Aleja Hertzler-McCain
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alejacorazonhm.bsky.social
Aleja Hertzler-McCain
@alejacorazonhm.bsky.social
1K followers 120 following 14 posts
Reporter @RNS.org covering Latino faith & Catholicism | 🇵🇷 del DMV | disabled and proud | Se habla español | Signal: AlejaCorazonHM.47
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Reposted by Aleja Hertzler-McCain
thomasreesesj.bsky.social
religionnews.com/2026/01/21/s... @alejacorazonhm.bsky.social
Survey: Catholicism continues sharp decline in Latin America
(RNS) — The survey found the religiously unaffiliated nearly doubled or saw even larger gains in every country.
religionnews.com
January 21, 2026 at 7:00 PM
Reposted by Aleja Hertzler-McCain
thomasreesesj.bsky.social
religionnews.com/2026/01/16/v... @alejacorazonhm.bsky.social
Venezuelan procession for La Divina Pastora takes on new weight in tense political moment
WASHINGTON (RNS) — Venezuelans in the diaspora and homeland are navigating uncertainty, big emotions and fervent prayers in the aftermath of the US military's seizure of Venezuelan President Nicolás M...
religionnews.com
January 19, 2026 at 9:24 PM
Reposted by Aleja Hertzler-McCain
alissawilkinson.bsky.social
This is a new, far more detailed analysis from our investigative team that reveals … well.

www.nytimes.com/video/us/100...
Video: Video Analysis of ICE Shooting Sheds Light on Contested Moments
Newly available videos and existing footage synchronized and assessed by The Times provides a millisecond-by-millisecond look at how an ICE officer ended up shooting and killing a motorist in Minneapo...
www.nytimes.com
January 16, 2026 at 5:19 AM
Reposted by Aleja Hertzler-McCain
thomasreesesj.bsky.social
religionnews.com/2026/01/09/o... @alejacorazonhm.bsky.social
Outside White House, faith leaders mourn Renee Good, call for accountability
(RNS) — 'A system that relies on fear, force and death to manage human beings is not broken at the edges. It is broken and rotten at the core,' the Rev. Abhi Janamanchi said. 'Stop excusing violence. ...
religionnews.com
January 10, 2026 at 4:17 PM
Reposted by Aleja Hertzler-McCain
thomasreesesj.bsky.social
religionnews.com/2026/01/07/e... @alejacorazonhm.bsky.social
'God is using Trump': Latino evangelicals celebrate Maduro’s capture as divine victory
(RNS) — Latino evangelicals maintain that their shared faith was key to Maduro’s capture and that the church will play a critical role in charting the country’s future.
religionnews.com
January 8, 2026 at 3:14 PM
Reposted by Aleja Hertzler-McCain
jackjenkins.me
It appears @reuters.com photographer Tim Evans captured the exact moment — described below — Rev. Susie Hayward stood in front of ICE vehicle today and began to recite Scripture.

Source: www.instagram.com/p/DTObbj1id4...
January 8, 2026 at 2:04 AM
Reposted by Aleja Hertzler-McCain
thomasreesesj.bsky.social
religionnews.com/2026/01/02/c... @alejacorazonhm.bsky.social
Cardinal Dolan, interfaith coalition press Trump to add religion forum to 2026 G20
(RNS) — Over 80 faith leaders sent President Donald Trump a letter urging him to build on his legacy as 'a stalwart defender of peace and international religious freedom.'
religionnews.com
January 5, 2026 at 7:10 PM
Reposted by Aleja Hertzler-McCain
jackjenkins.me
In case you missed it: I’ve got a new (warning: somewhat intense) story on @npr.org about all the ways faith leaders have pushed back against the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign this year — including clergy directly confronting ICE agents and police. www.npr.org/2025/12/24/n...
How the clergy has rallied against the Trump administration's immigration policies
Religious leaders have rallied against the Trump administration's detention and deportation of immigrants. Clergy are filing lawsuits, accompanying migrants to court hearings and leading protests.
www.npr.org
December 26, 2025 at 2:30 PM
Reposted by Aleja Hertzler-McCain
thomasreesesj.bsky.social
religionnews.com/2025/12/24/w... @jackjenkins.me @alejacorazonhm.bsky.social
Churches deliver Christmas to immigrants detained, deported and in hiding
(RNS) — Clergy, churches and other religious organizations wrestle with how to mark one of the most important Christian holidays while also serving an immigrant population in crisis.
religionnews.com
December 25, 2025 at 2:45 PM
Reposted by Aleja Hertzler-McCain
jackjenkins.me
NEW via me and @alejacorazonhm.bsky.social: As Christmas approaches, clergy, churches and other religious organizations are wrestling with how to mark one of the most important Christian holidays while also serving an immigrant population in crisis. religionnews.com/2025/12/24/w...
Churches deliver Christmas to immigrants detained, deported and in hiding
(RNS) — Clergy, churches and other religious organizations wrestle with how to mark one of the most important Christian holidays while also serving an immigrant population in crisis.
religionnews.com
December 24, 2025 at 4:04 PM
Reposted by Aleja Hertzler-McCain
thomasreesesj.bsky.social
religionnews.com/2025/12/23/t... @alejacorazonhm.bsky.social
'There is no Christmas for separated families': Pastors tend to immigrant families in crisis
LOS ANGELES (RNS) — As Los Angeles pastors lead congregations and preach about the meaning of Christmas, they’re facing the emotional devastation of families struggling to cling to hope.
religionnews.com
December 24, 2025 at 3:04 PM
alejacorazonhm.bsky.social
Nine days before Christmas, a group of clergy huddled around a young mother, praying for a Christmas miracle that a judge would set bond for her husband at a hearing the following day and release him from immigration detention.

My latest reporting:

religionnews.com/2025/12/23/t...
'There is no Christmas for separated families': Pastors tend to immigrant families in crisis
LOS ANGELES (RNS) — As Los Angeles pastors lead congregations and preach about the meaning of Christmas, they’re facing the emotional devastation of families struggling to cling to hope.
religionnews.com
December 24, 2025 at 2:39 PM
Reposted by Aleja Hertzler-McCain
jackjenkins.me
Via @alejacorazonhm.bsky.social: 'There is no Christmas for separated families': Pastors tend to immigrant families in crisis —> religionnews.com/2025/12/23/t...
'There is no Christmas for separated families': Pastors tend to immigrant families in crisis
LOS ANGELES (RNS) — As Los Angeles pastors lead congregations and preach about the meaning of Christmas, they’re facing the emotional devastation of families struggling to cling to hope.
religionnews.com
December 24, 2025 at 3:15 AM
Reposted by Aleja Hertzler-McCain
thomasreesesj.bsky.social
religionnews.com/2025/12/18/l... @alejacorazonhm.bsky.social
How an LA interfaith coalition is using ‘freedom schools’ to defend against ICE
LOS ANGELES (RNS) — One LA is convening faith-based ‘freedom schools’ that help residents learn what to do if confronted by immigration enforcement. The movement also led to a recent public hearing.
religionnews.com
December 18, 2025 at 7:10 PM
Reposted by Aleja Hertzler-McCain
jackjenkins.me
Okay so I got busy and forgot to do my whole thread on this, but a couple of things:

1. There's a whole backstory here (which @alejacorazonhm.bsky.social notes in the piece)

2. This, in particular, is fascinating, because the admin didn't have to make a theological argument here — but it did.
The DHS letters to Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley, as shared by Fox, accuse Pimentel of breaking the trust the government had placed in her to manage large amounts of federal money. The letter also invokes language specific to Catholic social teaching to defend the Trump administration’s approach to immigration policy. “Illegal mass migration is itself offensive to human dignity and it dramatically increases human and drug trafficking,” wrote acting general counsel Joseph Mazzara. “It, in fact, breaks the bonds of subsidiarity, wherein a nation must first serve those closest: its own citizens.” While “human dignity” and “subsidiarity” are common terms within Catholic social teaching, the letter appears to be signaling an argument made by Vice President JD Vance in defense of the administration’s immigration policy. “Ordo amoris,” Vance said, is a Catholic teaching that offers a model of tiered care, placing in descending order the love of family, then neighbor, community and then citizens of one’s own nation before the rest of the world — a definition Francis quickly refuted. “Christian love is not a concentric expansion of interests that little by little extend to other persons and groups,” wrote Francis in a letter to U.S. bishops in February. “The act of deporting people who in many cases have left their own land for reasons of extreme poverty, insecurity, exploitation, persecution or serious deterioration of the environment, damages the dignity of many men and women, and of entire families, and places them in a state of particular vulnerability and defenselessness.” Earlier this year, DHS sent a letter to local governments and nonprofits that had received Federal Emergency Management Agency grants for work with migrants, saying they “may be guilty of encouraging or inducing an alien to come to, enter, or reside in the United States,” and asking them to provide a list of the immigrants they had served and to sign an affidavit they had not viola…
December 16, 2025 at 2:24 PM
Reposted by Aleja Hertzler-McCain
jackjenkins.me
I'll post some related things later, but this is kind of a big story: religionnews.com/2025/12/12/d...
DHS threatens Sister Norma Pimentel's migrant aid with 6-year funding ban
(RNS) — 'I take very seriously every single dollar entrusted to us,' said Pimentel in a statement responding to the DHS accusations, which included providing migrant services beyond the federal limit.
religionnews.com
December 14, 2025 at 11:52 PM
Reposted by Aleja Hertzler-McCain
wordandway.bsky.social
Our fresh religion news roundup features insights from @jackjenkins.me, @alejacorazonhm.bsky.social, @meganjanetsky.bsky.social, @angeladenker.bsky.social, @yonat.bsky.social, @noahhurowitz.bsky.social, @kissphoria.bsky.social, @ginajessereina.bsky.social, @revdrmichaelwoolf.bsky.social, and more!
Weekly Roundup: Dec. 12
Here’s the weekly roundup from A Public Witness. This week, we published our list of favorite books of the year and an exclusive report on the first prayer service at the U.S.
publicwitness.wordandway.org
December 12, 2025 at 5:55 PM
Reposted by Aleja Hertzler-McCain
thomasreesesj.bsky.social
religionnews.com/2025/12/12/j... @alejacorazonhm.bsky.social
Jim Caviezel of 'The Passion of the Christ' to play Jair Bolsonaro in 2026 biopic
(RNS) — Bolsonaro, who rose to power with the support of Brazilian evangelicals, is currently serving a 27-year prison sentence for plotting a coup against current President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
religionnews.com
December 13, 2025 at 1:52 AM
Reposted by Aleja Hertzler-McCain
thomasreesesj.bsky.social
religionnews.com/2025/12/12/d... @alejacorazonhm.bsky.social
DHS threatens Sister Norma Pimentel's migrant aid with 6-year funding ban
(RNS) — 'I take very seriously every single dollar entrusted to us,' said Pimentel in a statement responding to the DHS accusations, which included providing migrant services beyond the federal limit.
religionnews.com
December 13, 2025 at 1:54 AM
Reposted by Aleja Hertzler-McCain
joeferullo.bsky.social
Via @alejacorazonhm.bsky.social in NCR- At Catholic colleges, Latino students increasingly find a place that feels like home. "That's when I really felt that sense of community, that sense of 'Hey, we're here for you.'"
#Latino #Catholic #college
www.ncronline.org/news/catholi...
At Catholic colleges, Latino students increasingly find a place that feels like home
Sixty percent of Catholics under 18 identify as Hispanic, but Latinos are underrepresented at Catholic universities. Latinos are also a minority among campus ministers and make up less than 10% of the...
www.ncronline.org
December 10, 2025 at 4:03 PM
Reposted by Aleja Hertzler-McCain
jackjenkins.me
Via me and @alejacorazonhm.bsky.social: CBP posted a pic of two detained Iranians, saying, “No fun in the sun when you are unlawfully present.”

According to their Episcopal priest, they’re Christian converts seeking asylum, and deporting them may be a death sentence religionnews.com/2025/12/09/b...
Priest says sisters slated for deportation are Christians who could face persecution by Iran
WASHINGTON (RNS) — ‘We all feel a wound in our body of Christ, knowing what’s happening to them,’ said the Rev. Fran Gardner-Smith.
religionnews.com
December 9, 2025 at 10:56 PM
Reposted by Aleja Hertzler-McCain
thomasreesesj.bsky.social
religionnews.com/2025/12/05/c... @alejacorazonhm.bsky.social
Catholic campus ministers work toward culturally responsive ministry for Latino students
(RNS) — While Latinos are still a minority among campus ministers and make up less than 10% of theology students, Dominican University in the Chicago area has been home to an accelerating national eff...
religionnews.com
December 6, 2025 at 4:37 PM
Reposted by Aleja Hertzler-McCain
thomasreesesj.bsky.social
religionnews.com/2025/12/03/l... @alejacorazonhm.bsky.social
Latinos are underrepresented in Catholic higher ed. These schools are trying to change that.
AUSTIN (RNS) — Latinos’ absence on Catholic campuses, experts say, impacts their representation in church leadership as well as among influential Catholics in secular society.
religionnews.com
December 4, 2025 at 9:40 PM
Reposted by Aleja Hertzler-McCain
thomasreesesj.bsky.social
religionnews.com/2025/12/03/c... @alejacorazonhm.bsky.social
Catholic military archbishop calls 'intentional killing of noncombatants' illegal and immoral
(RNS) — Archbishop Timothy Broglio called on political and military leaders ‘to respect the consciences of those who raise their right hands to defend and protect the Constitution by not asking them t...
religionnews.com
December 4, 2025 at 7:48 PM
Reposted by Aleja Hertzler-McCain
thomasreesesj.bsky.social
religionnews.com/2025/11/24/l... @alejacorazonhm.bsky.social
Study: Latino Christians disapprove of Trump, hit hard by mass deportation campaign
(RNS) — Those opinions are being shaped as a majority of Latino Christians are witnessing the impacts of Trump’s mass deportation campaign in their own neighborhoods.
religionnews.com
November 25, 2025 at 4:33 PM