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Mainers are united in shock, outrage, and grief at another senseless act of violence involving ICE agents—this time in our own backyard in Biddeford. Yesterday morning, just after 7 a.m., 26-year-old Joan Sebastian Guerrero, a husband and father of a young daughter, was shot and killed in his car on his way to work. Guerrero, a native of Columbia who was authorized to work in this country, was not the target of an immigration arrest warrant, according to a statement released by Sen. Angus King.
Our hearts are with Guerrero’s family, community, and everyone grieving his loss, and we join the Maine Immigrants Rights Coalition, the Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project, and other social justice organizations in calling for complete accountability.
Please join diocesan leaders and staff in praying for the repose of Guerrero's soul with this prayer, adapted from one shared by the Rt. Rev. C. Andrew Doyle, bishop of Texas, following the death of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo at the hands of ICE agents in Houston on July 9.
O God, whose Son had no place to lay His head and was numbered with the transgressors: receive Joan Sebastian Guerrero into the arms of Thy mercy, and let light perpetual shine upon him. Comfort his daughter in her fatherlessness, and be Thou the Father of the fatherless. Bring every hidden thing to light, that justice be neither counterfeit nor delayed. Through Jesus Christ our peace, who is Himself the Dayspring from on high. Amen.
Even as we pray, at this point in our lives as Americans it is understandable to feel weary and despondent. But because we are also followers of Jesus Christ, we look to him for solace and strength. The Gospel of John describes how Jesus reassures his disciples in his darkest hour—just before he is arrested and condemned to death. “I leave behind with you—peace; I give you my own peace and my gift is nothing like the peace of this world. You must not be distressed and you should not be daunted…”You will find trouble in the world—but, never lose heart, I have conquered the world.”
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