Federal officials are reviewing detainees’ access to the sacraments, Bishop Robert Barron said Nov. 4, after he raised concerns in response to reports that clergy were denied entry to bring the Eucharist to detainees at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility near Chicago.
Bishop Barron said that over the past few weeks, he and Father Alexei Woltonist, a Melkite Catholic priest and member of the Department of Homeland Security Advisory Council, have spoken with senior officials at the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security to convey the Church’s concerns over detainees’ access to the sacraments.
“They have assured me that these matters are under careful review. I feel that maintaining open lines of communication and engaging in dialogue with the Administration constitute the most constructive way forward,” Bishop Barron, who serves on President Donald Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission, added.
Bishop Barron’s comments came in response to an OSV News report that a group of clergy, religious sisters, and laypeople was blocked from entering the Broadview, Illinois, ICE facility on the feast of All Saints, Nov. 1, to bring the Holy Eucharist to detainees.
According to the report, the group had gathered for an outdoor Mass led by Chicago Auxiliary Bishop José María Garcia-Maldonado in the parking lot of a nearby building.
Michael Okińczyc-Cruz, executive director of the Coalition for Spiritual and Public Leadership (CSPL), which organized the Mass, told OSV that the delegation sent two formal letters requesting entry but officials denied the request for security reasons. Officials reportedly reiterated the refusal when the group arrived.
When asked by reporters outside Castel Gandolfo Nov. 4 about the situation in Broadview, Pope Leo XIV said the spiritual rights of detainees must be respected.
“I would certainly like to invite the authorities to allow pastoral workers to attend to the needs of those people,” he said, according to Reuters. “Many times they’ve been separated from their families for a good amount of time, but their own spiritual needs should be attended to.”
In October, a similar Eucharist procession led by a priest — and joined by nuns, parishioners from nearby churches, and members of CSPL — also went to the Broadview facility and asked to bring the Holy Eucharist inside. As CatholicVote reported, the delegation was denied entry. The event drew criticism from some Catholics who said the group risked politicizing the Holy Eucharist and urged them to work through official channels to secure access for sacramental ministry.
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