In a moving visit, the Archbishop of the Diocese of Acapulco in the state of Guerrero, Mexico, Archbishop Carlos Garfias Merlos (above, left), met with CIW members in Immokalee this past Wednesday afternoon, hearing stories of the organization’s struggles for fundamental human rights and warmly expressing his own support and encouragement to the workers, many of whom hail from the Archbishop’s diocese in southwestern Mexico.

The exciting visit — organized by longtime CIW ally Sister Karen Bernhardt HM of the Catholic Migrant Farmworker Network — included an hour-long roundtable discussion with CIW members, where the Archbishop learned not only of the hardships workers face in the fields but also of the historic progress taking place today under the Fair Food Program:

As the meeting wound down, and before blessing all those present, the Archbishop told the workers gathered at the CIW community center, “I have much admiration and faith in what you do here, fighting for workers’ rights, for your rights.”

Following the discussion, the Archbishop participated in a live radio interview on the CIW’s community radio station, Radio Conciencia. He talked about his impressions of Immokalee from his visit and how wonderful it was to learn of the community’s efforts to forge a new reality for themselves. Here, below, the Archbishop speaks on the air while holding white paper flowers crafted for him by the CIW’s Doña Carmen Esquivel (pictured in the background, left):

Following the interview, it was time for the Archbishop to leave Immokalee, but before he could go, CIW members and the Archbishop alike expressed the strong hope that it not be the last time that his travels lead him through town, a town where so many of his fellow Guerrerans have come to work, and struggle, for a better life in Florida’s fields.

In the end, the Archbishop’s visit was yet another poignant moment in a long history of Catholic support for the CIW’s work. When a small group of workers first came together twenty years ago to discuss conditions in the fields, it was Immokalee’s Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church that opened its doors to them and offered a room for their meetings. Years later, when six workers undertook a thirty-day hunger strike calling for dialogue with the growers, it was the Diocese of Venice’s Bishop John Nevins who bestowed his unwavering public support throughout the month and celebrated communion at St. Anne’s Catholic Church in Naples — with nearly 1,000 church members on hand in witness — when it was time to break their fast. And two years later, when farmworkers from Immokalee set out on a 234-mile march from Fort Myers to the Florida Fruit and Vegetable Association offices in Orlando in pursuit of that very same dialogue, it was again Bishop Nevins who encouraged every parish along their route to open their doors to the workers, to feed them, to house them, and to bless them on their journey.

Over a decade later, that tradition of local Catholic support for farmworkers across the state has continued, from Bishop Dewane’s public encouragement of Publix to join the Fair Food Program since 2009, to his breaking bread with workers as they rode their bikes 200 miles to Publix Headquarters in 2011. As Bishop Dewane put it in a letter to Publix’s CEO, “I am confident that you will agree that for far too long, these workers had had to function on the margins of our society. Please join other companies to help correct this situation.”

So it should come as no surprise that, when envisioning this season’s trek on which workers are about to embark, the March for Rights, Respect and Fair Food, the CIW chose to depart from none other than Jesus Obrero/Jesus the Worker Mission in Fort Myers, so as to receive the send-off blessing from Immokalee’s beloved former priest, Father Patrick O’Connor, as they set out yet again on foot for two weeks on the road to Publix Headquarters in Lakeland.

Catholic allies near and far have stood with the CIW since the beginning of our struggle here twenty years ago. This week, we were again deeply honored that yet another spiritual leader, the Archbishop of Acapulco, has shown such enthusiastic support for the campaign, for the fundamental dignity of farm labor, and for a food system based on the respect of human rights, not the exploitation of human beings.