Archdiocese of St. Louis Sues Detention Center Over Sacramental Access for ICE Detainees
The Archdiocese of St. Louis has filed a lawsuit against the Ste. Genevieve County Detention Center regarding restrictive visitation policies that hinder clergy from administering sacraments to ICE detainees. Archbishop Mitchell Rozanski and Father Christopher Schroeder argue that the facility’s no-contact policy unfairly discriminates against religious leaders compared to legal and consular representatives. The archdiocese rejected a suggestion from facility officials to deliver Communion through a guard using a plastic bag, citing that such a method does not meet Catholic sacramental requirements. While the detention center maintains that these rules are necessary for safety and security, the Church insists that these limitations violate the religious rights of the detainees. The facility, which has held thousands of immigration detainees since 2025, remains at the center of this legal challenge regarding the balance between institutional security and spiritual care.
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The Archdiocese of St. Louis has sued over policies at the Ste. Genevieve County Detention Center that it says prevent Catholic priests from offering Mass, hearing confessions and distributing Communion to people detained by ICE. The lawsuit argues that the restrictions violate religious-liberty protections and asks a federal court to restore clergy and detainees’ access to religious practice. 1 3
Archbishop Mitchell Rozanski and Father Christopher Schroeder filed the suit on Oct. 5 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri. The complaint says the center’s no-contact policy prevents face-to-face ministry, while nonreligious visitors—including lawyers and consular officials—are allowed under more permissive conditions. 1 3
The archdiocese says priests have been barred from the facility’s usual four-hour Sunday visitation period and can visit only during a four-hour window on Mondays. It also says priests provide sacraments to people held in other jails but cannot do so at Ste. Genevieve. 1 2 3
The center houses about 150 immigration detainees and has held approximately 3,000 since it began contracting with ICE in mid-2025, according to the filing. 1
The archdiocese says a jail official suggested that clergy place Communion in a plastic bag for a guard to deliver to a detainee. The complaint rejects that as an adequate accommodation, saying Catholic rules require Communion to be administered by an authorized minister and that the Eucharist is central to Catholic belief. 1 2
According to the archdiocese, officials cited safety and security concerns, including the possibility that priests could bring contraband into the facility. The archdiocese disputes that rationale in relation to the consecrated host, which priests seek to bring to detainees. 1 2
The archdiocese says the restrictions deny detainees access to Communion and confession and prevent priests from saying Mass. It describes pastoral care for people in detention as part of the Church’s religious mission and says the loss of the sacraments causes harm to both detainees and priests. 3
The complaint names local and federal officials, including Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, and invokes the First Amendment’s Free Exercise Clause, the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, and the Missouri Religious Freedom Restoration Act. It asks the court to halt the policies and restore clergy and detainees’ religious-liberty rights. 3
Kevin Appleby, a senior fellow at the Center for Migration Studies and former director of migration policy for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said detained immigrants should be able to practice their faith and receive pastoral support. He described access to religious ministry in detention as a growing issue nationally and said the Department of Homeland Security could require detention centers to allow clergy access. 3
ICE and the Department of Homeland Security had not responded to requests for comment at the time of the reports. 1 3*
Carceral institutions must accommodate religious practice and sacramental ministry
Yes. In Catholic teaching, imprisonment restricts a person’s liberty but does not erase human dignity or the need for spiritual care. Pope John Paul II described that dignity as inalienable and a limit on restrictions imposed by detention.
The Church therefore urges prison systems to protect religious freedom and enable pastoral ministry. Pope John Paul II called for abolishing laws that deny prisoners religious freedom, while Pope Benedict XVI urged dioceses to provide adequate pastoral resources for prisoners, including access to the Eucharist and Holy Communion. The Church also teaches that prison pastoral care serves prisoners’ spiritual welfare and the common good.
This supports the principle that carceral institutions should make reasonable provision for religious practice and sacramental ministry. The supplied texts do not specify a universal schedule or exact legal standard for access; practical arrangements may need to account for security and institutional circumstances.