(This article originally appeared in the TAU-USA Winter 2026 Issue #118)
By Joe Makley, OFS • National JPIC Animator
I remember with great warmth a snowy 2:00 AM drive to pick up our daughter, Grace, at Holy Cross Church in Lewiston, Maine, where the bus had returned from the March for Life in Washington D.C. She was less weary than the chaperones, and excited to share her adventures. It was around that same time my pastor, Father Conley, asked me to do a talk after Mass to support the diocese pro-life legislation. I said yes, and from the ambo, I noticed a friend in the front row whose body language suggested disapproval. I realized there could be a social cost for taking a public stand. My son, William, however, gave me the thumbs up.
In 2016 Our family attended a march in our state capital in support of protecting our climate and environment. I was grateful for the recent promulgation of Laudato Si, and the opportunity to promote it. The march included about 2000 people, which is a lot for Maine. If there were other Catholics, I couldn’t tell by their signs. Back at Church, I explained that it would have been okay for Catholics. It was mostly moms and kids with signs like “God loves woodchucks!” The blank responses told me America had a lot of work to do on Pope Francis’ vision of a Church awakened to an integral ecology.
In the summer of 2018, I heard a call from Father Sam Fuller, OFM Cap, who had become a pastor in Manchester, New Hampshire. He was helping to facilitate a public walk to shine a light on unjust deportation practices that were happening to his parishioners. I marched for one day. We stopped at a detention facility and prayed on the sidewalk, ending up at a lakeside park for lunch. There were a few honks of agreement from passing cars and a reporter from Telemundo, but no trouble from anyone. I spoke about this at a regional gathering. Afterward, at more than one table, I was approached by members who disagreed with advocacy for immigrants. It was another opportunity for that loving dialogue.
In 2023, I heard another call, this time from Suzanne, our diocesan Public Policy Director in Maine. There was an abortion-on-demand bill in committee, and she asked us to come down to the state house and testify in person. I met Franciscans I knew on every floor. On the fourth floor were tables to register. I looked over the balcony railing and saw the lines going down four floors of steps and out the door. They had to let them all testify. It took most of the night. I asked a clerk, “Have you ever seen anything like this?” “Nope,” he said.
Last month my wife, Patricia, and I, along with some folks from our parish cluster and Kay, our regional JPIC animator, answered a call to pray outside the Portland Jail, which had been contracted to hold ICE deportees. It was a beautiful service, without confrontation, sponsored by Pax Christi Maine. To me, it was because Jesus was in there. “I was a stranger and you welcomed me.” I was encouraged by the thought that our humble group’s voice was a little louder for the presence of Secular Franciscans.
If we don’t invite dialogue, we never overcome our distrust of one another. Whenever I feel even slightly uncomfortable in speaking publicly for justice, I remember the people who suffered greatly for the same cause. It was Thea Bowman who talked about just doing her “little bit… if we all just light a candle, we’d have a tremendous light.”
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