Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jun 19, 2020 / 15:27 pm
For Religious Freedom Week 2020, the U.S. Catholic bishops are highlighting an unusual case-a Texas chapel that could be demolished or cut off by construction of the U.S.-Mexico border wall.
The historic La Lomita Chapel in Mission, Texas, built in 1865 and owned by the Diocese of Brownsville, is administered by the nearby Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church. In 2018, the Trump administration informed the diocese that it planned to survey the property where the chapel is located to possibly construct the U.S.-Mexico border wall on the property.
The Diocese of Brownsville has fought the construction and the surveying of the land in court, and on June 26, during Religious Freedom Week, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) will ask Catholics to pray for their case.
Beginning on June 22, the feast of Saints Thomas More and John Fisher, and running through June 29, the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, the week will advocate the Church's work "For the Good of All" in ministries such as education, social services, and health care.