The Holy Family fleeing from one Roman-controlled region to another in the first century is in no way a mandate on whether America has a right to enforce immigration laws.
Last week, a Catholic church in Massachusetts made headlines with its Nativity display — in which Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus were replaced by an empty manger and an anti-ICE poster. Now, it seems the church’s pastor is refusing to take down the display for the time being, against the wishes of his church authority.
St. Susanna, located in the Boston suburb of Dedham, “displayed a Nativity scene outside the church with an empty manger and a sign that says, ‘ICE was here,’” Fox News reported Wednesday. The implication, of course, is that the baby Savior was either apprehended or threatened by federal immigration agents.
“The Holy Family is safe in The Sanctuary of our church,” the sign below the “ICE was here” poster reads, “followed by contact information for a group that monitors immigration operations in the state.”
‘ICE was here’: Dedham church’s Nativity scene protests immigration crackdownhttps://t.co/cJzRj5jrNE pic.twitter.com/uM2VpfLtSQ
— Boston.com (@BostonDotCom) December 3, 2025
Father Stephen Josoma, the pastor at St. Susanna, reportedly told Fox that “the church’s peace and justice group” puts together a display each year. They “try to see what [it would] be like if Christ was born into the context of the world today” and ask, “what would he be facing?” he said.
The display’s ultimate message is clear: In a modern-day context, Jesus, his mother Mary, and (earthly) father Joseph would be considered migrants — a family of refugees crossing borders only to face being nabbed by law enforcement officers amid Trump’s illegal immigration crackdown. If that rubs you the wrong way, you’re the problem, at least according to Josoma, who told Fox that if the display of “religious art” “evokes a strong reaction, it’s maybe good to take a look at that.”
On Friday, the Archdiocese of Boston condemned the display, which was reportedly put up without its permission. According to Fox, the Archdiocese’s secretary for communications and public affairs issued a statement calling for “the display [to] be removed, and the manger restored to its proper sacred purpose.” ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons has also spoken out against the politicized nativity. On Monday, Josoma defended the display and indicated it would stay in place while “waiting for an opportunity of dialogue and clarity with [Arch]bishop [Richard] Henning before reaching any final decisions,” according to a press conference video posted by MassLive. He did signal the display would come down “if the circus continues and then there’s threats … anything like that.”
‘It Does Not Make Historical Sense’
This is hardly the first time professing Christians have exploited the biblical narrative to essentially justify allowing millions of illegal aliens into the U.S. And, following a year of horrific leftist political violence, including against ICE agents, speaking out against this manipulative endeavor has never been more important.At the very least, anyone who has actually read the biblical account of Christ’s birth (hopefully that includes Father Josoma?) knows how seriously historically flawed it is to cast Mary, Joseph, and Jesus as modern-day migrants.
Mary and Joseph went to Bethlehem in accordance with the law to be counted as members of the “Roman world,” not to evade it or escape (Luke 2:1-15). Jesus was born in a stable, not because the Holy Family was homeless or displaced, but because “there was no guest room available for them” during their census trip to the City of David.
Now, the display at St. Susanna very well could be a reference to how the Holy Family later fled from Bethlehem to Egypt, which happened up to two years after Christ’s birth. In this case, Mary and Joseph were escaping an evil ruler who threatened their son. But even then, the analogy is still faulty.
Bethlehem was located in the Roman-controlled territory of Judea, which was overseen by King Herod at the time of Jesus’ birth. Although Herod was essentially a puppet ruler on behalf of the Romans, news of the birth of the Messiah — the true “King of the Jews” — threatened his power. He asked the Magi to report Jesus’ location back to him. When they failed to do this, Herod “gave orders to kill all the baby boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under” (Matthew 2). Jesus was spared because an angel of the Lord came to Joseph in a dream, telling him to escape to Egypt with his family --->READ MORE HERE
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