‘We should never put a religious test on humanitarian help’: Interfaith leaders hold prayer service
Nearly two-hundred people from different religious communities in Las Cruces gathered Friday morning in opposition to President Trump’s executive order which temporarily restricts travel from seven Muslim-majority countries.
The interfaith prayer service, held at St. Albert the Great Newman Center, saw representatives from local Islamic, Jewish, Lutheran and Catholic communities. The service symbolized standing in solidarity with the Muslim community, refugees and migrants.
At the service, each representative read aloud a statement urging the current administration to allow refugee programs to continue their work with citizens from nations that have been temporarily banned.
One representative was Las Cruces Bishop Oscar Cantu. He told ABC-7 that President Trump’s order only serve to divide the community, and encourage prejudice and hatred within the community.
“We find it appalling,” lamented the bishop. “We find it to be immoral in that we should never put a religious test on humanitarian help. The Catholic Church does not do that and will not do that”.
President Trump has previously stated that the travel restrictions are not about religion, but about keeping terror out of the county, and keeping our country safe.
A letter distributed around the service read in part, “We agree with the importance of keeping our country secure…but we are convinced that temporarily banning vulnerable refugees will not enhance our safety nor does it reflect the values we share.”
It went on to read that it encourages all people to, “exercise their conscience in contacting those in our nation’s leadership to express the convictions of their faith traditions, whatever they may be, and to keep in mind humanitarian concerns as we consider the fate of those created in the divine image.”
