Those separated from their families through immigration often feel like they are “in another world,” said Father Silvio J. Fonseca Martinez during a special liturgy of Spiritual Accompaniment for Separated Families.
More than 50 individuals, including families with children, gathered for the bilingual liturgy, celebrated Aug. 30 at St. Peter the Apostle Church, 5431 Johnsontown Road.
“We feel like we are in another world. We hear a different language, and sometimes we are even rejected by our own patriots and those who may consider us invaders of their country,” said Father Fonseca Martinez, who serves as associate pastor of Holy Spirit Church in Jamestown, Ky., and of Good Shepherd and Holy Redeemer churches in Greensburg, Ky.
In the homily, Father Fonseca Martinez, a priest who was exiled from his native country of Nicaragua, spoke about the “experience of pain, suffering” for those who are separated from their families.
“With immigration, whether voluntary or forced, the human being feels stripped in the depths of his being — of the very nature of a person, of his loved ones, of his customs, and of the land where he was born. We feel like we are in another world.”
— Father Silvio J. Fonseca Martinez
He gave the homily in Spanish and, afterward, Deacon Stephen Bowling delivered an English translation of the homily.
“With immigration, whether voluntary or forced, the human being feels stripped in the depths of his being — of the very nature of a person, of his loved ones, of his customs, and of the land where he was born.”
But for individuals with faith, this experience becomes part of their “story of salvation,” he noted.
“At the same time that we ask God, ‘Why are we living in this drama?’ we invoke his comfort and protection,” he said.
God responds by giving us a “new family” through the Catholic Church, he said.
“God has given to us all a new family in which we are called to be in solidarity,” which gives us “hope — to live and to look towards the future,” he said.
Among the congregation were many who came in solidarity with families experiencing separation due to immigration, estrangement or other factors.
Beth Rodriguez, a high-school parishioner of St. Peter the Apostle, attended the Mass alongside a few other youth from the parish.
They came to support those experiencing family separation, she said in an interview following the Mass.
“We wanted to give support to others who were separated from their own family,” she said.
Similarly, Araceli Cortes, a parishioner of St. Rita Church, said she attended the Mass out of support.
She’s grateful to still have her four children at home, including her nine-year-old son, who also attended the Mass, she said.
“I was explaining to him [her son] that not everybody has a family like this,” she said. “There’s people that need our help and need comfort and need a family.”
Cortes was also interested in hearing about Father Fonseca Martinez’s experience of religious persecution, which he shared during a gathering following the Mass.
Father Fonseca Martinez was arrested in the sacristy of Santa Faz Church, in his Diocese of Managua, Nicaragua, after celebrating Mass in December 2023. He stayed for two weeks in a maximum security prison in Nicaragua before being exiled to Rome alongside 15 priests, two bishops and two seminarians from Nicaragua in January 2024. His brother, nieces and nephews remain in Nicaragua.
