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Prophetic Responses to
ICE: Mangers With a Message & a Non-Sentimental Christmas By Matthew Fox 12/15/2025 |
In a Nativity scene at St. Susanna Roman Catholic Parish in Dedham, Massachusetts, the Christ child is missing this Christmas. So too are Mary and Joseph. Instead, there sits a hand-painted sign: “ICE was here.” Another sign reads: “The Holy Family is safe in the
Sanctuary of our Church. If you see ICE please call (627) 370-5023” (an asylum hotline). A sign over the emptied creche reads: “Peace On Earth?” |
A parallel reminder is occurring outside Lake Street Church in Evanston, Illinois, near Chicago, where Mary stands near the Nativity scene wearing a plastic gas mask and flanked by Roman soldiers in vests labeled “ICE.” The baby Jesus is zip-tied and wrapped in a silver emergency blanket. At another Chicago suburb church located near an immigration and Customs Enforcement facility where protesters have frequently amassed, a sign at the manger reads: “Due to ICE activity in our |
How to call the asylum hotline. Photo by Fr. Stephen Josoma of St. Susanna Parish in Dedham, MA. Used with permission. |
community the Holy Family is in hiding.” In the month of September alone, over 2,000 people were arrested in Illinois and Massachusetts. Clearly the communities are responding in ways that are familiar to those who follow the Bible: Awakening imagination through art and symbols and applying the
stories to today’s evil goings-on, is always part of a prophetic action. As Aquinas taught, imaginative vision is required of the prophet—Jesus had those gifts, as do all who act prophetically. The prophet appeals to society’s moral imagination. Negative responses have ensued. The Boston Archbishop ordered the display at
St. Susanna to be taken down, but the pastor, Father Steve Josoma, held a parish council and the parishioners voted to keep it up. |
Boston Archdiocese clashes with Dedham church over “ICE was here” sign. Video by CBS
Boston. | Conservative Catholic activists called the scene “a grave scandal for Catholics.” Fr. Josama notes that the
purpose of the display is to move “beyond static traditional figures and evoke emotion and dialogue” in response to the fear many parishioners face, as federal forces spread anxiety, arresting |
undocumented immigrants and longtime legal residents. The United Methodist church in Evanston put up a sign, “We hold this space to honor and remember all the victims of immigration enforcement terror.” St. Susanna’s Parish has supported ten refugee families since 2019, and worked alongside the federal government to do so. “It’s not a stunt. We work on a daily basis with refugees…..Look at the Gospel just before Christ was executed—that was political. We were always taught: when you’re unsure, ask, ‘What would Christ do?’ Now we’re doing that,” commented Phil Mandeville, a member of the
Parish Council who coordinates a multi-church refugee support committee. In Evanston, volunteers showed up from a nearby synagogue and stood outside during the church services “to help worshippers feel safe.” Back in Massachusetts, one Catholic objector said that “we should speak to spiritual matters, not matters of political division.” But one former Catholic schoolteacher who drove an hour to show his support, said: “The Archdiocese says, ‘Oh no, that goes against our tradition.’ Well. We’re living in times that are totally abnormal. We can’t just proceed as normal. If we’re following the
scriptures of Jesus, then we have to recognize that these ICE raids, and all of these terrible things going on, are totally against that.” |
Mahatma Gandhi had an opinion on these matters. He said: “Those who say religion has nothing to do with politics do not know what religion means.” And he frequently complained about “a Christianity without Christ.” Meanwhile, if you take a good look at the Christian story, it includes Joseph ushering his
family out of the country to escape bad guy Herod who was a politician par excellence. And of course it also includes the death and torture of Jesus by the empire about 30 years later. So it seems that religion and politics do indeed intersect. |
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Both Christian Nationalist Movement and the MAGA movement claim to be Christian, so that sounds sort of like politics and religion mixing, albeit of a perverse version of Christ. Sort of antichrist it would seem. Ann Douglas defines sentimentalism as
“rancid political consciousness.” May this be a non-sentimental Christmas for all—one that celebrates the coming of Justice and authentic Peace, of feeding the hungry and welcoming the stranger. Sort of what Jesus stood for and why he died. |
Leah Willingham and Laura Bargfeld, “Church Nativity scenes add zip ties, gas masks and ICE to protest immigration raids,” Associated Press, December 12, 2025. See also Fr. Stephen Josoma, “‘ICE was here’ at the manger,” Pax Christi USA, December 3, 2025.
Banner image: An ICE-raided crèche. Photo by Fr. Stephen Josoma of St. Susanna Parish in Dedham, MA. Used with permission. |
Queries for Contemplation Do you see politics in the Christian story of the Nativity as well as in
Jesus’ teachings? And do you recognize those teachings as especially meaningful in this time of whipping up of hatred and hysteria toward immigrants and other minorities by certain political leaders? |
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