'ICE Was Here': Massachusetts Church Displays Nativity Scene Without Jesus, Suggesting He Was Deported

The installation in front of the Catholic parish of St. Susanna now features a plaque reading 'ICE was here' next to figures of Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus, reports WPRIMeanwhile, the Southern New England Assembly of Churches (Southern New England Conference recognized Jesus as a refugee and immigrant.

Under a nativity scene with a sign reading "ICE Was Here" at St. Susanna Parish in Massachusetts, another message is posted stating that "the Holy Family is safe at our church." People are asked to call the number if they see U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers.

Parish priest Stephen Josoma, who initiated the idea, said it was intended to draw attention to people in need. He believes the poster should prompt people to reflect on their attitudes toward immigrants, especially during the holiday season.

On the subject: Melania Trump has decorated the White House for Christmas, including a LEGO portrait of Trump.

In previous years, the priest has used the church's nativity scene to make statements about climate change, gun control, and in 2018, even placing the baby Jesus in a cage.

CJ Doyle of the Catholic Action League said the installation detracts from the religious meaning of Christmas and expressed hope that the archdiocese would intervene.

Father Josoma hopes the message will encourage people to be more compassionate, even as debate continues over whether political statements are appropriate in a nativity scene.

"Jesus was a refugee and an immigrant"

Meanwhile, the Southern New England Christian Assembly published its opinion: Jesus, too, was an immigrant.

"Christmas Eve is approaching. These are the days when we remember Jesus coming to us, the days when we imagine Mary and Joseph making a long and difficult journey—first to a place where they could find shelter and give birth to a child, and then to escape the murderous wrath of the king," the congregation's message reads. "The Jesus we follow was a refugee and an immigrant.

After his birth, fearing that King Herod would kill Jesus if they returned to their homeland of Judea, Mary and Joseph fled with the child to Egypt. This story in the second chapter of Matthew's Gospel is rarely read in churches because it disrupts our familiar image of Christmas. Who wants to move from the peaceful and joyful scene in the manger to a tale of violence and fear? But this is our story, and this is the Jesus we follow: a child, surviving the massacre, fleeing to a safer land.

Two thousand years later, as refugee crises continue around the world, we must remember that the very existence of Jesus calls us to see God's presence in all people. We must see the image of God in those who move, flee, and seek refuge across borders, no more and no less than in anyone else...

…On this Christmas Eve, as we hear news of our broken and increasingly broken world, we remember that God has come to earth in the most unlikely of ways. When we see photographs of drowned refugee children on beaches, of toddlers in shock, with ashes on their faces, and of babies carried across borders by their parents, we remember that this, too, is the face of Jesus.

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