FRESNO, Calif. – The pews at St. Paul Catholic Newman Center slowly filled up on Wednesday as Katie Fleener greeted familiar faces.
As a parish life coordinator, she is used to making sure everything gets done orderly at her church, located just steps from Fresno State.
On this evening, there was special attention paid to the service. People trickled in quieter than usual. It wasn’t a routine mass.
Gentle music played, with an elderly man strumming his guitar along to a choir’s harmony. Then two priests stepped forward to proclaim scripture. The music notes faded. And the church settled into silence.
Fleener said the quiet was the point of the evening.
The Newman Center was observing a “holy hour for peace” – joining a national effort by Catholics seeking to reflect, pray and ask for peace in today’s world.
Late last month, the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Paul Coakley issued a call to all Catholics to hold a moment of "prayer for reconciliation.” It came after violent incidents around immigration enforcement have gripped the country.
The Catholic church has been particularly outspoken on immigration matters under the Trump administration.
Father Rubi Peter of the Newman Center in Fresno said that’s why prayer is important in these times – because it unites all people.
"Whenever there is violence," Peter said, “the church comes and invites the whole faithful to pray for peace."
Catholic church leaders say prayer is not something to be done occasionally, but a lifestyle to be practiced daily. That message was echoed by Father David Gutierrez, also of the Newman Center, who said peace is an important calling in today’s world.
“Peace in our faith means to be able to realize that sometimes our world is not going as it should, but that peace is always available to those who seek it with their hearts and are able to do acts of peace in their community and in their own lives,” Gutierrez said.
Gutierrez said that Scripture teaches Christians that God blesses those who work for peace.
Many Catholic leaders have stated that current actions around immigration in the U.S. do not reflect the compassion and dignity the Church believes should guide immigration policy.
The bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Fresno, Joseph Brennan, previously told KVPR that the church plans to offer support for parishioners caught up in the immigration battle. Brennan even plans to celebrate mass inside an immigrant detention center in Kern County on Monday.
Brennan will visit the California City ICE Processing Center for the rare opportunity. That facility is the largest facility in the state currently holding immigrants without legal status. He will be joined by the bishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.
On Friday, Pope Leo XIV also echoed the calls for peace and asked the world’s Catholics to practice “avoiding harsh words and rash judgement,” as they prepare to observe the Lent season which prepares the faithful for Easter.
Back in Fresno, Peter, of the Newman Center, said Christian faith calls on believers to defend the inherent worth of every person.
“We cannot let people mistreat or dehumanize others just because they don't have the status here,” Peter said.
