On July 18, protesters, including priests and religious, are expected to gather on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol in an event organized by a coalition of Catholic advocacy groups. The day’s events will include a rally condemning the treatment of migrant children, but a smaller number of Catholic leaders and volunteers intend to trespass inside the Russell Senate Office building while praying the rosary in an act of civil disobedience.
“We’re all horrified at the treatment of children at the border,” said Patrick Carolan, the executive director of the Franciscan Action Network. “We’ve been talking and decided that we had to do something.” Mr. Carolan said that this protest is to be the first of a series of events designed to bring awareness to the fact that the government’s treatment of migrants “is against our Catholic faith, Jesus and everything that Francis of Assisi thought and lived [for].”
“We are trying to get Catholics across the country to rise up and reclaim our faith,” he said.
