The Catholic Church has increased its efforts to speak on behalf of migrants throughout the world. That effort will be extended to Arizona on Tuesday.
Cardinal Seán O’Malley of Boston is scheduled to be in Nogales on Tuesday. He and seven other Catholic prelates will celebrate Mass on behalf of the 6,000 immigrants who have died in U.S. deserts since 1998.
The eight bishops are members of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee on Migration.
The organization said the trip was planned to support national immigration reform. Its chairman, Auxiliary Bishop Eusebio Elizondo of Seattle, wrote a letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson last week. Elizondo urged government agents to make policy changes to keep families together.
The bishops say they are following the example of Pope Francis. He spoke about protecting migrants during his first trip outside Rome. The Pope visited the Italian island of Lampedusa to remember African migrants who died attempting to reach Europe.