LA church has sheltered immigrants for 20 years

[AlphaCentauri]

LOS ANGELES—Like a shepherd waiting for his sheep to fall asleep, the big wooden Christ hangs on the wall as dozens of illegal immigrants get into their sleeping bags.
It has been another uncertain day for them, but they know they can sleep safely and thank God they have a roof to protect them for another night.

These temporary beds fill the church and hallways of the Dolores Mission Church, which on Dec. 12 will commemorate 20 years of opening its doors to immigrants and homeless men as a shelter.

"They are Christ. We recognize ourselves in them. They enrich the community with their lives," said Scott Santarosa, the Jesuit priest at the church. "Some people have asked me, 'Why don't you build a separate place for them to sleep?' And I tell them, 'No, because they make the church holier.'"

Dolores Mission started the immigrant shelter in December 1988 when thousands of Salvadorans arrived in the United States fleeing the civil war in their country.

At the beginning, the immigrants were allowed to sleep on the pews of the small church, which is located in the heavily Hispanic neighborhood of East Los Angeles. But that changed at the end of the 90s, when the public agency Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority started giving funds to the church and required that the immigrants sleep on folding cots.

http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_11139479

[Posteritatis]

1. Santarosa's read the manual (nt)

[JerseygirlCT]

2. That's wonderful. Thank you for posting it. nt

[anonymous171]

3. Can you imagine what could be achieved if the megachurches were used this way?

Millions of people could be helped back up on their feed. But I doubt the hypocrites who run those churches really give a shit about the meek and poor.