Amid ICE raids, bishop tells SoCal worshippers they can stay home on Sundays

A Southern California Roman Catholic bishop instructed his diocese of roughly a million parishioners this week that they will keep residence on Sundays to keep away from Mass whereas considerations about federal immigration sweeps nonetheless loom over the area.

Bishop Alberto Rojas of the Diocese of San Bernardino wrote within the decree Tuesday that many church-goers have shared “fears of attending mass because of potential immigration enforcement motion” and that “such worry constitutes a grave inconvenience that will impede the religious good of the trustworthy.”

In lieu of Sunday service, Rojas inspired his members to “keep their religious communion” by praying the rosary or studying scripture and directed diocese ministers to supply assist and compassion to the affected.

Since early June, numerous Southern California households have been residing in worry and gone underground amid a rare federal immigration enforcement push by the Trump administration. Almost 2,800 folks have been caught up within the sweeps within the L.A. space alone, together with U.S. residents and a whole lot of undocumented immigrants with none felony document.

The specter of an immigration raid has rippled by way of all points of Southern California life, together with church attendance, the place some homes of worship say as much as a 3rd or half their congregants are now not displaying up in particular person.

In keeping with the Nationwide Catholic Reporter, a number of folks have been arrested at or close to diocese church buildings on June 20, together with a person at Our Woman of Lourdes in Montclair, which ICE officers dispute.

“The accusation that ICE entered a church to make an arrest [is] FALSE,” wrote Division of Homeland Safety spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin in an e-mail to The Instances. “The unlawful alien selected to drag into the church parking zone [and] officers then safely made the arrest.”

Days later, Rojas wrote a message to worshipers on Fb.

He mentioned that he revered and appreciated regulation enforcement’s function in protecting “communities protected from violent criminals,” however added that “authorities at the moment are seizing brothers and sisters indiscriminately, with out respect for his or her proper to due course of and their dignity as kids of God.”

As for his newest edict permitting worshipers to forgo Mass, Rojas mentioned it can stay in impact till additional discover or till the circumstances “necessitating this decree are sufficiently resolved.”

Instances employees writers Andrew Castillo, Rachel Uranga and Queenie Wong contributed to this report.