Hundreds of El Pasoans hiked up Mount Cristo Rey with Catholic Bishop Armando Ochoa in honor of migrants and refugees in the Texas community yesterday. As a pilgrimage of remembrance, they linked the sufferings of Jesus Christ as he walked to his death with the sufferings of migrants today.
The Bishop explained prior to the event: "By doing this, it's not only a reflection of the Passion of Christ 2,000 years ago but trying to look for Jesus in the migrant that we encounter day in and day out. It might be the person looking to feed her children, a single mother, or an 18-year-old Central American woman who has already had a difficult and trying journey in coming through Mexico and is in a detention camp in the U.S. side. Certainly, they are looking for nothing more than a way to better their lives and those of their families."
The four mile hike up the mountain located at the US-Mexico border included fourteen stops for prayer and reflection. One woman was spotted making the walk barefoot, likely as her personal sacrifice. Mount Cristo Rey is known in El Paso for the statue Christ of the Rockies, 42 feet in height, that tops the mountain as a symbol of goodwill between the US and Mexico, crafted by Urbici Soler in 1937.
