The Question of Sanctuary: The Adorers of the Blood of Christ and the U.S. Sanctuary Movement, 1983–1996

Abstract:In December 1985, the Adorers of the Blood of Christ (ASCs) welcomed a Guatemalan family into sanctuary at their Ruma, Illinois, convent. Declaring their home as a sanctuary for Central American refugees who were denied asylum by the United States was the culmination of a selfguided and months-long process of discernment and education. The ASCs arrived at this decision after considering their order's tradition of providing refuge to Jews fleeing Nazi violence and after hearing calls for solidarity from Central American activists. Their position as women religious—that is, outside patriarchal church structures—gave them the flexibility to declare sanctuary when many Catholic churches and dioceses were reluctant. The ASCs' engagement with sanctuary challenges the common understanding that the movement originated at the U.S.-Mexico border with Protestants providing assistance to migrants denied asylum.