Leaders of a Catholic church near Boston kept a Nativity display with an anti-ICE message in place on Monday, defying an order from the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston to remove it.
The display, outside St. Susanna Parish in Dedham, Mass., includes the traditional shepherds, sheep and wise men gathered around a hay-filled manger. But Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus are missing, replaced by a sign reading “ICE WAS HERE” in bold blue letters.
“The Holy Family is safe in the Sanctuary of our Church,” adds a smaller note inside the Nativity scene, which is protected by a plastic shield. “If you see ICE please call LUCE.” The display includes a phone number for LUCE, an immigrant advocacy group, which tracks the activity of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Massachusetts.
ICE began a major immigration enforcement campaign in the Boston area in September, the forefront of a wave of similar efforts in other major cities.
Speaking to reporters late Monday outside the brick church, the Rev. Stephen Josoma said the intent of the display was to “evoke dialogue,” not cause a furor. He said parish leaders would confer with leaders of the archdiocese before making a final decision on its fate.
But, he added, “that some do not agree with our display does not render it sacrilegious.”
Last week, the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston told the parish to take down the signage in its Nativity display. In a statement, archdiocesan leaders said that churchgoers “have the right to expect that they will encounter genuine opportunities for prayer and Catholic worship — not divisive political messaging.”
That statement also cited church norms prohibiting “the use of sacred objects for any purpose other than the devotion of God’s people.”
Todd Lyons, the acting director of ICE, added his own criticism in recent days, telling The Boston Herald that the Nativity scene was “absolutely abhorrent” and part of “a dangerous narrative” responsible for a sharp increase in assaults on ICE officers.
Some members and supporters of the Dedham parish said they were confused by the demand from the archdiocese, which came one month after a rare and nearly unanimous statement from U.S. Catholic bishops condemning the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement campaign.
“We are saddened by the state of contemporary debate and the vilification of immigrants,” the November statement from the bishops said. “We are concerned about the conditions in detention centers and the lack of access to pastoral care. We lament that some immigrants in the United States have arbitrarily lost their legal status.”
The display at St. Susanna, on a busy street in a well-off suburb south of Boston, is the latest in a series of nontraditional Nativity scenes staged by the parish. A version in 2018 sparked similar controversy for depicting the infant Jesus in a cage, a scene church leaders said was a reflection on immigration policy at that time. A year later, the parish focused on climate change, showing some of the figures partly submerged in water.
Other politically themed Nativity scenes have popped up around the country this Christmas season, including one at a church in Evanston, Ill., that includes a baby Jesus figure with his hands bound by zip ties. In another Nativity scene near Chicago, Mary, Joseph and Jesus are missing, with a sign telling viewers that “Due to ICE activity in our community, the Holy Family is in hiding.”
Catholics in Massachusetts tend to be more liberal than church members elsewhere, and many have defended the Dedham parish. On the church’s Facebook page, reaction to the Nativity scene was split. Some commenters thanked the congregation for “speaking truth to power,” while others offered harsh judgments, including one assertion that “the devil has infiltrated the church.”
“How shameful to make a mockery of Christ’s birth,” one observer wrote.
“You are on the right side of history,” countered another.
“I wish I lived close enough to attend this church,” one woman lamented.
Elizabeth Doris-Gustin, 67, a longtime neighbor of the parish who attends an Episcopal church, said she and many of her neighbors look forward to the Christmas displays at St. Susanna every year.
“You might not agree with everything, but it makes you think,” she said. “I wish a few more churches would be this bold.”
She hopes the parish will keep this year’s display, she said. “I’m going to say a little prayer that they keep it up.”
Jenna Russell is the lead reporter covering New England for The Times. She is based near Boston.
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