’t have to enter into the cycle of fear that has been created because of the present system. We have to be free because Jesus set us free.”

García-Siller said he understands the United States’ obligation to protect its borders and remove “truly proved” criminals because “no one wants to live with a criminal next door.”

However, he said, “what’s been happening is so horrible. I’ve seen it in other tyrannical systems.”

He recalled his childhood in 1960s Mexico, where the 1917 Constitution and subsequent federal laws that led to the Cristero War in 1926 still prohibited the Catholic Church from owning property, Catholic priests from wearing clerical attire, and the establishment of religious orders, among other prohibitions.

“I myself experienced the consequences of the oppression of the Catholic Church in Mexico because of tyrant leaders,” he said. “In school, we couldn’t call the teachers, who were nuns, ‘sisters,’ because of the government. Catholic textbooks were prohibited.”

“I, as a member of the clergy, did not have the right to vote, to earn a salary, to own property, or to receive an inheritance from my parents,” he continued.

In 1992, after two visits to Mexico by Pope John Paul II, in 1979 and 1990, Mexico’s then-president Carlos Salinas de Gortari reformed the constitution and removed state supremacy over the Church in many areas.

He said the persecution he experienced during his childhood in Mexico and as a priest there before 1992 was “very small” compared with what immigrants are experiencing here.

The current immigration situation is “grotesque, infuriating, and depriving people of their human dignity,” the archbishop continued. “The repression is so clear.”

New head of Catholic Charities San Antonio

At a press conference last week, García-Siller announced that the new head of Catholic Charities San Antonio is Ada Saenz, the current CEO of the Boys and Girls Clubs of San Antonio.

“I’m incredibly grateful that Ada is living out her faith and will be putting her professional talents to use by serving the marginalized and those experiencing poverty on behalf of the Catholic Church,” he said.

García-Siller told EWTN News that under Saenz’s leadership, “Catholic Charities can think creatively about how to support the most impoverished, the most in need, the most persecuted in the country, which includes immigrants.”

Source: https://www.ewtnnews.com/world/us/san-antonio-s-archbishop-tells-ewtn-news-about-his-youth-and-why-he-won-t-issue-mass