Controversial Refugee Center to Be Relocated : Sanctuary: Pastor Luis Olivares is leaving Our Lady Queen of Angels Catholic Church. The parish’s Centro Pastoral is being moved to a church in Hollywood.

The days of Our Lady Queen of Angels Catholic Church as the controversial champion of illegal refugees and immigrants--a role that often set the historic downtown church at odds with its superiors and with law enforcement officials--appear numbered.

Pastor Luis Olivares, who led the church as it became the first in the archdiocese to declare itself a sanctuary for Central American refugees five years ago, has been reassigned to an out-of-state parish.

On Tuesday, Michael Kennedy, an associate pastor who has coordinated much of the work on behalf of refugees through the parish’s Centro Pastoral (Pastoral Center), announced he was leaving as well, and taking the center with him.

At a press conference in the church courtyard, Olivares called the latest development a personally “sad moment” and “a great loss” to the parish. Olivares had hoped the work he started at La Placita--as the church is known among its parishioners--would outlast his nine-year tenure there. In that time, the center has sheltered and fed thousands of refugees.

But Olivares added that La Placita’s loss was another parish’s gain. While Kennedy plans to leave the United States to minister among the peasants in El Salvador’s countryside, he said the center he established will continue its work at Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church in Hollywood.

Kennedy said the relocation was made because of uncertainty over whether La Placita’s new pastor would be as supportive of immigrants rights as Olivares. Meanwhile, he said, priests at Blessed Sacrament--Jesuits like himself--assured him the center would be welcome there.

La Placita’s incoming pastor, Leo Delgado--a member of the Claretian missionaries like Olivares--served most recently as vicar for Latino affairs at the Santa Rosa Diocese. Although there have been general indications from Delgado and his superiors that the ministry to refugees at La Placita would continue, Olivares and Kennedy questioned whether it would continue at “the same level of commitment.” Delgado, who is on vacation, could not be reached for comment.

Describing their ministry as “very, very difficult, highly controversial and universally criticized,” Olivares noted that his strong stance in defense of the rights of his troubled flock has, at times, involved civil disobedience--something the “Catholic Church is not very comfortable with.”

Olivares and Kennedy said they have been threatened with criminal investigation by the Immigration and Naturalization Service and that they are targets of an FBI probe. The FBI has refused to confirm or deny it is conducting an investigation.

Also, the priests said they have received numerous threats, some allegedly made by “death squads” similar to those that operate in Central America.

The Centro Pastoral Rutilio Grande, as the center is officially called, is named after a Jesuit assassinated in El Salvador about a decade ago. The center, which operates with just a handful of staff members but draws hundreds of volunteers, had been instrumental in developing social services for refugees and immigrants at the parish. It has also been one of the loudest voices on their behalf and against U.S. policy in Central America, organizing frequent demonstrations, petition writing campaigns and delegations to El Salvador.

“What we tried to do here was attack the root causes for why so many refugees and undocumented immigrants are suffering here,” Kennedy said. “Most church people are more comfortable giving food and shelter to the needy, but not with looking at the root causes and raising their voices against injustice.”

Olivares is being transferred next month to head a parish in Ft. Worth, Tex. His superiors had extended his tenure at La Placita six years beyond the usual three-year term, Olivares said.

Despite the uncertain future of La Placita, many are hopeful.

Mario Rivas, a refugee from El Salvador and a member of Centro Pastoral’s team, said the two priests “leave a legacy within us, a legacy to continue to defend the human and labor rights of refugees . . . and to continue being a voice in pressuring Congress to adopt more humane policies” toward Central America.