Bishops come together to remember migrants with Border Mass

Bishops, priests, and faithful from all over the borderland got together Saturday along the Sunland Park/Anapra border to remember the hundreds who have died or gone missing in their journeys between countries.

“Our two cities are linked in so many ways,” said El Paso Bishop Mark Seitz, one of the three co-celebrating the Mass.

The annual event brought together people from El Paso, Las Cruces, and Cd. Juarez. The bilingual mass was celebrated on both sides of the fence, where faithful listened to the Juarez bishop speak about unity in the borderland community.

“We are one family,” said Bishop Jose Torres Campos of the Cd. Juarez Diocese.

The sermon centered around helping those in need, and reaching out to the less fortunate. The message extended to help migrants from all over the world, not just those in our backyard.

“We’re now seeing the tremendous crisis of the refugees fleeing the violence in Syria,” said Las Cruces Bishop Oscar Cantu.

The bishops said people can help by taking an active part in their communities, like volunteering with migrants or doing what they can to influence policy.

According to a report from the UN nearly 4000 migrants died in 2014 while traveling from one country to another. More than 300 of those were along our own border with Mexico.