Faith leaders come together for Utah immigrants

Marie Mischel

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SALT LAKE CITY - United by a common faith tradition that calls for welcoming the stranger, six religious leaders gathered at the altar of the Cathedral of the Madeleine on March 3 to pray for Utah immigrants as the state Legislature deliberated several pieces of legislation dealing with immigration issues.

Present were the Most Rev. John C. Wester, Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City; Alan Bachman, chairman of the Interfaith Roundtable and a member of the Jewish faith; the Right Rev. Scott B. Hayashi, Episcopal Bishop of Utah; Pastor Corey J. Hodges of the New Pilgrim Baptist Church; Pastor Steve Klemz of the Zion Lutheran Church; and Imam Muhammed S. Mehter of the Khadeeja Mosque, Islamic Society of Greater Salt Lake City.

"As we gather here tonight in prayer for our immigrant brothers and sisters, we stand in God's presence aware that all of us are on a journey toward the fullness of God's kingdom," Bishop Wester said. "In all of our traditions of faith, we acknowledge that God cares for us and goes beyond the borders of our finiteness in order to gather us into his infinite love. We are called to treat one another as God has first treated us. And yet quite often we feel powerless, and so we come here tonight in humility before our loving God, asking God to be with our immigrants, especially when they are afraid, as we seek to journey with them and to support them."

As with the New Testament parable of the Good Samaritan, the Old Testament also commands "to love the stranger, because at one time we were strangers," Mr. Bachman said. "We must stop the chain of people treating other people like strangers and learn to love people that may be different from ourselves. We want Utah to be a state where no one ever has to know what it feels like to be a stranger."

The Quran also calls the faithful to be just and kind in the manner in which they make decisions, Imam Mehter said, adding that God wants us to be kind and help one another "so that we can promote every type of good."

The prayer service attracted a capacity crowd to the cathedral. Among those who attended was Rep. Rebecca Chavez-Houck, who represents District 24, the area around the cathedral.

"I needed a bit of sanctuary myself tonight, so it was good to gather here," Chavez-Houck said. "I think it meant a lot to all of the families that are here. Especially when there is so much negative rhetoric that is communicated from our civic leaders, it's good for them to hear from others in the community who surround them and hold them in their prayers and care about them."

Among the immigrants who attended the service were Araceli Hernández and her family, who have lived in Utah for 13 years. "We're not bad people; we're not thieves," Hernández said. "We came here to pray because we want them to let us work."

In an interview after the service, Bishop Hayashi said he accepted the invitation to participate because "I do believe that it's important for the faith leaders to stand together on a basic human right sort of issue. If we can't stand together, then what evidence do we give that God is about love? By doing this, we show those who need hope that we are people of hope, and, hopefully, we provide a glimmer of hope to those people."

Bishop Wester said it was good to see the community come out for the gathering. "People, I think, identify this as a real human issue. They have gathered to pray for people, to say ?It's time for us to be more compassionate. True, we've got a problem, but as we work to solve the problem, in the meantime, let's be good to one another and ask for God's help."