Jorge Esteves and his wife, Catherine Ariza, help their 4-year-old son, Emilio, try on a donated pair of shoes at the parish hall of St. Peter Church on Capitol Hill in Washington Aug. 5, 2022.For decades, St. Peter’s Catholic Church on Capitol Hill has been known for providing hospitality in its parish hall to people arriving on buses in Washington for the annual March for Life.
Instead of coffee cups and boxes of doughnuts lining the tables, the parish hall tables were covered with stacks of diapers, towels, toiletries, shoes, clothes, backpacks, toys and stuffed animals donated by parishioners, friends of the parish, and people in the neighborhood. Some parish volunteers have driven the migrants to Union Station to catch a bus or train. Parishioners also donated $4,689 to a special collection July 31 to support the outreach.
He thought St. Peter’s large, air-conditioned parish hall would be a good location for offering that hospitality, and partnering with SAMU, the parish welcomed the first bus a week after he had this discussion. Those family reunifications are “beautiful moments,” said Tatiana Laborde, the managing director of SAMU First Response in Washington.
Laborde said many of the migrants arriving on recent buses are originally from Venezuela, Colombia, Cuba and Nicaragua. Some are fleeing violence, the political situations or the economic crises. Jorge Esteves, his wife, Catherine Ariza, and their children Emilio, 4, and Tiogo, 1, from Colombia, were among the families finding respite at the parish that afternoon. Emilio had a new Spider-Man backpack and held onto trucks that he picked up at the toy table.
The priest said most of the migrants stopping at the parish are Catholic. “Regardless of their faith background … I can give them a blessing,” he said. Praying with the migrants has been a special experience for him, he added.
Malaysia Latest News, Malaysia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Source: heraldmalaysia - 🏆 24. / 51 Read more »
Source: heraldmalaysia - 🏆 24. / 51 Read more »
Source: heraldmalaysia - 🏆 24. / 51 Read more »
Source: heraldmalaysia - 🏆 24. / 51 Read more »
Source: heraldmalaysia - 🏆 24. / 51 Read more »
Source: heraldmalaysia - 🏆 24. / 51 Read more »