Bishop Barnes could see the Pope gesture to those on the other side of the border and he noticed the birds freely flying back and forth between El Paso and Juarez. Though it seemed like so little separating the two countries, the debate over immigration continues to be intense in this election season.
“It was interesting to see that line, and what divides us,” said Bishop Barnes, who spent many years ministering in Texas after his ordination to the priesthood in 1975.
He was one of six U.S. Bishops who participated in the Papal Border Mass from the U.S. side of the fence in El Paso. He was joined by Archbishop Joseph Kurtz of the Archdiocese of Louisville and current President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), Bishop Eusebio Elizondo of the Archdiocese of Seattle, Archbishop John Wester of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, Bishop Brendan Cahill of the Diocese of Victoria, Texas and Cardinal Roger Mahony of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.
The six were at a staging area with about 600 people near Pius X Parish in El Paso, all of whom were undocumented persons or those who minister to the undocumented. Despite unseasonable heat, Bishop Barnes said he enjoyed visiting with the immigrants and hearing their stories for a couple of hours before walking a half mile to the levee to watch the Mass.
The highlight of the Mass came after Pope Francis prayed at the three crosses just across the border and then offered a blessing to those watching from the U.S. side, Bishop Barnes said. Later he and the other five bishops distributed communion to those watching from El Paso.
He said he was reminded of the impact that the immigration crisis is having on many families in the Diocese of San Bernardino.
“It was very emotional,” he said. “I felt like I was carrying a lot of our people who couldn’t go.”
A number of people from the Diocese of San Bernardino did make the trip to Mexico to witness the visit of Pope Francis. Francisco Mendoza and his family, who attend St. Frances de Sales Parish in Riverside, were determined to be in their native Morelia, Michoacán when the Holy Father stopped there.
“We cared so much about the pain inflicted on the people of Michoacán,” said Mendoza. “Having [Pope Francis] at every step prolonged the mercy of God, like a constant medicine that heals and cures the pain of so many hearts.”
A group of 33 people from the San Bernardino parishes St. Bernardine, Our Lady of the Rosary Cathedral, Our Lady of Hope and Our Lady of Guadalupe caravanned to Juarez for the Border Mass. Rosie Aguirre, Director of Religious Education at St. Bernardine Parish, said Mexico received the Pope’s visit “like a caress.”
“All those outstretched hands, all those voices calling him,” Aguirre said. “We experienced a rebirth of faith.”
For Lupe Hernandez, a catechist at Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in Chino, the long journey to Mexico was rewarding and inspiring.
“It was like seeing a light at the end of the tunnel,” Hernandez said. “We were glad that Mexico was at peace, a dream we have all dreamt.”