The New Sanctuary Movement

The Evangelist has an interesting story about the New Sanctuary Movement:

When Holy Family parish in Albany lost its youth minister six years ago, both the parish and the community suffered. The youth minister’s family had been deported back to Mexico, and the parish had one fewer leader.

But for one parishioner, that loss was a motivation to help other immigrants who found themselves in legal trouble: Two years later, Fred Boehrer started the New Sanctuary Movement.

Last year, Holy Family parish closed, with the church building becoming Our Lady of the Americas shrine church. But the program Mr. Boehrer created continues, located at St. John/St. Ann’s outreach center in Albany.

Mr. Boehrer is also a director of Emmaus House, the Albany Catholic Worker community. The New Sanctuary program is designed to help immigrants and their families find both legal and practical assistance in their new country.

The rest of the article is here.