Woke church shocks locals with ICE-themed Nativity scene featuring baby Jesus with zip-tied hands
A Chicago-area church is turning heads with its ICE raid-inspired Nativity scene.
The Lake Street Church of Evanston set up their annual creche to include Mary wearing a respirator mask to protect herself from tear gas, and baby Jesus with his hands zip-tied as he lays under a reflective blanket used in detention centers.
Nearby, masked centurions don sunglasses and green vests reading 'ICE.'
'This installation reimagines the nativity as a scene of forced family separation, drawing direct parallels between the Holy Family's refugee experience and contemporary immigration detention practices,' the church shared on November 25 as it first showed off its nativity scene.
'This installation is not subtle because the crisis it addresses is not abstract,' the church continued in its Facebook post.
'We hope viewers will join the conversation about what sanctuary means when families fleeing violence are met with separation, detention and dehumanization. We further hope that conversation will move people to action, regardless of faith or philosophical background.'
The church then declared: 'The Holy Family were refugees.
'This is not political interpretation, this is the reality described in the stories our tradition has told and retold for millennia.
The Lake Street Church of Evanston is turning heads for its ICE raid-inspired Nativity scene
It features baby Jesus with his hands zip-tied as he lays under a thin blanket thar resembles aluminum foil
Nearby, masked centurions don sunglasses and green vests reading 'ICE'
'By witnessing this familiar story through the reality faced by migrants today, we hope to restore its radical edge and to ask what it means to celebrate the birth of a refugee child while turning away those who follow in that child's footsteps,' the church concluded.
Rev. Michael Woolf, a frequent protester of ICE's operations in Chicago, also noted to NBC Chicago that 'our baby Jesus has zip ties on his hands because that was an actual incident that happened in our city.'
The controversial display was organized by Associate Minister Jillian Westerfield, who said she was reflecting on the impact of the Trump administration's Operation Midway Blitz in Chicago, where hundreds of migrants have been detained.
'For me at least, I have experienced the face of Christ in the people who are suffering,' she told the Pioneer Press. 'We just really saw a parallel between the ICE forces and the centurions.'
'This is what the Bible says happened to Jesus and we use our contemporary imagery to illustrate that,' she continued, adding that she believes it is a 'pretty straightforward representation of what the Bible says happened to Jesus's family.'
According to the Bible, King Herod - fearing that a rival had been born to usurp his power - tried to kill baby Jesus by ordering the execution of all baby boys in Bethlehem.
Quick-thinking Joseph then took his wife, Mary, and baby Jesus and fled the city to avoid the bloodshed.
Speaking to the Pioneer Press, Westerfield said the congregation shares her sentiments about the ICE raids in the city.
Associate Minister Jillian Westerfield insisted that the congregation is on board with the display
Westerfield said she was reflecting on the impact of the Trump administration's Operation Midway Blitz in Chicago, where hundreds of migrants have been detained
'This is who we are and this is what's important to us,' she said.
'And we would be much more afraid to hold back because ultimately, we feel like we answer to God, not anyone else.'
Still, she admitted there was concern about how the broader community may react to the display - but insisted the church will not cower from expressing itself.
If someone is really upset about this year's Nativity scene, Westerfield said, 'I hope that what happens is they examine why they're really upset and maybe find within their own conscience a change of heart.'
Woolf also acknowledged that the church does not 'speak for all Christians, but we certainly speak for a certain strand of the community that's trying to take that message and say "if Jesus was born in America right now, what would this nativity look like?"'
It appears, though, that not everyone in the community was pleased with the display - which has seen Mary's gas mask removed and the zip ties cut off from baby Jesus's hands.
Woolf is now inviting members of the church and residents of the neighborhood to help restore the Nativity scene to its original state on Saturday.
Boston Archdiocese says "ICE was here" sign should be removed from Dedham nativity scene
The Archdiocese of Boston is clashing with a church in Dedham, Massachusetts over a nativity scene with an anti-ICE message.
It has everything you would expect in a nativity scene. There are wise men, animals, and shepherds. But there is something else in the display in front of St. Susanna's Parish in Dedham that is impossible to ignore. In the place of Jesus, Joseph and Mary, stands a sign that reads: "ICE was here." The suggestion being that they were detained by the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. A clear commentary on the current political landscape.
Father Stephen Josoma declined an interview with WBZ-TV for this story but told us off camera that the church has long created a nativity scene that speaks to a current humanitarian issue facing the country.
Previous nativity scene messages
This is not the first time St. Susanna's has created an unconventional nativity scene.
In 2017, the church listed the cities of mass shootings that year next to their total fatalities. In 2018, they had a depiction of baby Jesus in a cage. It was a commentary on the first Trump administration's family separation policy at the US/Mexico border. At the time, Father Josoma told us, "We try to take a picture of the world as it is and to put it together with the Christmas message."
This year's display was installed the Saturday after Thanksgiving and within hours it had sparked debate online.
Michael Hersey lives just down the street from the parish and stopped by Friday night to see it for himself. "I just saw the ICE lit up as I was getting ready to turn and I was like, there is no way," Hersey said. "Personally, I just think it is not the right place. I do get it, I mean with everything going on, especially with the holidays. I know everybody has got their mixed feelings on this."
"The display should be removed"
This year's display has made its way up the chain and ultimately led the Boston Archdiocese to issue a statement on Friday that condemned it. It read:
"The people of God have the right to expect that, when they come to church, they will encounter genuine opportunities for prayer and Catholic worship-not divisive political messaging. The Church's norms prohibit the use of sacred objects for any purpose other than the devotion of God's people. This includes images of the Christ Child in the manger, which are to be used solely to foster faith and devotion. Regarding the recent incident, St. Susanna Parish neither requested nor received permission from the Archdiocese to depart from this canonical norm or to place a politically divisive display outside the church. The display should be removed, and the manger restored to its proper sacred purpose."
Father Josoma told WBZ-TV that the parish has a regularly scheduled meeting this weekend and will discuss the future of the nativity scene.
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