A church in Massachusetts is featuring a sign reading “ICE was here” as part of its Nativity display, eliciting a range of responses from the community, including concerns expressed by a local religious organization, WCVB5 in Boston reported.
The familiar figures of Mary, Joseph, and the baby Jesus in the Nativity display at the Roman Catholic church St. Susanna Parish in Dedham were replaced with a sign implying the family had been rounded up by federal authorities.
A second sign was placed beneath the ICE sign reading, “The Holy Family is safe in the sanctuary of our Church. If you see ICE please call LUCE,” followed by the church’s phone number.
The Rev. Stephen Josoma said his idea to politicize the Nativity was for viewers to recognize how the government is treating people “in dire need.”
“What is the objective by doing this? To help people recognize the plight of people who are really in dire need, and how are we treating them,” he said. “We’re supposed to bring out the best of people at Christmas.”
Josoma has used the Nativity to make political statements in the past. In 2018, he put the baby Jesus in a cage and used the holiday as an opportunity to comment on climate change and gun control as well.
C.J. Doyle, executive director of the Catholic Action League of Massachusetts, labeled Josoma a “dissident” with a history of “crackpot” stunts.
“This is not right. It’s divisive, it’s disrespectful, it takes away from the essential Christmas message,” Doyle said. “The purpose of a Nativity scene is to remind us of the purpose of Christmas, not to remind us of current political issues.”
Dedham also is familiar with controversy over Christmas symbols outside St. Susanna Parish. In 2022, Newsmax reported that the local library refusing to put up a Christmas tree, calling the symbol divisive, with one resident asking at a town hall, “Why do you hate Christmas?”
James Morley III ✉
James Morley III is a writer with more than two decades of experience in entertainment, travel, technology, and science and nature.
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