A Bethesda church is offering sanctuary to a woman who fled violence in El Salvador 13 years ago and was told to return to that country after her asylum request was denied.
On Wednesday, Cedar Lane Unitarian Universalist Church held a welcome ceremony for Rosa Gutierrez Lopez. The 40-year-old mother of three U.S.-born children lives in Fredericksburg, Virginia with her family and will now call the Bethesda church home.
Sanctuary is a religious tradition dating back to biblical times but it’s a first for the Washington metro area for an organization and sanctuary seeker to publicly announce the agreement.
