On a Sunday morning earlier this month, people of all ages gathered at First and Summerfield Church, where a sign at the entrance reads “You are welcome here.” The church’s promise to welcome is multifaceted: it serves as a spiritual sanctuary for seekers of faith and also as a physical sanctuary for immigrants who may be at risk of deportation.

This February, the United Methodist Church — with which First and Summerfield is affiliated — along with many faith denominations across the country, joined a lawsuit to ensure that houses of worship are protected against raids by Immigration Customs Enforcement, or ICE. 

A 2011 Department of Homeland Security memo had prohibited authorities from entering “sensitive locations” like churches for years — yet Trump is challenging past precedent.

For decades, the sanctuary movement in New Haven and the surrounding areas has been led by Yale Divinity School alumni who are leaders at several of these churches. The movement focuses on supporting immigrants, whether it be through housing them or providing legal or health services.

“What we do in this world matters, the lives that we live, the way that we treat ourselves and other people, matters,” said Vicki Flippin DIV ’08, who served as the pastor at the First and Summerfield Church amid increased deportation raids in 2017. “If somebody is terrified that they’re gonna be separated [from] their children, it is obvious to me what faith has called me to do.”

As the second Trump administration ramps up deportations and anti-immigrant rhetoric, often fueled by Christian nationalism, sanctuary churches embrace faith to “welcome the stranger,” New Haven faith leaders told the News.

Taking a risk in opening up their church

The sanctuary movement is not new. American churches began sheltering immigrants in the 1980s, during the Reagan administration, Karla Cornejo Villavicencio GRD ’19 writes in her book “The Undocumented Americans.” Then, a group of churches took in nearly 500,000 refugees fleeing Central America. 

But offering sanctuary has carried legal risks. In 1985, the federal government indicted 16 people, including a Protestant minister, two Roman Catholic priests and three nuns, with “conspiracy” to smuggle undocumented immigrants into the United States.

More than 30 years later, during the first Trump administration, Gini King DIV ’84, a retired leader of First Congregational Church in Old Lyme, talked to her congregation to become a sanctuary church.

“I believe that my faith tells me that Jesus was a community organizer,” King said. “He broke the law time and time again, and he was non-violent. That’s what I want to be. That’s who I want to be.”

Jamie Michaels, who took over as lead pastor at First and Summerfield in 2022, also admitted that there has been some fear in the church about the consequences that might befall churches that take in undocumented immigrants. However, she thinks that these concerns pale in comparison to the risks and dangers that immigrants face.

“We have a heritage to lean on, of communities and people who have stood firm in their faith even in the face of those kinds of threats,” Michaels said. “We were never promised that following the love of God and walking on that path would be easy or safe. So we trust.”

For Michaels, taking risks to help those in need is not a political stance but rather a central aspect of her faith.

After taking the job in 2018, Flippin similarly learned that her role as pastor would come to encompass much more than the job description of a conventional faith leader. 

Flippin, Michael’s predecessor who led First and Summerfield during the first Trump administration, recalled feeling concerned by the president’s rhetoric against immigrants as ICE ramped up deportations across the country. For Flippin, housing immigrants, who she felt were labeled as “throwaway people,” in the church where she served as a spiritual leader felt essential to oppose this rhetoric.

“It was a declaration in opposition to rhetoric that treated people like they were not important to their community and not important to our country,” she told the News in February. Yet, the movement to house people in churches to prevent their deportation was not an easy feat. “It was a really labor-intensive move,” she said.

Flippin detailed the congregants’ efforts to donate funds for the immigrants’ mortgages, do their laundry, provide showers, offer food and care for their children. She said it was a “hugely intense community effort” to show that these people were important — regardless of Trump’s rhetoric.

The sanctuary space at First and Summerfield is currently open, although church leaders do not publicize whether anyone is currently residing there due to safety concerns.

According to the American Civil Liberties Union, ICE officials would have to receive a warrant signed by a federal judge to enter a private space within a house of worship.

Glenn Formica, a New Haven attorney who has worked on legal cases involving sanctuary in churches, said that the lawsuit involving New Haven congregations — which opposes Trump’s recall of place of worship protection in immigration crackdown — challenges the “fear narrative” that he believes the current presidential administration is “aggressively” advancing.

The Biblical basis of sanctuary 

Rabbi Herb Brockman of Congregation Mishkan Israel in Hamden, part of the sanctuary movement, compared the current deportation to that of the Nazi persecution of Jews.

“We were hunted down in the 1930s,” said Brockman, referring to the Nazis’ method of deporting Jews in Europe to concentration camps. “As Jews, we are to remember that.” 

He emphasized that while the Nazis committed many atrocities, there were also 24,000 “righteous gentiles” who risked their lives to hide Jews and protect them. When he teaches about the Holocaust, he wants people to know that there are people who resisted the Nazis.

Besides his historical motivations for joining the sanctuary movement, Brockman also cited its biblical basis: the Torah mentions welcoming the stranger 36 times. 

He also spoke of the idea of “cities of refuge,” which were six cities that were set aside for an individual who accidentally killed someone to reside in and be protected from revenge-seekers before a legal trial. 

“This isn’t new,” he said.

Flippin spoke about Matthew 25 as a part of the New Testament that she has always clung to when thinking about the sanctuary movement. At a panel at St. Thomas Moore in February about immigration, panelists also spoke about this verse. The verse asks: “When I was a stranger, did you welcome me?”

“If I see somebody suffering, like somebody is terrified that they’re going to be separated from their children, it is obvious to me what faith calls me to do,” said Flippin.

Shaping a progressive movement to counter Christian Nationalism 

Flippin also spoke of the varied political conclusions that believers might reach based on their reading of certain sections of the Bible.

“People are complex, which you learn when you get to know folks who have different views from yourself,” she said.“We believe in Matthew 25, but we just kind of interpret it a little differently in different arenas.”

In the United States, conservatives and liberals alike have set out to define what role religion should play in politics. Many Christians on the political right subscribe to strands of Christian nationalism — an ideology that is based around the idea that the U.S. was founded as a Christian nation and should therefore be a Christian nation into the future.

Vice President JD Vance LAW ’13 spoke publicly on his views on immigration as a Catholic at a town hall in September prior to the election. He said that there is a “Christian idea that you owe the strongest duty to your family.” As such, he argued, American leaders should not be overwhelmingly concerned with protecting citizens of other nations. 

“It doesn’t mean that you have to be mean to other people, but it means that your first duty as an American leader is to the people of your own country,” the Vice President said. The town hall was part of Christian nationalist preacher Lance Wallnau’s election-season revival tour, which aimed to make a theological defense of many of the Trump-Vance immigration policies.

Many who have opened up their churches to undocumented immigrants view their interpretation of Christianity as counter to interpretations like Vance’s that are often used to defend deportations. 

“Christian nationalism and other movements like that take the concept of the Kingdom of God and just write it onto a really coercive, oppressive idealism,” said Michaels. “For me, the kingdom of God is a world in which all people can be whole, and all people can be well.”

Michaels said she believes that using scripture to defend agendas of oppression and hate is antithetical to what her faith calls her to do. She views the Bible as a collection of sacred words rooted in love and self-sacrifice for all of creation. This biblical interpretation drives her in her work to provide sanctuary to immigrants. 

Flippin echoed Michaels in that she views Christian nationalism as not in line with her interpretation of scripture.

“I don’t see anything scriptural about it. I feel that it is nationalism, patriotism, and nativism using scripture and the intense emotionality of religion and ritual for its own end, which I find to be blasphemous and offensive,” said Flippin.

Bishop Thomas Bickerton, who serves as area resident bishop for the United Methodist Church in the New England and New York areas, believes that right-wing Christianity is not a “biblical” Christianity, but a secular one. 

“I do not believe that the Bible equates itself with secular society, nor does it equate itself with policies and procedures that are contrary to biblical truth,” Bickerton said. “Biblical truth is not necessarily trying to find a passage in scripture that meets what you believe. It’s quite the opposite.”

Flippin, who left First and Summerfield to become the Associate Dean for Student Affairs at Yale Divinity School in 2022, believes it is important to raise the next generation of faith leaders as competent in “alleviating suffering in the world.” 

She encouraged Yale students to open their minds to this mission.

“It’s really important to notice the incredible long-term efforts that are going on in this city,” said Flippin. “As much as you can emotionally manage it, step into those spaces that are not made for Yale students, but where you have to be there for other people.”

First and Summerfield Church is located at 425 College St. 

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The IHRA definition states that antisemitism includes “targeting of the state of Israel,” with the caveat that it is not antisemitic to lodge criticisms of Israel “similar to that leveled against any other country.” Scholars have debated the definition, with critics arguing it can conflate criticism of Israel with antisemitism. Its proponents suggest that it emphasizes that discourse about Israel can go beyond legitimate political criticism and become antisemitic. 

An archive of Yale’s policies from the day before Trump was inaugurated in January does not include the IHRA definition. The policy page states that it was last revised on March 28. The University did not announce publicly that it would begin to consider IHRA’s definition. 

Yale has not adopted one definition of antisemitism but instead disciplines antisemitism as part of its broader rules surrounding discrimination and harassment on the basis of race, ethnicity and shared heritage. The IHRA definition was added as a footnote that Yale “considers” as part of these broad guidelines. 

The definition includes several clauses tying antisemitism to Israel, such as describing as antisemitic “denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, e.g., by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor” and “drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis.”

Linda Maizels, recently-appointed inaugural managing director for the Yale Program for the Study of Antisemitism, said that one of the reasons that universities are looking at suddenly adopting the IHRA definition is pressure from the Trump administration, adding that not all American Jews support such efforts. 

“Many Jews are uncomfortable because they feel that some of these measures are coming out ‘in their name,’ and they don’t support broad-based attacks on removing money from universities,” she said. “I don’t think this is effective. In the end, it could result in exacerbating hostilities against Jews.” 

Maizels, who is a prominent scholar of contemporary antisemitism on college campuses, said that the IHRA definition was not meant to be used in campus settings, but added that it’s a “useful guide.”  

“I don’t think that an institution adopting the IHRA definition is necessarily going to solve the antisemitism problem,” Maizels said. “On the other hand, I don’t think it is as dangerous as it’s made out to be.”

Yale’s addition of the definition comes amid pressure at peer institutions to reevaluate their definitions of antisemitism. 

Columbia University recently revised its definition of antisemitism amid pressure from the Trump administration to adopt the IHRA definition in exchange for restoring federal funding. While the administration urged adoption of the IHRA definition, Columbia instead implemented its own similar version.

Harvard University adopted the IHRA definition of antisemitism in January as part of settlements of two lawsuits surrounding antisemitism on Harvard campus. The decision to adopt this definition has been criticized. 

Deena Margolies, an attorney who led the settlement with Harvard, also filed a discrimination complaint that led the Department of Education to open an investigation into antisemitism at Yale. Margolies said that one result she would like to see of the investigation into Yale is the University’s adopting the IHRA definition of antisemitism.

“I know people get very upset when they hear IHRA, and they think, ‘Oh gosh, they’re going to tell us we can’t criticize Israel,’” Margolies said. “And that’s not what IHRA is about. I think the hope is that there will be more speech and more dialogue.”

Administrators emphasized that the IHRA definition is not the only consideration in their disciplinary rules on antisemitism. 

The University spokesperson wrote to the News that Yale’s Office of Institutional Equity and Accessibility “considers all applicable state and federal legal and regulatory guidance” in addition to the IHRA definition. 

The spokesperson added that “Yale’s policies and procedures related to Discrimination, Harassment, and Retaliation are not intended to infringe free speech or the free expression of ideas.”

“We’re very committed to preventing antisemitism and to helping anybody who becomes a victim of antisemitism,” explained Dean of Yale College Pericles Lewis. “But we don’t have a separate definition of it.” 

The definition has been used by the U.S. State Department since 2010.

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“This World Where We Live: A Celebration of the Land at Yale Divinity School” had its opening reception on Monday afternoon. Installed on March 21, it will remain on display through the end of the academic year. Curated by Chris Freimuth DIV ’25, the exhibit offers viewers a multisensory experience of trees and perennials, branches, rocks and soil from the Divinity School property.

“The idea was to collect primarily materials from the property of the Divinity School,” Freimuth told the News, explaining that the purpose of the exhibit was to envelop people through all of the senses and encourage them to go outside. “It was to sort of say ‘Guess what? Everything that you’re looking at? It’s outside.’”

The exhibit features an audio component of bird song, spring peepers and crickets. On the tables, there are bowls made by a local potter filled with acorns and seeds from hemlocks and sweet gum trees. Attendees are encouraged to put their hands in the bowls and feel the natural materials. The exhibit also includes fragrant twigs from some plants on the YDS property. 

Freimuth’s intentions behind these sensory elements are not only to showcase the beauty of the local environment, but also to invite a deeper spiritual connection with nature. 

“One of the most enjoyable and effective ways to do that is to is to fall in love with the world, become very enchanted with it, and remember how lovely it is and how connected to it we actually are, so that we’re motivated in our activism by love and connection rather than by obligation,” said Freimuth.

That attentiveness — to both people and place — has made itself into the very fabric of the exhibition. 

Donghyung Lee DIV ’27, said that the artwork exemplified Freimuth’s warmth and attentiveness, as the way Freimuth interacts with people “reflects the way he values nature.”

Lee said one of his favorite pieces was the arrangement of live flowers on the table, adding that the exhibition as a whole allowed him to appreciate the nature he inhabits. He also highlighted the exhibition’s location, Croll Hall, saying that its centrality makes the art accessible to a wide range of students at YDS.

For Lee, the exhibition also embodied the mission of YDS and the potential of religious reflection for creating change in the world.

“I see environmental issues as a theological task and responsibility that we can no longer ignore,” he said. “Theological reflection may not provide scientific data or technical solutions, but it provides an ethical framework that makes such efforts possible.”

Arturo Perez Balderrama DIV ’27 said he thought the exhibition was a fitting way to welcome the Spring season. He said the themes of nature that Freimuth explored in his artwork encouraged viewers to consider and contemplate the divinity all around us.

“I think there’s a divine presence in every living being,” said Balderrama. “With the new exhibition, Croll Entrance Hall feels more alive.”

Balderrama also noted that the exhibition aligns with YDS’ broader commitment to sustainability, pointing to the Living Village Project, which will create affordable net-positive-energy housing for students.

Balderramaa said the exhibition complements these institutional efforts: by encouraging personal encounters with the natural world, viewers are reminded of what is at stake and why the environment is worth protecting.

“This World Where We Live: A Celebration of the Land at Yale Divinity School” will be open through commencement from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.

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The lawsuit followed the Department of Homeland Security’s Jan. 20 rescission of a Biden-era guideline protecting schools, hospitals and congregations from intrusion by federal immigration authorities. In February, 27 national and regional denominations signed on as plaintiffs, including the parent denominations for New Haven’s First Presbyterian Church, First and Summerfield United Methodist Church, and Congregation Mishkan Israel.

Another lawsuit filed two weeks later, involving regional Quaker, Baptist and Sikh congregations, prompted a Maryland judge to temporarily block federal immigration authorities from entering these congregations. However, that lawsuit’s ruling does not provide legal protections for other congregations, not involved in the lawsuit.

Glen Formica, a New Haven attorney who has worked on legal cases involving sanctuary in churches, said that the lawsuit involving New Haven congregations challenges the “fear narrative” that the current presidential administration is “aggressively” advancing. 

“They want to create this narrative of fear that says, ‘nowhere are you safe,’” Formica said. “‘We’ll pull you out of a church pew, we’ll wheel you out of a hospital bed, and we’ll come into your schools and grab your children.’”

Although there is a precedent for federal immigration authorities not entering houses of worship — based on the 2011 Department of Homeland Security memorandum of understanding, which prohibits authorities from entering “sensitive locations” like churches — there is no legal basis, according to Formica. 

Formica believes that no other president has tried to revoke the guideline because it would invite “bad political optics.”

“What does it say for us as a society that this administration is so willing to engage in activities that most, if not all, Americans would find deeply morally repugnant?” said Kica Matos, who heads the National Immigration Law Center and is a former executive director of New Haven’s Junta for Progressive Action. “Not even places of worship are sacred.”

Rabbi Herb Brockman, the rabbi emeritus of Hamden’s Congregation Mishkan Israel, which is associated with the Union of Reform Judaism, is also joining the lawsuit. He described the deportations during the current Trump administration as “chaotic,” even compared to his previous administration. 

Brockman mentioned that during the previous Trump administration, people were sometimes given up to 30 days before they would be deported. Now, the timeline has changed. 

Formica echoed this sentiment, describing the differences between the current Trump administration and the previous one as “night and day.”

“The first Trump administration was pretty restrained compared to where they’re at now,” Formica said. “This is next level. They’re trying to run a psychological operation to frighten, terrorize and motivate all foreign nationals to leave.”

All three congregations involved in the lawsuit were members of a loose coalition of 13 houses of worship willing to provide sanctuary and legal aid for undocumented immigrants during the first Trump administration. Brockman, Matos, Pastor Héctor Otero and Reverend Paul Fleck spearheaded the movement shortly after Trump’s 2016 election.

As a collective, the coalition provided refuge for nine people throughout the first Trump administration, eight of whom left sanctuary after receiving legal relief, according to Fleck.

Fleck and Matos stressed that the revocation of immigration protections for houses of worship has upped the stakes for congregations that have been willing to provide sanctuary in the past.

“Congregations that used to offer sanctuary have had to weigh whether they’re willing to openly defy the government,” Matos said.

She explained that some national houses of worship have shifted away from providing sanctuary to other forms of support for immigrants, such as organizing food pantries and accompanying congregation members to court hearings.

Fleck believes that federal immigration authorities will primarily detain undocumented people on the streets and disregard those seeking sanctuary in houses of worship. He worries that this will force undocumented people to remain in sanctuary for an extended period, creating a “tremendous drain” for congregation resources.

The Department of Homeland Security was founded in 2002 by then-President George W. Bush.

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The Allan Bloom Forum, affiliated with the Conservative Party of the Yale Political Union, organized the event. Justice Breyer’s grandson, Eli Breyer Essiam ’28, a member of the Conservative Party, introduced him. 

Breyer was joined by Paul Gewirtz, a professor of constitutional law at Yale Law School. Gewirtz expressed his gratitude to Breyer for speaking about his experiences on the Supreme Court, especially in the current moment. 

“Today, there seems to be a special fortunateness,” Gerwitz said about Breyer’s visit to Yale. “In part because the Supreme Court and the Constitution are the subject of tremendous controversy. Some people say that we’re in a constitutional crisis.”

The two spoke about the role of a Supreme Court justice, the different methods of interpreting the Constitution and contemporary issues that the Court is facing, including questions of how political it should be, generally avoiding questions related to the current presidential administration.

Breyer encouraged the audience to stay active in public life, quoting the Greek politician Pericles.

“He said, ‘What can say about the man who does not participate in public life. We do not say he is a man who minds his own business. We say he is a man who has no business here,’” said Breyer. 

Throughout the talk, Breyer cracked many jokes and was met with much laughter from the audience. 

“He was surprisingly witty and funny. I was impressed,” said Miles Kirkpatrick ’27, who attended the event. “There were a lot of good insights on the nature of litigation in general, and a lot of good insights on the security of the court as well.”

Gewirtz asked Breyer about his thoughts on the current state of the “constitutional crisis,” considering that many Americans, including some of his law students, have lost trust and confidence in the Supreme Court. In response, Breyer emphasized the importance of speaking to those with whom one may disagree. 

“Go and find someone who you believe is intelligent and thinks the opposite. Listen to what they say and if you get them to talk long enough they will say something that you really agree with,” he said, emphasizing that agreement is something even if it is not always perfect. “If you get 30 percent of what you want, take it. Don’t hold up for 100 percent,” he said. 

Before taking a few questions from the audience, Breyer closed by saying that he was particularly inspired by seventh grade students he spoke to recently who gave him hope for the future. 

“They’re actually listening. It wasn’t the words I said, it was that they want to help in a period where people are pretty divided. Maybe I don’t know the right way, but it’s a way. Maybe it’s possible. The fact that they’re listening, it’s that which makes me optimistic about this country,” he said. 

Justice Stephen Breyer served on the United States Supreme Court from 1994 to 2022.

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In an email to the News, Cantor emphasized that his desire to become a rabbi stemmed directly from his experience as an undergraduate at Yale and his time spent at Slifka. He hopes that he will be able to guide Yale students in the same “richness of learning and community” that he once experienced. 

“At Yale, I loved diving into new texts and ideas, exploring the arts and spirituality, community organizing, and building lasting friendships,” Cantor wrote to the News. “What made it special was that I didn’t experience these activities in isolation, but with the same amazing people — especially at Slifka. To study alongside those you’ve volunteered with, accompanied to Yale Health, supported in student elections, grieved family losses, and celebrated holidays together is a rare and precious gift.”

Cantor majored in women’s, gender and sexuality studies during his time at Yale and worked as a rabbinic intern from 2020 to 2021 at Slifka. He received rabbinic ordination in 2024 from the pluralistic rabbinical school Hebrew College, where he was a Wexner fellow. Currently, he serves as a community rabbi at the Den Collective, which serves Jewish young adults in the Washington area. 

Uri Cohen, executive director of the Slifka Center wrote in an email announcing the hire that for Cantor, returning to Slifka to serve in a rabbinic position will be a “coming home.” According to Cohen, in a recent visit to Slifka, many students enjoyed getting to know him and were impressed by his depth of knowledge and his personable manner. 

“Throughout his interview process, he spoke lovingly about Slifka and our students and the opportunity to bring his love for Jewish learning, pastoral care, and Israel for the benefit of our students and community,” wrote Cohen.

The Slifka Center is still searching for someone to fill the campus rabbi position, which would require someone with more experience in the field, alongside Cantor who will be taking on a junior position as the assistant rabbi.

The search committee was led by co-chairs Yishai Schwartz ’13 LAW ’17 and Abigail Pogrebin ’87.

Cantor hopes to bring his love of Jewish texts, tradition and community to students beginning next fall.

“Together, I hope we’ll explore how Jewish ideas and commitments can enrich their lives and deepen their engagement with Yale, New Haven, the US, the Jewish people, Israel, and the broader world — wherever their paths may lead,” he wrote.

Cantor spoke of beginning this work on holy ground and is excited to begin working in July.

“As God tells Moses at the burning bush, the place of change is holy ground. I am excited to partner with students, the Slifka staff, and the Yale community as we walk that holy ground together,” he wrote.

The Slifka Center was founded in 1995.

Correction, March 26: The article has been updated to reflect that Cantor attended Yale only for college, not for graduate school.

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“My decision to translate with attention to sound and cadence and rhyme will, I hope, demonstrate to readers and listeners—the Qur’an is meant to be read aloud—the beauty of the text, something that is rarely discernible in translations,” Toorawa wrote to the News.

One of Toorawa’s students, Roma Mykhailevych ’27, emphasized that as someone learning Arabic, she appreciates the uniqueness of Toorawa’s translation and mentioned that his focus on the poetic and acoustic qualities make it “more than just another translation.”

“It’s not just about conveying meaning; it’s about capturing the experience of the text—the way it sounds, the way it feels to recite. That’s something a lot of translations don’t fully capture, so it’s exciting to see a version that prioritizes that,” wrote Mykhailevych. 

She praised Toorawa’s welcoming and engaging demeanor and said that his enthusiasm for language and literature is “contagious.” His class inspired her to keep studying Arabic and its literary traditions.

Ahmed Nur GRD ’25, a teaching fellow for the Humanities and Religious Studies Programs, has found Toorawa’s translations particularly useful as it “beautifully translates” important parts of the Quran. 

He pointed out that with the development of new technologies like AI, Toorawa’s translation is even more important. 

“In our increasingly AI-generated age, Prof. Toorawa’s translation exemplifies his love of literature and scholarly rigor while also producing sonic beauty and power,” wrote Nur. 

Some of the first verses of the Qur’an can be found engraved on the facade of Sterling Memorial Library.

Correction, March 6: This article has been updated to correct the spelling of Toorawa’s last name.

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USAID, a federal agency founded in 1961, provides funding to vulnerable people worldwide. Since Trump took office, the agency has come under increased scrutiny and became a key target of the Department of Government Efficiency.  

In an opinion piece published in MSNBC, Sterling expressed concern for how these cuts will affect Christian groups that receive federal funding. He is also worried that core Christian values such as caring for the stranger are now under threat.

“Whether a person is American or from another country, whether they live next door or half a world away, whether they are our best friend or a complete stranger, Christianity compels its followers to care for them and to help them,” Sterling wrote. “Today, this core Christian value is under threat, not from foreign enemies but from our own government.”

In an email to the News, the Rev. William J. Barber II, who directs the Center for Public Theology and Public Policy at YDS, called Sterling’s critique “prophetic.” The nation needs “the kind of challenge” Sterling put forward in his writing, Barber wrote, adding that “those who have ears to hear will hear.” 

Sterling critiqued the number of Christians who voted for Trump, citing a NBC News exit poll that stated 63 percent of voters in the “Protestant or other Christians” demographic voted for Trump.

“The situation leads me to wonder whether some Christians have made a single issue or two the sole determinant of their political views and, by doing so, have sold their souls in a Faustian deal for political power,” Sterling wrote in the op-ed.

Barber wrote that it would be “theological malpractice” to stay silent on these issues. He also emphasized that Sterling’s opinion is not partisan but rather one from coming from his moral ground as a Christian.

At the end of his opinion, Sterling mentioned that Pope Francis and Gabriel Salguero, president of the National Latino Evangelical Coalition, have spoken out against these cuts. 

Cardinal Michael Czerny, who heads the Vatican office responsible for migrants, called the decision to halt USAID funding “ruthless” and warned that millions of people could die as a result.

Sterling is the latest voice among the mix of faith leaders criticizing Trump’s policy decisions.

“Christians may disagree about a number of important issues, but the imperative to care for the downtrodden is not one of them,” Sterling wrote.

Yale Divinity School was established in 1822.

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Saltiel spoke of the “heartbreak and fear” that these past three years have brought and prayed that next year attendees will not have to gather again for a vigil. She recited a prayer written by 19th-century Ukrainian rabbi Nathan Sternhartz.

“May we see the day when war and bloodshed cease, when a great peace will embrace the whole world. That nation shall not threaten nation, and humanity will not again know war. For all who live on earth shall realize we have not come into being to hate or to destroy. We have come into being to praise, to labor, and to love. Let love and justice flow like a mighty stream. Let peace fill the earth. Let the waters fill the sea, and let us say amen,” said Saltiel as the audience answered amen. 

Christina Logvynyuk ’25, a Ukrainian American student, was a first year when the full-scale invasion began and reflected that her entire undergraduate experience has been “inextricable” from the war. She recalled studying in the Gilmore Music Library when she first found out there were airstrikes outside of Kyiv.

“In that moment, my worldview shifted completely, just like every Ukrainian. Over the last four years, I haven’t been back to that study spot, after that life was different, but at least with the outpouring of international support, we weren’t alone,” said Logvynyuk. 

Logvynyuk emphasized the importance of continued American support and listening to the voices coming out of Ukraine. She read a poem by Maksym Kryvtsov, a Ukrainian poet and soldier who was killed earlier this year. 

“As an American, it is my responsibility to make sure their voices are heard,” said Logvynyuk before reading the poem aloud.

Tytarenko shared her experience of finding out about the war in the U.S. while much of her family remains in Ukraine. In particular, she shared that her uncle had tried to flee his home in Kharkiv which was attacked intensely at the beginning of the war. Her uncle ended up in a hospital in Russia. 

Tytarenko said he was “lucky” that volunteers helped him escape and reunite with his family in Ukraine. She said this story is one of many stories that have come out of the war.

“Every Ukrainian, whether in Ukraine or abroad, carries stories like that. We all know someone, a relative, a friend, a friend of a friend, a classmate, a former professor, a student. These stories define us now,” said Tytarenko. 

She said that what happens in Ukraine will “determine the future of democracy everywhere.”

When asked what she thinks of a possible peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine, Tytarenko told the News that the conversations about the agreement have been happening without Ukraine involved. 

“Ukraine should be involved in the negotiations, in the conversation, and Ukraine should lead that conversation,” she said. She sees this moment as a way for greater Europe to reckon with the value of democracy. 

“We are also witnessing an opportunity for Europe to regroup as well and share responsibility for the upholding of democratic values, and joining in with the understanding that this is not just the war between Russia and Ukraine.” 

Tytarenko described Ukraine as being on the “front line of a much greater battle” for democratic values against tyranny. 

“It is a war of freedom, against oppression, of justice, against brutality,” she said. 

She encouraged attendees to continue standing with Ukraine.

“As long as people unite, as long as people stand together and support Ukraine and Ukrainians, there is hope,” said Tytarenko. 

Tytarenko told the News that as part of the Ukrainian language classes at Yale, her students are translating the poetry of Ukrainian soldiers on the frontlines to English. She said that two translations will be published in the Yale Journal of Literary Translation. 

“This is such a valuable addition to our curriculum that our students can contribute to something, to very meaningful initiatives spreading the voices of the soldiers that are on the front line,” said Tytarenko. 

The Ukraine House at Yale was formed after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.

The post “As long as people unite, there is hope”: Yale community marks three years since Russia’s full-scale invasion appeared first on Yale Daily News.

In the introduction to the panel, Assistant Chaplain Pauline Little emphasized that the panel was not about “political sides or partisanship” but rather to share stories about the impact of sudden changes in federal funding and immigration policy. She mentioned a letter that Pope Francis wrote to U.S. bishops, stating, “The Christian faithful and people of God are called upon to consider the legitimacy of norms and public policy in light of the dignity of the human person and his or her fundamental rights.” She also quoted a gospel, pointing to the importance of faith when discussing immigration policy. 

“In today’s gospel, we heard the sermon where Jesus speaks about those who are blessed alongside woeful warnings. So how does our Catholic faith call us to respond this time?” said Little. 

Burns, a nun and lawyer, explained that she sees the work that she does at Apostle Immigrant Services to be in response to her faith. She referred to the Catholic Social Teaching that is founded on the biblical principle of humans being made in the “image and likeness of God.”

“We, therefore, have an immense inherent dignity from God, and that that must be honored, whether it’s in a person who speaks differently or looks differently, whether it is a person yet to be born or a person on death row, whether it is a person who lacks cognitive abilities or whether it is a person who is poor, who is unemployed, we are all made in the image and likeness of God, and it is not a political statement to say that we must treat people as such,” said Burns, met with applause from the audience. 

Mitchell Salem described the devastating effects of IRIS’ funding getting cut. She called the “stop work” orders “appalling.” 

“It was like a guillotine, and we are going to do our best to survive. We’re thinking fast, working fast and trying to adapt,” said Mitchell Salem. 

She called on those who were able to donate funds to IRIS amidst their financial losses in addition to calling for comprehensive immigration reform. She also stressed the significance of immigrants’ contributions to the American workforce. She cited industries such as construction and agriculture which rely heavily on the labor of undocumented immigrants, calling these “essential services” for the U.S. 

“They’re getting jobs not because they’re taking it away from any American, but because the job needs to be done, and there’s no one to do it,” said Mitchell Salem. 

Serweri praised the Biden administration for its work in improving immigration policy.

“Gigantic progress was made during the previous administration, and they focused on domestic capacity,” said Serweri.

All of the panelists were asked to share how their faith informs their work. Burns mentioned studying the prophet Amos and Matthew 25 as being particularly relevant to her work. 

“When I came to you as a stranger, did you welcome me? Those are all things that keep me fired up with what I’m doing,” Burns stated quoting Matthew 25.

Putzel-Kavanaugh, who deals with a lot of data analysis in her job, said that for her faith is about hope. 

“If you work in immigration, you have to have hope. Even though I feel very comfortable in the data and being able to research something and find an answer, sometimes there’s a lot of unexplainable things or questions that arise. The idea of hope is very grounding in all of this,” said Putzel-Kavanaugh. 

St. Thomas More is located at 268 Park St.

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