For the left, everything is political, and those aspects of life that aren’t obviously political can and must be politicized. The Rev. Stephen Josoma of Saint Susanna Roman Catholic Church in Dedham, Mass. knows this quite well. For years, he has used his parish as a sounding board for his far-left views, and this Christmas season is no different: he has turned his parish’s Nativity scene into a large denunciation of ICE.
Saint Susanna’s looks to be the parish of choice for Roman Catholics who like their Christianity with a strong dose of Marxism added in. The latest parish bulletin touts “A National Call for Moral Revival,” which “challenges the evils of systemic racism, poverty, the war economy, ecological devastation and the nation’s distorted morality of religious nationalism.”
The bulletin also includes a quotation from “the Jesuit Alfred Delp who was executed by the Nazis,” and who warns that “we run the risk of concealing Christmas behind bourgeois customs and sentimentality, behind all those traditions that make this holiday dear and precious to us.” Whatever Delp may have meant by this, for the modern-day leftist Roman Catholics at Saint Susanna’s, it clearly means to cut out the Christmas cheer and focus on improving the lot of the oppressed victims of racism, classism, xenophobia, and “Islamophobia.” Gotta guard against those bourgeois customs, after all.
This is disgusting.
Saint Susanna Parish in Massachusetts is displaying a Nativity scene with an empty manger and a sign that reads, “ICE was here,” along with contact info for a group that monitors local immigration enforcement.
Stop using our religion for your activism. pic.twitter.com/c1JabTkXjx
— CatholicVote (@CatholicVote) December 4, 2025
When it comes to guarding against bourgeois customs, Fr. Josoma is happy to oblige, as he has turned Christmas into a platform for leftist causes for years now. Boston’s WCVB noted Saturday that the right-thinking padre has “used the Nativity scene to address climate change, gun control, and even put Baby Jesus in a cage separated from his parents in 2018 during Trump’s first presidency.”
Clever! Hard-hitting! This year, the crusading leftist priest is at it again. The Nativity scene features a large sign reading “ICE WAS HERE” and no statues of Jesus, Mary or Joseph (Jesus isn’t supposed to be put into the Nativity scene until Dec. 25 anyway). The sign also says: “The Holy Family is safe in our Church … If you see ICE please call LUCE at 617-xxx-xxxx.”
Then there is this message in the parish bulletin: “If you see ICE (there have been incidents in Dedham!) please call the hotline at (617)-xxx-xxxx. Simply state what you see and where. The operator will gather the information and alert others to assist.” (Both signs gave out a real phone number, but I’ve x’d it out, as unlike Fr. Josoma, I don’t want to get involved in any criminal activity.)
Yes, the parish is asking for information on where ICE agents are operating, presumably so that they can alert illegal migrants to flee the area so as to escape capture. This drew the attention of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston, which found that this time (only this time?) Fr. Josoma had gone too far.
An Archdiocesan spokesperson said: “The people of God have the right to expect that, when they come to church, they will encounter genuine opportunities for prayer and Catholic worship — not divisive political messaging. The Church’s norms prohibit the use of sacred objects for any purpose other than the devotion of God’s people. This includes images of the Christ Child in the manger, which are to be used solely to foster faith and devotion.” The Archdiocese said that “the display should be removed, and the manger restored to its proper sacred purpose.”
Related: Thanksgiving Is the Left’s Eternal Enemy
Fr. Josoma, however, is standing his ground. “What is the objective by doing this? To help people recognize the plight of people who are really in dire need, and how are we treating them…. These are folks who carry a lot of scars with them. Some of them are physical scars, but most are emotional. They’ve seen their folks killed in front of them.” Boston’s WBUR reported that “leaders at St. Susanna’s Parish said they will keep the ‘ICE was here’ sign in a half-empty manger outside of the church despite condemnation from some Catholic leaders and community members.”
The political Nativity scene, said Fr. Josoma, was designed to reveal “the context Christmas is happening in this year,” and as such, it wasn’t going anywhere. And so now there is a standoff. Will the Archdiocese of Boston take down the disgraceful display? Or will it give in and allow Fr. Josoma and his henchmen to demonize and marginalize patriotic Roman Catholics? It’s anybody’s guess.
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