L.A. archbishop leads prayer for immigrants as students demonstrate

Los Angeles Archbishop José H. Gomez celebrated what he called a “Mass of Peace” at Our Lady of the Angels on Wednesday, pausing just before making a direct appeal to the Trump administration to roll back its aggressive immigration enforcement efforts as protesters gathered blocks away.

“We stand together with all those who pray for peace in our country and especially those who pray for immigrants in our country,” Gomez said at the podium Wednesday afternoon.

“We pray today especially for our government leaders, law enforcement, and those protesting and defending immigrant families in this fight in Los Angeles.”

As police helicopters monitored the demonstration nearby, the archbishop appealed to God to “reawaken the conscience of Americans.”

His remarks coincided with a student strike in which young protesters gathered at the Metropolitan Detention Center about a mile away.

More than 500 students draped in banners and flags gathered at the intersection of Aliso and Los Angeles streets and marched to the prison, where a swarm of police stood behind yellow caution tape.

Robert F. Kennedy Community School freshman Kiro Perez held a sign above his pale green hair that read, “Mom and Dad work harder than the President.”

“I’m fighting for my father, my mother, my siblings and everyone else,” Perez said.

After working for more than a decade, his father’s green card application was approved less than two years ago, Perez said. He said he had been obsessively checking ICE activity for months and living in fear.

“I don’t want him to be afraid anymore,” Perez said

Los Angeles is the largest archdiocese in the United States and 3.8 million Catholics. The majority of believers are immigrants and the overwhelming majority are Latino. Gomez, who was born in Mexico, is the first Latino person to serve as archbishop of Los Angeles. Highest-ranking Latin bishop in the United Statesaccording to the church.

Despite a long-standing strategic agreement between the administration and the emerging conservative wing of American Catholicism, faith leaders are increasingly at odds with the president.

Archbishop José H. Gomez leads the mass Wednesday.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

“I don’t know if anyone is happy with what’s going on right now,” said Isaac Cuevas, the archdiocese’s senior director for life, justice and peace. “We shouldn’t be these kinds of people.”

The region’s Catholic institutions responded to last year’s aggressive raids with great charity; has reorganized many food warehouses around grocery delivery, directly serving communities many have identified as under siege.

But the political response was more muted. Some clergy joined the protests, but the church has largely avoided similar actions at the highest levels.

A nun makes her way to the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels on Wednesday.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

“This breaks my heart, because I’m an immigrant,” said Franciscan nun Lupita Sanchez, who attended mass Wednesday. “The only way we can help the world is by praying.”

Prayer was also at the center of Gomez’s message on Wednesday. But other Catholics were more critical.

“The clergy, the boots on the ground, have been there since Day One, not only doing charity work, but working for justice,” said Catholic activist Rosa Manriquez. “We now have a lot of bishops and cardinals showing up and being present, which is very important. As far as our archdiocese is concerned, not so much.”

Gomez is a longtime member of Opus Dei, a conservative Catholic movement with deep ties to the Trump administration.

Vice President J.D. Vance had surgery 2019 transformation filled with some of the group’s most prominent thinkers. The late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was also a member, and five of the nine sitting justices are conservative Catholics with ties to the group.

Members of the Catholic Church fill the cathedral.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Eric Tung, Trump’s newest appointee to the 9th Circuit, also converted under the influence of the movement.

“During the rise of this regime, our archbishop was president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops,” Manriquez said. “Their silence made this possible. You can’t argue with the statistics that show how many Catholics voted for this regime.”

In the 2024 elections, 1 in 5 of Trump voters identified as Catholic. Pew Research Center survey to create.

Pope Leo XIV, shown leading a mass in December, strongly condemned the Trump administration’s aggressive tactics.

(Chris McGrath/Getty Images)

Pope Leo XIV, who became bishop of Rome after the death of Pope Francis last spring, strongly condemned the administration’s aggressive tactics, calling them “extremely disrespectful.” Last fall, the powerful U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops overwhelminglyprivate message” Condemning militarized immigration enforcement and pleading for reform.

“Our immigrant brothers, we stand with you in your pain,” they wrote. “We oppose indiscriminate mass deportations of people.”

Times writer Christopher Buchanan contributed to this report.