ICE acting director slams Massachusetts church’s ‘ICE was here’ Nativity scene

ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons and the Archdiocese of Boston are calling for the removal of an “ICE was here” sign placed on the Nativity scene of a Massachusetts church.

“Activist pastor Stephen Josoma’s actions are absolutely disgusting and add to the dangerous narrative responsible for a more than 1,150% increase in attacks against ICE officers,” Lyons said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

St. Paul in Dedham, a suburb of Boston. The Nativity scene in Susanna County shows an empty manger with a sign reading “ICE was here” and contact information for a group that monitors immigration enforcement in Massachusetts.

St. The Rev. Stephen Josoma, pastor of Susanna, said the church’s peace and justice group holds a demonstration every year. “What would it be like if the Messiah were born in the context of today’s world, what would he face,” Josoma told Fox News.

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Josoma calls the Nativity scene “religious art” and shared with Fox News Digital that it was intended to “evoke emotions in people.”

“It needs to deeply affect people, it needs to move people, it needs to change people,” Josoma said. “So if this evokes a strong reaction, it might be good to take a look at it.”

Lyons added that Josoma “is notorious for using his pulpit to advance his activist agenda and has now attracted the attention of the Archdiocese of Boston, which has publicly condemned his latest political stunt.” “On behalf of ICE and our law enforcement professionals in Massachusetts (many of whom are Catholic and first-generation Americans), I applaud the Catholic Church and the Archdiocese for taking a stand against such a dangerous and extremist narrative.”

Terrence Donilon, the archdiocese’s Secretary of Communications and Public Affairs, told Fox News Digital that the sign was a “divisive political message” and called for its removal.

“God’s people have the right to expect that when they come to church, they encounter real opportunities for prayer and Catholic worship, not divisive political messages,” he wrote.

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A Nativity scene from a church outside Boston has sparked controversy. (WFXT)

The statement also stated that the church’s norms “prohibit” the use of sacred objects for any purpose other than “the devotion of God’s people.”

“The Parish of St. Susanna has neither requested nor received permission from the Archdiocese to depart from this canonical norm or to place a politically divisive display outside the church,” Donilon wrote. “The display must be removed and the manger restored to its original sacred purpose.”

Josoma has used controversial Nativity scenes in the past. He used them to send messages about gun control, climate change, and also reportedly placed Baby Jesus in a separate cage from his parents during Trump’s first presidency in 2018.

Other churches across the country have also used Nativity scenes to criticize ICE and highlight immigration issues.

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Terrence Donilon, the archdiocese’s Secretary of Communications and Public Affairs, told Fox News Digital that the sign was a “divisive political message” and called for its removal. (Pascal Deloche/Godong/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

A manger scene was seen in a church in Illinois. baby jesus hands zippered gas masks together and Joseph and Mary.

Lake Street Church of Evanston said the scene “reimagines the nativity as a scene of forced family separation and draws direct parallels between the Holy Family’s refugee experience and contemporary immigrant detention practices.”

Fox News Digital’s Olivia Palombo contributed to this report.