‘Renew our hearts’: Miami Catholic leader and pope have Christmas messages
As Christians celebrate one of the most important holidays of their faith, second only to Easter, some may have the issue of immigration on their minds for more than one reason.
This year, the crackdown on the country’s migrant population and aggressive deportation tactics have cast a shadow on holiday celebrations for some, particularly Hispanic and Caribbean families.
In a special Christmas message, Archbishop Thomas Wenski reminds the public about the nativity story, drawing similarities between Mary and Joseph’s difficult journey to Bethlehem to that of immigrants today.
“In many ways their journey reminds us of so many families today who are also on the move seeking safety, opportunity and peace,” Wenski said in a video posted to the Archdiocese website.
The top Catholic leader goes on to say that South Florida’s diversity is a “true reflection” of the universal Catholic Church and its principles of welcoming the stranger.
“May this Christmas renew our hearts with compassion, our homes with peace and our communities with joy,” he said.
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Wenski celebrated Christmas Eve Mass at St. Mary’s Cathedral.
Christmas Eve, the final day of advent season for Christians, statistically draws more people into the church than any other time of year. The advent season for Christians is a time of preparation for the anniversary of what Christians believe is the birth of Jesus Christ on Christmas Day.
It’s also the day that many Hispanic families across South Florida celebrate Nochebuena, the main event of the holiday season, marking a celebration that blends traditions of food, faith and culture, often stretching well into the nighttime.
Just days before Christmas, Roman Catholic leaders in South Florida addressed what some immigrant families may be feeling.
Wenski, along with the Bishops of Florida, made a plea to President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to halt all immigration deportation efforts through the holiday season. Their request — made public by Wenski at a news briefing on Monday morning — was met with a bleak response from elected officials.
The White House indicated that there wouldn’t be a pause on arrests happening anytime soon. The Florida governor’s office didn’t reply to the Miami Herald’s questions about the appeal.
At the briefing, Wenski expressed his support for families in South Florida who are dealing with the realities of ICE arrests and deportation. He said that the Catholic Church has been and will continue to advocate for immigration policies that provide pathways to citizenship for those who have not committed serious crimes.
The archbishop said that the immigration crackdown has caused “hardworking people” to become “paralyzed by fear,” affecting all aspects of their lives, including their ability to attend church.
Wenski reminded people about the Christian story of Christmas — when Mary and Joseph were turned away from the overcrowded inn and sent to a stable to give birth.
“Here we have a whole population of people that are living the bitter part of that first Christmas, being reminded that there’s no room for them as well,” he said. “We want to create room for them in our hearts, affirm their dignity as human beings, even if they don’t have legal papers.”
Wenski’s comments about the immigration echo those of the larger Catholic Church.
In his first Christmas Day message, Pope Leo XIV on Thursday urged people to shed indifference in the face of those who have lost everything, including migrants who cross into America for a better future, according to an Associated Press report.
“If he would truly enter into the suffering of others and stand in solidarity with the weak and the oppressed, then the world would change,’’ the pope said.
The pope urged protection for refugees, victims of climate disasters, the unemployed and the exploited, according to the New York Times. Leo called for “dialogue” in Latin America amid an escalating U.S. naval campaign there and for better care for migrants who “traverse the American continent.”
“In these final days of the Jubilee of Hope, let us pray to God made man for the beloved people of Haiti, that all forms of violence in the country will cease and that progress will be made on the path of peace and reconciliation,” he said in his message.
While St. Mary’s Cathedral reflects the diversity of Miami’s Catholic community, St. James Catholic Church in North Miami was a reminder of how entrenched Haitians are in the faith.
This year’s midnight Mass at St. James Catholic Church was all in Haitian-Creole and French, rather than being multilingual. After a brief Christmas concert by the Creole choir, parishioners who filled the pews were asked to say a prayer for Haiti.
The request at the start of the service in the largest majority Haitian-run city in the U.S., underscores how heavy both the crisis in the gang-ridden Caribbean nation is and the stress of the stepped up immigration enforcements in the U.S. have become.
Last month, Pope Leo condemned the treatment of migrants in the United States as “extremely disrespectful.” Leo, the first American-born pope, has been a vocal supporter of immigrants’ rights, a stance that has earned him some backlash from more conservative Catholics, and those who may not agree with Leo’s involvement in political matters.
Father Orlando Cardoso, a priest at St. Dominic Catholic Church in Miami, told the Miami Herald at a protest last month that he believes Christians everywhere have a moral obligation to support immigrants or anyone experiencing hardship.
He said people at his predominantly Spanish-speaking parish are distressed about Trump’s immigration crackdown, causing some to stop showing up to church altogether out of fear.
“Because some of the people, they may be afraid to go out.. We invite them to pray together, to come to the church and to trust in the Lord,” he said.
Earlier this month, the Department of Homeland Security ordered a pause of all immigration applications of nationals from Cuba, Haiti, Venezuela and 16 other so-called “high risk” countries, marking one of its most sweeping restrictions on immigration to date.
Wenski said earlier this week that restrictions like this will cause people who were never considered “illegal” to face a harsh new reality.
“They were never illegal in this country a day in their life until the program comes to an end. We’re talking about people as if they were serious law breakers, and they’re not,” he said.
Polling suggests that the public is divided on Trump’s handling of immigration, largely along party lines. But there also is a growing movement of faith communities that have denounced the administration’s aggressive immigration tactics and the creation of detention centers like Alligator Alcatraz in the harsh environment of the Everglades.
There have been interfaith vigils outside of Alligator Alcatraz, for example, where believers and non-believers have been gathering weekly since its opening to protest what they believe are “immoral” immigration policies.
Last week, protestors set up an ICE-themed Christmas nativity scene to signify the families that are being separated by deportation efforts, according to vigil organizers at the nonprofit, The Workers Circle.
“As many churches prepare for Christmas, we remember the biblical story of how Mary and Joseph and newborn baby Jesus were forced to flee violence in their own land. They were refugees,” said the Rev. Arthur Jones of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Fort Myers in a statement.
Jones said that in today’s society, Mary and Joseph might be “among those who, despite being in the asylum process, have been cruelly rounded up, family members separated from one another, detained in inhumane conditions and deported to God knows where.”
Miami Herald staff writer Jacqueline Charles contributed to this report.
This story was produced with financial support from Trish and Dan Bell and donors in South Florida’s Jewish and Muslim communities, including Khalid and Diana Mirza and the Mohsin and Fauzia Jaffer Foundation, in partnership with Journalism Funding Partners. The Miami Herald maintains full editorial control of this work.
This story was originally published December 25, 2025 at 11:31 AM.
