On August 24, Cabrini Retreat Center hosted the 2nd Annual Archdiocesan Retreat for Immigration Parish Coordinators (IPC) in the Chicago Archdiocese. This is a group of parish leaders in native-born congregations who work for immigrant justice by leading parish educational events, local advocacy actions, and immigrant empowerment activities, including multi-cultural efforts.
Chicago is known for having so many ethnic parishes because of the city’s cultural diversity that parishes not centered in one culture are classified as “native-born”. IPC’s have the mission to keep their fellow parishioners in touch with the needs and concerns of this most timely of issues on immigration. Their message resonates with that of Pope Francis who said, “Migrants are persons, with their own names, stories and families. There can never be true peace as long as a single human being is violated in his or her personal identity and reduced to a mere statistic or an object of economic calculation.”
This retreat was an opportunity for IPCs to support one another in their efforts, to hear about the recent trip to the border in El Paso that was organized for several of them and to hear of other efforts in the archdiocese in which their parishioners can participate.
The retreat provided an opportunity for the staff at the Cabrini Retreat Center to give one more reminder about the Run for Your Life event that they will be hosting in September. It gave the Center more exposure to the various archdiocesan offices that deal with immigration issues. The IPCs were very grateful for the Retreat Center’s offer to host the retreat and the opportunity for several participants to experience Cabrini Retreat Center for the first time.