Please Follow us on Gab, Minds, Telegram, Rumble, Gettr, Truth Social, Twitter
The Archdiocese of Boston has demanded that St. Susanna Parish in Dedham, Massachusetts, remove its controversial nativity scene in which the Holy Family – Mary, Joseph, and the infant Jesus – have been replaced with a sign that reads “ICE was here.”
According to CBS News Boston, the Archdiocese, under Archbishop Richard Henning, condemned the display, asserting that the parish was using a special prayerful period as an opportunity to highlight a political agenda.
“The people of God have the right to expect that, when they come to church, they will encounter genuine opportunities for prayer and Catholic worship – not divisive political messaging,” the Archdiocese asserted. “The Church’s norms prohibit the use of sacred objects for any purpose other than the devotion of God’s people. This includes images of the Christ Child in the manger, which are to be used solely to foster faith and devotion.”
“Regarding the recent incident, St. Susanna Parish neither requested nor received permission from the Archdiocese to depart from this canonical norm or to place a politically divisive display outside the church,” the statement continued. “The display should be removed, and the manger restored to its proper sacred purpose.”
ABC affiliate WCVB5, however, reported Monday that Rev. Stephen Josoma and the parish council of St. Susanna say their political nativity scene will remain as they wait “for an opportunity of dialogue and clarity with Bishop Henning before reaching any final decisions.”
As observed in the news report, the statement from Josoma and the parish council also took the opportunity to disparage President Donald Trump and blame any divisiveness caused by its decision to present the display as created by “the changing, unjust policies and laws of the current US Administration, not emanating from a nativity display outside a church in Dedham.”
“We believe our position and practice to be faithful to the Gospel and Catholic teaching, especially as recently put forth by the Catholic bishops of the United States, including our own Archbishop Henning, as well as Pope Leo,” claim Josoma and the parish council, referencing a statement agreed to in November by most of the U.S. Catholic bishops.
In that statement, the bishops condemned what they called the Trump administration’s “indiscriminate mass deportation of people” in the country illegally.
As Lumen-News reported, many faithful Catholics objected to the bishops’ statement, asserting that it served to confuse both Catholics and non-Catholics alike about what the Church actually believes.
St. Susanna members continued to defend their move by comparing their “ICE was here” display to others presented at the Vatican that draw attention to “social issues” and “contemporary life.”
“Our hope was to similarly evoke dialogue around an issue that is at the heart of contemporary life,” the statement continued. “That some do not agree with our message does not render our display sacrilegious or is the cause of any ‘scandal’ to the faithful.”
According to Fox News Digital, Josoma said the parish’s peace and justice group organized the “ICE was here” scene.
Referring to the display as “religious art,” the priest said the intention is to “evoke emotions in people.”
“It’s supposed to affect people deeply, it’s supposed to move people, it’s supposed to change people,” Josoma said. “So, if this evokes a strong reaction, it’s maybe good to take a look at that.”
Nevertheless, in an opinion piece Monday at NewBostonPost, Patrick J. Walsh, a member of the 2016 Trump campaign’s National Catholic Advisory Group, found it “sad” that “someone would try to use the birth of our Lord in a manger for purposes of political propaganda.”
Josoma, Walsh wrote, “turned the manger into a political prop to protest against President Donald Trump, who is doing his job protecting American citizens from immigrants who enter our country illegally and are responsible for many crimes.”
He added that Josoma “seems more interested in climate change and gun control and in seeking the praise of the world rather than in the salvation of souls.”
“In thinking about this sacrilege against the Nativity of Our Lord, I sadly mused that in our so-called progressive age it is improbable that Jesus would have been permitted to be born at all,” Walsh suggested. “Mary’s pregnancy, in poor circumstances, and with the father unknown, would have been an obvious case for an abortion. Her talk of having conceived as a result of the intervention of the Holy Ghost would have pointed to the need for psychiatric treatment, and would have made the case for terminating her pregnancy even stronger.”
“But Christ was born, and our journey through time continues, with hope,” he observed.
Stay updated with the latest in the Constitution State with The CT Centinal
