OCHOPEE — The faithful packed under the shade of tent, bowing their heads in prayer Saturday.
"The spirit of the Lord is upon me,” a soft-spoken priest called out.
The Rev. Frank O'Loughlin's words were repeated by the faithful.
"He anointed me," O'Loughlin called out. The faithful again, repeating his words, said,
“He has sent me to be good news to the poor."
Those of Jewish faith and believers in the Covenant of the Goddess joined Catholics like O'Loughlin, Native tribal members, Buddhists, Episcopalians –— an ecumenical mix of faiths — when they gathered on Miccosukee tribal land and asked their higher power for strength and guidance in this difficult time.
Across Tamiami Trail from the large gathering of the faithful is Alligator Alcatraz, a hastily put together immigrant detention camp in the heart of the Big Cypress National Preserve.
The detention camp has drawn scorn around the country. It was built in one of the most fragile ecosystems in the world and men rounded up for deportation are living in caged dormitories under thick tents. The menacing name and environment are meant to encourage undocumented immigrants to self-deport or not come to the United States in the first place.
O'Loughlin is a Roman Catholic priest and founder of the Guatemalan Maya Center in Lake Worth Beach. He came across the Florida Peninsula with many children who also offered prayer in their native Mayan language. He said he hoped the prayers, especially those not in English, could be heard and understood by those caged in the center across the street.
"It is our hope is on coming here is that the victims will not feel totally isolated. That they will know that [God's] love crosses fences and boundaries — and that they are supported in every way, not just by the wonderful prayers of our community here, but by all of us," he said, adding that the prayers are to also ask God that "this terrible wrong will come to an end."
Weekend demonstrations have been common here since mid June when the state announced plans to create the detention center in an effort tp appease the Trump administration’s massive deportation efforts. The first detainees were penned up some two weeks later.
But Saturday’s demonstration was a different gathering of easily more than 60 people. It was organized by Miccosukee tribal leader Betty Osceola, who urged people not to bring signs of protest but to bring prayers of hope — prayers to help restore humanity.
“A rainbow has many colors to make that rainbow beautiful and to give hope. So we need all walks of humanity to come together -- like that rainbow -- so we have that hope for a tomorrow,” she said.
A deeply spiritual Osceola explained how the tranquility of the environment has changed because of Alligator Alcatraz. "The environment -- nature -- absorbs everything around us. It takes in those feelings, those emotions. I can feel it in the trees -- the uncertainty of what's going on with all these people coming and going. They're taking in all the anguish from the people who are kept here -- but also who have to work here — all the anger and uncertainty, all those emotions are being absorbed into the environment around us."
The faithful obliged Osceola and didn’t bring signs protesting Alligator Alcatraz. A single, bed-sheet-size sign did standout Saturday. It was one that Osceola strung for all those entering and exiting Alligator Alcatraz to see: “God is Watching,” it read.
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