St. Stephen's Church in Boston. Photo: Wikimedia: CP Hoffman An Irish priest ministering at St Stephen’s Church in Boston has called on Irish to remember their history of emigration as hostility towards immigrants becomes more prevalent around the US and Ireland.
Fr David Costello of Co. Limerick said he has observed anti-immigration hate in Boston amid Trump’s US immigration crackdown, and has observed from afar the hostility against immigrants in his home country. He said he is saddened that “we Irish forget what our history is.”
“I listen to people complain openly about people coming into the United States. I see they’re complaining in Ireland as well,” said Fr Costello. “But I say to them, ‘come visit and see where these people live and understand why they’re looking to do something better for themselves’.”
Fr Costello’s history as a missionary priest in Peru and Bolivia has informed his way of thinking towards migrants and the countries they come from. “Those of us who have lived in the third world and walked in shanty towns understand where people are coming from and the difficulties they encounter.”
He said people in the US, Ireland, and around the world forget that immigration is often necessary or borne out of an instinctive desire for parents to create a better life for their children. “If that means leaving their home country and being illegal, that’s a sacrifice they make,” he continued. “I don’t think anybody does that intentionally.”