Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 4, 2025 / 13:52 pm (CNA).
As part of a new Catholic ministry, the Archdiocese of Miami celebrated its first Mass at the Florida detention center for unauthorized immigrants known as “Alligator Alcatraz.”
“I am pleased that our request to provide for the pastoral care of the detainees has been accommodated,” Archbishop Thomas Wenski said in an Aug. 3 statement. “Also, we were able to respond to a request to provide similar service to the staff who reside at the facility.”
In a July interview with “EWTN News In Depth,” Wenski said his “greatest concern” was the “health and care of the people that are being detained” at Alligator Alcatraz. He and other advocates were calling for “a minimum of standards” and said that “one of those standards should be access to pastoral care.”
At the time, Wenski explained his archdiocese was having difficulty arranging Masses and spiritual care for the immigrants being held because the Florida state government and the federal government were “arguing among themselves who is accountable” for the detention center.
After months of discussions between Florida bishops, archdiocesan leadership, and state correctional authorities, an agreement was finally reached. Chaplains and pastoral ministers from the Archdiocese of Miami will have “full access” to the facility to offer liturgical Masses for detainees and staff.
The first Mass was held on Aug. 2 and is just the start of the regular liturgical celebrations expected at the center. The archdiocese reported that it will continue the ministry “following the facility’s guidelines and the pastoral availability of our clergy.”
The archdiocese plans “to have a successful and consistent Catholic presence at Alligator Alcatraz that will depend on effective ordination and coordination.” The goal is to “ensure a stable schedule of sacramental care and pastoral ministry that meets the spiritual needs of both attendees and staff, with the support of clergy and committed lay volunteers.”
“The Church has ‘no borders,’ for we all are members of one human family,” Wenski said. “Our ‘agenda’ was always to announce the ‘good news’ to the poor.”
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Nice to see these lawbreakers getting religion.
I’m guessing the folks detained in Florida are more hard-core law breakers but I’d like to see their US enablers and money launderers get some religion too.
mrscracker: ain’t that the truth. At least with the criminals in jail there is no pretense of having lived a virtuous life.
What is the proper name of this detention centre?
What is a liturgical Mass?
I actually don’t know another name besides Alligator Alcratraz.
Perhaps liturgical was meant to distinguish between a Communion Service and a Mass?
Unless one visits US correctional facilities and talks to inmates it’s harder to understand how difficult it’s been for incarcerated Catholics to receive the Sacraments since Covid. Our local jail still only allows video visitation which is really sad.
Other facilities really do try to bring faith based activities and clergy to the inmates. So it varies.
I’m glad the Florida detainees are getting the spiritual benefits they need now.
From the article:
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“The Church has ‘no borders,’ for we all are members of one human family,”
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But the American bishops have a nearly insatiable appetite for the tax dollars of the USA nation state and dumping immigrants on USA communities without considering the strains that this puts on what can be already strained community social welfare resources. It’s easy to talk when someone else is footing the bill for their largess.
GregB: Precisely. Let the bishops foot the entire cost of supporting illegals and soon they’ll show their true colors. Talk is cheap when you’re spending other people’s money. Let’s remember: No bishop works for his living. All the money at his disposal – salary and otherwise – comes from contributions to the Church made by people who DO work for their living. If they don’t work, they don’t eat.
Further to Mrs. Crackers’ comment above (5:32 a.m.) –
It seems the correct name is Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport. Not as catchy as Alligator Alcatraz, granted, but not quite as inflammatory.
Unless I am mistaken, a Mass is by definition liturgical. I suppose a Communion service might be liturgical but it is not a Mass.
I agree that the detainees’ religious rights need to be respected.
Thank you for sharing that info Miss Cleo.