Volunteers practice linking to form human wall for pope's visit

Thousands of El Pasoans, Juarenses link up to create human chain along pope’s route

By |

JUAREZ — El Paso resident Rafael Sañedo, 21, drove cautiously down several Juarez city streets on a recent Sunday as he headed toward San Lorenzo Plaza to rehearse his part in the 25-mile-long human chain that will greet Pope Frances when he arrives in Juarez Wednesday to deliver a historic Mass at the old Juarez Fairgrounds, called El Punto. “Juarez has changed a lot throughout the years,” said Sañedo, a pet store employee, who has not crossed an international bridge from his home in El Paso into Ciudad Juarez for the last decade. The last time he visited Juarez was to see his grandmother before she died. “She was the only reason why we even came, so after she passed away there was no reason for me to come back,” he said. Several weeks ago Sañedo had a change of heart when, after attending Mass at Saint Mark Catholic Church in east El Paso, he heard an announcement asking for volunteers to help form a human wall, referred to as lLa Valla.

Members of the Baha’i student association participated in UTEP's International Day of Peace organized by the Religious Studies Program. (Edwin Delgado/Borderzine.com)

Religious groups set aside differences to emphasize the common goal of peace

By |

EL PASO – The world’s religions, often at bitter odds with each other, came together recently in a celebration of peace and in the spirit of doing good for humanity, at the University of Texas at El Paso. To attract different religions and even atheists the Religious Studies Program at UTEP needed to be creative. The academics brought the religious groups together to celebrate International Day of Peace, a theology they could all agree on. And they came – Catholics, Protestants, Baptists, Muslims and even atheists. “We had to choose an event that doesn’t favor anyone,” said Ann Branan Horak, director of the Religious Studies Program.