Misa y Procesion honoring Silverio Villegas Gonzรกlez
On Friday, September 12, Silverio Villegas Gonzรกlez was shot and killed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Franklin Park, IL. This was part of โOperation Midway Blitzโ being carried out by ICE across the City of Chicago and the surrounding suburbs. Local ICE operations have created an atmosphere of anxiety and fear for immigrant families and community members across the region.
CSPL supported member parish Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Melrose Parkโjust a few miles from where Silverio was killedโin planning a Mass and Eucharistic Procession to honor his life and stand in solidarity with his loved ones. The event took place Wednesday, September 24, 2025.
The centuries-old rituals and traditions of our catholic faith have always served a two-fold purpose:
1) Uniting and grounding our communities to care for one another through times of joy and times of sorrow.
2) Creating a public space where we witness to the Gospel, reaffirm our values again and again, and find the nourishment we need to actively build a just world.
At our ๐๐ช๐ด๐ข ๐บ ๐๐ณ๐ฐ๐ค๐ฆ๐ด๐ช๐ฐฬ๐ฏ held at Our Lady of Mount Carmel parish, hundreds of people embraced both aspects of our tradition. Inside the church, we prayed, grieved, and received the Eucharist together. Then we went out into the streets - accompanied by Jesus in the Eucharist - to make our unity and commitment to justice public. We made a powerful statement that Silverio Villegas Gonzรกlez was and remains an important member of our community, that as the church we will care for and mourn with his loved ones, and that we will fight for an end to the systems that brought us here.
๐ช๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ป๐๐ฒ ๐๐ผ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฎ ๐๐ต๐ผ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ด๐ต ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ถ๐ด๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ผ ๐ฆ๐ถ๐น๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ผ'๐ ๐๐ต๐ผ๐ผ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด, ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ผ "๐ ๐ถ๐ฑ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐๐น๐ถ๐๐" ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐น๐น ๐๐ป๐ท๐๐๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ด๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ถ๐บ๐บ๐ถ๐ด๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐๐ป๐ถ๐๐ ๐บ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐.
