The Catholic Archdiocese in San Antonio was at the forefront of a group of Hispanic bishops from around the country who used the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe to remind immigrants that the church has open arms for them.

The 33 bishops published a letter demonstrating their support Monday. San Antonio Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller, who was active in immigration issues as an auxiliary bishop in Chicago, read it at San Antonio's Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church hours after the letter was published in Los Angeles.

The letter is not intended to be political, García-Siller said, but is meant to remind immigrants, including those here illegally, that the church is available to them. The church continues to offer them services such as counseling and providing food to the needy, he said, adding that it has nothing to do with offering sanctuary.

“We who are citizens and permanent residents of this country cannot forget that almost all of us, we or our ancestors, have come from other lands and together with immigrants from various nations and cultures have formed a new nation,” García-Siller, who's from Mexico, read from the letter. “Now we ought to open our hearts and arms to the recently arrived, just as Jesus asks us to do when he says, ‘I was hungry and you gave me to eat; I was thirsty and you gave me to drink; I was an alien and you took me into your house.'”

The letter first was published Monday morning by the Archdiocese of San Antonio and the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, which is headed by former San Antonio Archbishop José Gomez. Gomez and García-Siller are the only two active Hispanic Catholic archbishops in the U.S. Even though he said he wanted to avoid politics, García-Siller waded into immigration reform while talking to reporters Monday.

“Of course we need to have secure borders,” he said. “If we do not see the faces of people and who they are and that they are people, we will not be able to make meaningful change in immigration.”

García-Siller said it was fitting to publish the letter on the feast day of the Our Lady of Guadalupe because of her significance as the “empress of the Americas.”

George Rodriguez, president of the San Antonio Tea Party, said he appreciated that the church is sympathetic to the plight of immigrants and said he approved of a portion in the letter warning immigrants about the dangers of trying to enter the U.S. illegally. But, Rodriguez said, he was afraid the letter could be used by some groups to advocate for “open borders.”

“We think that the church should do all it can to address the problems that encourage illegal immigration in the home nations of those people,” Rodriguez said. “For example, the church could do a lot to address the economic problems in Mexico and El Salvador, rather than criticize the United States for wanting to secure its borders.”

Adriana Cadena, statewide coordinator for the Reform Immigration for Texas Alliance, said her group was pleased the bishops again were bringing immigration issues to the forefront and could increase awareness of the “need to fix our broken immigration system.”

“It's obviously very symbolic today, which is Our Lady of Guadalupe,” Cadena said. “Many immigrants crossing (the border) and in general are very devoted to the Virgin. It's important they know about the solidarity.”