La. Bishop OKs Mass Dispensation for Migrants Fearing ICE
9th December 2025
The head of a Louisiana diocese has become the fourth Roman Catholic bishop to allow illegal migrants fearing deportation to skip their weekly obligation to attend Mass.
Bishop Michael Duca of the Diocese of Baton Rouge granted a dispensation from Sunday and holy day Mass attendance for immigrants who are “rightfully afraid” to go to church because of immigration enforcement concerns.
He said the climate of “fear and anxiety” has made attendance “untenable” for some faithful.
During the persecutions in the fourth century, priests would sneak into prison in order to give communion to imprisoned Christians. I think that the modern Roman church has lost rack. Presumably their parishioners also get a plenary indulgence for having broken the law to get here.