LOS ANGELES — San Bernardino Bishop Alberto Rojas, who leads more than 1.5 million Catholics in Southern California, has formally excused parishioners from their weekly obligation to attend Mass following immigration detentions on two parish properties in the diocese.
The dispensation is a move usually reserved for extenuating circumstances, like the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. But Rojas says it’s necessary because the fear of being apprehended and possibly deported has swept communities, including Catholic churches.
“There is a real fear gripping many in our parish communities that if they venture out into any kind of public setting they will be arrested by immigration officers,” Rojas said in a statement Wednesday.
“Sadly, that includes attending Mass. The recent apprehension of individuals at two of our Catholic parishes has only intensified that fear. I want our immigrant communities to know that their Church stands with them and walks with them through