Respect US detainees’ spiritual needs, Pope urges

A Chicago auxiliary bishop and a religious sister were denied access when they tried to bring Communion to detainees at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility near Pope Leo’s native Chicago.

Bishop Jose María García-Maldonado celebrated Mass on November 1, the Solemnity of All Saints, for hundreds of people gathered outside the Broadview ICE facility, where advocates allege detainees’ rights are being violated.

The US Department of Homeland Security has denied allegations of rights violations. According to participants in the Mass and in the effort to bring Communion to persons held at the Broadview facility, federal officials cited safety concerns as the reason for refusing entry.

At Castel Gandolfo in Italy on November 4, Pope Leo was asked by a journalist about the incident and about current US policy and enforcement action on immigration.

“I think that there’s a deep reflection that needs to be made in terms of what’s happening,” Pope Leo said.

“[M]any people who have lived for years and years and years, never causing problems, have been deeply affected by what’s going on right now,” the Pontiff said.

“The spiritual rights of people who have been detained should also be considered, and I would certainly invite the authorities to allow pastoral workers to attend to the needs of those people.

“Many times, they’ve been separated from their families for a good amount of time,” Pope Leo continued. “No one knows what’s happening – but their own spiritual needs should be attended to.”

Bishop Robert Barron of Winona-Rochester, who was appointed by President Donald Trump to the Department of Justice’s Religious Liberty Commission, said in a November 3 social media post that he and Fr Alexei Woltornist, a Melkite Catholic priest and a member of the Department of Homeland Security’s Homeland Security Advisory Council, “have been in touch with senior officials in both the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security and have brought forward the concerns of the Church regarding detainees’ access to sacraments”.

Bishop Barron reportedly said that administration officials assured him the matter is under “careful review”.

OSV News reported a Department of Homeland Security response that the Broadview facility is “a field office, it is not a detention facility”, therefore safety is an issue. Religious assistance can be provided at detention facilities, the department stated.

FULL STORY 

Leo XIV calls US authorities to ‘consider’ & ‘attend to’ detainees’ spiritual needs, says he wants justice in Rupnik case (By Christopher Altieri/CruxNow)

Detainees’ access to sacraments is ‘under careful review’ (OSV News)