ASHLAND, Md. (CNS) – By walking from Pennsylvania to Washington, Juana Flores and about 100 other women hope to get Pope Francis’ attention so he can deliver a strong message that America needs to treat its immigrants with dignity and respect. “This is a moment where loss is affecting a lot of immigrant families,” said Flores, a former nun who today co-directs Mujeres Unidas y Activas, a California-based organization of Latina women working for immigrant rights.
“If we are not supporting laws that go against family separation, then we are not living our Catholic lives,” added Flores, 54, a Catholic who lives in San Francisco. She entered the U.S. with no documents in the early 1990s.
Whether or not the group manages to meet the pope, “we want him to listen to our stories,” she said through interpreter Catalina Nieto, as the women stopped for lunch in the Baltimore County community of Ashland Sept. 18. Forty-three miles into their 100-mile pilgrimage, the women ate burritos at a parking area for the Torrey C. Brown Rail Trail.