A church in the United States capital is reviving the decades-old practice of using places of worship for people who may feel threatened by society, this time by the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump.
According to a report from Public Radio International (PRI), the All Souls Church Unitarian in Washington D.C. has opened its doors as a "sanctuary" to those who feel unsafe with the new U.S. leadership.
Reverend Robert Hardies shared how 1,600 people attended the Holy Mass at the church last Sunday—double the usual number of people who usually attend the services. For him, this is an indication that many Americans are looking for a place where they feel safe in the current political climate.
"What I'm hearing from folks is that they're grieving, they're fearful and they're feeling vulnerable," Hardies told PRI.
He further shared that churches have been declared as sanctuaries before for the oppressed, dating as far back as the 1980s.
"Churches like All Souls and other congregations in the country served as a latter-day 'underground railroad' for immigrants who were fleeing war and violence in Central America," Hardies explained.
Right now, it is still unclear for the church leader how exactly he will convert the place of worship into a sanctuary.
He still does not know what nature of help people need at this point, and what the church can provide them. Looking at history, however, churches that were used as sanctuaries offered basic needs like food, water, shelter and clothing to the people they accepted.
More than this, however, Hardies said the church is open to those who need emotional and spiritual support. Most of those who recently attended the Holy Mass, he said, did not vote for Trump, but he advised them to look at unity instead of diversity.
"I think there are opportunities to come together around those kinds of issues," he said, citing a better economy as an example.
