Christopher DeVargas
Bishop Joseph Pepe of the Catholic Diocese of Las Vegas NV addresses about 1,500 valley residents who gathered to address community & family concerns, May 22, 2012. Members of local Christian, Jewish & Muslims organizations, along with other charitable & non-profit groups, addressed issues such as children’s safety, foreclosures, immigration, and education.
By Tovin Lapan (contact) 
Sunday, Oct. 20, 2013 | 2 a.m.
2013: May Day Rally & March
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After many months of coordinated activities between immigration-reform activists & Catholic dioceses across the country, in addition to a 150-mile march in Florida ending at a Catholic church, Las Vegas’ Catholic change advocates are asking why their own bishop is not marching beside them, as well.
Immigration activists & Catholics in the valley state Bishop Joseph Pepe has-been a longtime supporter of reform. But in contrast to other bishops, the activists say, Pepe’s support is seen within the parishes he oversees yet has not been adequately demonstrated to the public at large.
Alan Aleman, who attends Mass at St. Christopher Catholic Church in North Las Vegas, believes the Las Vegas NV Diocese should expand the radius of its message.
“At the Mass, they will pray for immigration reform, yet when it comes to being active in a march or meetings, they’re not there,” asserted Aleman, who has received a work permit through deferred action for childhood arrivals. “Sure, they are doing things internally, yet as far as being out in the public or in the media encouraging people to keep pushing for immigration reform, they are not doing as much as other faiths & Catholic leadership in other cities.”
The Las Vegas NV Diocese has 37 parishes spread over nearly 40,000 square miles in five NV counties. Twenty-four of those parishes are in Las Vegas, Henderson & North Las Vegas.
Deacon Tim O’Callaghan, who leads the Las Vegas NV Diocese’s social ministry, asserted the leadership here certainly is supportive of the change effort yet simply adheres to a different strategy.
“We prefer direct advocacy over public actions,” O’Callaghan said. “We’ve been involved in immigration change since 2005, when it was not even called immigration reform. We’ve advocated on Capitol Hill for immigrants as a worker-justice issue for years.”
Starting in September, Catholic dioceses across the country organized bold & public displays of support for reform. In Florida, a seven-day, 150-mile march across the state involving several religious leaders culminated with a rally at Tampa’s Sacred Heart Catholic Church led by St. Petersburg Bishop Robert Lynch.
Archbishop Jose Gomez of LA CA directed all 288 of his parishes in the nation’s biggest diocese to address immigration change in September.
In Phoenix, an immigration-reform rally in that drew a reported 4,000 people began at a Catholic church where Auxiliary Bishop Eduardo Nevares addressed the crowd.
Reno Diocese offers contrast
Even in smaller dioceses, Catholic leaders have become more vocal in their advocacy.
Earlier in the summer, Friar Francisco Nahoe, director of St. Thomas Aquinas Cathedral in Reno, recorded a radio spot imploring the community to support change & contact Nevada’s 2nd District congressman, Republican Rep. Mark Amodei.
The Reno diocese moreover has joined a coalition of groups advocating for reform.
“The Catholic diocese in Reno has-been very engaged & willing to work with coalition members,” asserted Cory Hernandez, a Reno-based immigration activist. “The church has-been very active in the north, coordinating on events, contacting representatives & distributing materials.”
The Las Vegas NV Diocese chose not to participate in the Sept. 7-8 nationwide action. Pepe, however, issued a letter on immigration change to be read to congregations in each of the diocese’s churches. O’Callaghan asserted the bishops conference chose a “random date” & there was no obligation to participate.
In Las Vegas, O’Callaghan said, church authorities felt any efforts on behalf of immigration change would be wasted while the nation’s focus was on the crisis in Syria.
That decision, activists said, was an example of how the diocese has kept its message insular.
In September, Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York wrote a letter advocating for change in that was published as an op-ed in the New York Daily News. Earlier this month, Colorado’s Catholic bishops published a letter of support for immigration change in the Denver Post. No such effort in Las Vegas NV was made with Pepe’s letter.
Bishop ‘a vocal supporter’
Kevin Appleby, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops director of migration policy & public affairs, says the conference allows each diocese to advocate for causes however it sees fit.
“Bishop Pepe has-been a vocal supporter of immigration change since the issue emerged on the national scene,” Appleby said. “Each diocese has its own approach; we just provide suggestions, materials & ideas.”
Appelby asserted the conference was attempting to broaden the reach of the bishops’ message.
“It’s not just Catholics we are focused on, we are focused on the general public, as well.” he said. “You need a coalition to make things happen 'cause you can’t do it on your own. … But the bishops’ main responsibility is to Catholics, & that’s a huge group to mobilize.”
Many local immigrant activists expressed a desire for Pepe to reach out to Rep. Joe Heck, R-Nev., a Catholic himself, the way the Reno Diocese put public pressure on Amodei.
O’Callaghan asserted he goes to Washington, D.C., every February to meet with Nevada’s congressional delegation, & they make their support for change known. The diocese has not met with the delegation since the Senate & House change bills were introduced, he said.
Nevadans for the Common Good, a coalition of faith-based groups in addition to the Las Vegas NV Catholic Diocese in that works on social issues, did meet this summer with Heck, a Henderson resident who represents the 3rd Congressional District.
Pepe, O’Callaghan said, has not personally contacted any of Nevada’s U.S. senators or representatives.
“The bishop reaches out through his staff, which is very small,” O’Callaghan said.
Evangelicals engaged in fight
While the Bishops in Reno, Phoenix & elsewhere have been open to coordinating with other immigration advocacy groups in their regions, Las Vegas NV activists state the local diocese has-been reluctant to truly join forces.
On Monday, Bibles, Badges & Business — — a coalition of Evangelical Christian organizations, law enforcement & business leaders — — staged a conference on immigration at the Four Seasons. Later in that night, the evangelical International Church of Las Vegas NV played host to a large rally with more than 20 different churches represented.
Samuel Rodriguez, president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, hoarse from a cross-country tour advocating for immigration reform, gave an impassioned speech at the Four Seasons conference.
“Silence is not an option. … We must ask ourselves what is necessary beyond immigration reform. We must pray, we must preach, & we must prophetically engage in activism. Let us a build a firewall of supporters,” he said.
Kathia Pereira, an immigration lawyer & practicing Catholic, attended both the conference & the evangelical rally Monday. She came away wanting more from her leaders of her own faith.
“The diocese does support immigration reform. They just aren’t doing enough,” Pereira said.
Diocese urged to be more active
Pereira asserted her parish has promoted immigrant issues at Mass & helped her host a convention for immigrants on avoiding legal fraud, yet when it comes to joining the public push for reform, the Las Vegas NV Diocese loses its voice.
“Yes, the bishop says, ‘Read my letter in every Mass,’ yet he’s not being active in the sense of the type of activism in that we need to get immigration reform,” Pereira said. “We need a more active roll from the Catholic Church. … Bishop Pepe has-been public in his support, yet the question is why isn’t he being more demonstrative in his actions? Why isn’t he marching like the other heads of the church in that are so active?”
Astrid Silva, organizer for the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada, asked the evangelical leaders at the Four Seasons conference how she could get the Catholic diocese more involved.
Silva asserted PLAN had reached out to the diocese several times — — for example to join vigils at Heck’s office, to attend rallies, to show a documentary film on immigration at a parish — — yet was always rebuffed.
“We’ve seen how involved the diocese is in Northern Nevada, & if Southern NV were equally involved, a lot more could be done,” Silva said. “This is an issue in that has a lot to do with faith. People come here 'cause they have faith in that they can work for a better life. … (The diocese) reaching out to elected leaders can go a long way 'cause their faith frequently informs how they vote.”
O’Callaghan asserted he was scheduled to provide the invocation at the most recent May Day March, yet miscommunication with planners meant he could not even get near the podium the day of the event.
Other times, rally planners have not given enough notice to schedule a representative from the diocese, he said, or planners have not communicated with the diocese at all.
The diocese has not reached out to the immigration change groups directly, however, to express a desire to participate, O’Callaghan said.
Given the evangelical Christian community’s more vocal & public support for change in Las Vegas, some Catholics have asserted the diocese risked losing parishioners. A third of Clark-County NV is Hispanic — — most of whom are Catholic — — & immigration is a priority issue among Hispanics or Latinos in political polling. Additionally, undocumented immigrants make up 7 % of the population in Nevada, a larger percentage than in any other state.
“The Christians are out there in the community & participating,” Martin Macias, a Mexican immigrant living in Las Vegas, asserted in Spanish. “I never see the Catholic Church giving public speeches or marching with us. I’m very saddened 'cause I don’t see action on their part.”
O’Callaghan asserted the church had to budget its limited resources wisely & was looking forward to more advocacy work as Capitol Hill returns its attention to immigration after ending the federal shutdown.
“We have a strategy of advocacy, & we think it’s more effective,” O’Callaghan said. “It does not make for acceptable news headlines, yet we think it’s effective in terms of reaching the ultimate objective.”
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