FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 12, 2013

Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio will celebrate the annual Catholic Migration Mass on Sunday, April 14th at 3 p.m. at the Cathedral Basilica of St. James, Jay Street and Cathedral Place, in Downtown Brooklyn. Senator Charles Schumer is expected to attend, alongside city, state and federal legislators.
“America is a nation of immigrants and nowhere is this more true than here in the great Diocese of Brooklyn, under the leadership of immigration advocate second-to none, Bishop DiMarzio,” said Senator Schumer. “I am hard at work with my bi-partisan allies putting the finishing touches on a comprehensive immigration reform bill that will bring 11 million people out of the shadows and onto the path to citizenship. With your help, and your prayers, I hope that we will succeed in passing this vital legislation.”
Catholics from 28 ethnic groups will gather; many will be dressed in the traditional garb of their homelands. The opening procession, historically a colorful line of costumes and banners proclaiming international backgrounds, will begin at the opening of the Mass.
Father Patrick J. Keating, CEO of Catholic Migration Services, will speak on immigration reform. “We live in a great nation, we live in a great city,” he said. “Where would we be without immigrants? Let us support immigration reform that will keep families together, let us support immigration reform that will respect and honor the legacy of the immigrants that have come before us.”
Mass is celebrated regularly in 32 different languages in the 194 parishes of Brooklyn and Queens.
Catholic Migration Services has helped over 100,000 immigrants and their families since its creation in 1971. Included within its vast scope of services is the Immigrant Tenant Advocacy Program (ITAP) which improves the living conditions of low-income immigrant tenants by fighting for dignified and affordable housing, as well as the Immigrant Workers’ Rights Program, which represents workers in disputes over wage and hour violations, unsafe working conditions, and other workplace abuses commonly suffered by immigrants in New York City. For more information on Catholic Migration Services, visit www.catholicmigration.org.