Pope Leo XIV issued an appeal to American immigration authorities on Tuesday after migrants held at an Illinois facility were blocked from receiving communion.
The Chicago-born pontiff urged respect for migrants’ spiritual rights after ICE agents at the Broadview, Illinois, field office refused to allow faith leaders to enter and provide communion inside the facility during a Catholic mass organized by the nonprofit Coalition for Spiritual & Public Leadership on Sunday.
“Many 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 Pope told reporters. “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.”
The first American Pope, who has repeatedly butted heads with the Trump administration since he was elected in May, also called for deep reflection about the treatment of migrants.
“Just a couple days ago, we heard Matthew’s gospel, Chapter 25. Jesus says very clearly, ‘At the end of the world, we’re going to be asked, how did you receive the foreigner? Did you receive him and welcome him or not?’ And I think that there’s a deep reflection that needs to be made in terms of what’s happening,” he said.
CSPL said more than 50 faith leaders led a mass across the Broadview facility on Sunday, but were turned away by ICE at a checkpoint in front of the field office for supposedly failing to provide enough notice.
”We attempted for a second time to bring communion to migrants detained there. ICE turned us away,” Father David Inczauskis said in a statement. “They told us they needed one week’s notice. We let them know 10 days in advance.”
The group experienced a similar instance in October.
“Perhaps they don’t want to allow us in because they know the conditions inside are inhumane and they know we would denounce that,” Inczauskis added. “Our request is so simple: to do something the Catholic Church does every day. We are united in Christ. We will not stop denouncing the evil of detention and deportation.”
The Department of Homeland Security cited previous protests at the Broadview facility in its decision to decline requests from religious groups.
“Even before the attacks on the Broadview facility, it was not within standard operating procedure for religious services to be provided in a field office, as detainees are continuously brought in, processed, and transferred out,” Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told the Daily Beast. “ICE staff have repeatedly informed religious organizations that due to Broadview’s status as a field office and the ongoing threat to civilians, detainees, and officers, they are not able to accommodate these requests at this time.”
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