U.S. Catholic Archdiocese of St. Louis Sues Federal and Local Officials Over Ban on Sacraments at an ICE Facility
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St. Louis Archdiocese Sues Federal and Local Officials Over Ban on Sacraments in ICE Facility
The Archdiocese of St. Louis, alongside Archbishop Mitchell T. Rozanski and Father Chris Schroeder, filed a federal lawsuit on October 5 against Ste. Genevieve County and federal immigration officials over policies that block priests from administering sacraments to detainees at the Ste. Genevieve County Detention Center.
Core Legal and Sacramental Dispute
The detention center, which has housed ICE detainees awaiting immigration proceedings since mid-2025, enforces a no-contact policy limiting clergy visits to four hours on Mondays. Priests must communicate through glass partitions via monitored phone lines, effectively banning:
The Sacrament of Reconciliation (Confession): Catholic doctrine prohibits conducting confession over a phone.
Holy Communion: In-person contact is required to administer the Eucharist, which canon law dictates must be distributed directly by authorized ministers rather than passed through guards.
Mass: Priests are barred from celebrating Mass inside the center.
The lawsuit—filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri—argues these restrictions violate the First Amendment, the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA), and both state and federal Religious Freedom Restoration Acts (RFRA). Plaintiffs filed a simultaneous motion for a preliminary injunction to halt the restrictions while the case proceeds.
Key Contentions & Named Defendants
Defendants: Named in their official capacities are Ste. Genevieve Sheriff Gary Stolzer, Chief Deputy Maj. Jason Schott, jail administrator Lt. Andrew Johnson, DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin, ICE Acting Director David Venturella, and OPR Associate Director Jennifer Fenton.
Exceptions to Policy: The complaint notes that attorneys and consular officials are granted face-to-face visits in private conference rooms without partitions, undermining the jail’s safety defense and showing the policy is not the least restrictive means of maintaining security.
Prior Requests Denied: Requests by church officials—including a formal letter from Archbishop Rozanski in May—were repeatedly turned down. Jail officials suggested a guard pass pre-packaged hosts to detainees, an option rejected under Catholic canon law.
National Context
The St. Louis lawsuit reflects a broader regional and national pushback regarding pastoral access in detention centers:
Legal Precedents: Federal judges in Illinois and Minnesota granted similar injunctions earlier this year, ordering ICE facilities in Broadview, Illinois, and Minneapolis to allow clergy access for pastoral care and sacraments.
USCCB Priority: Access to sacraments for ICE detainees is designated as a top religious liberty concern for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) in 2026.
Archbishop Rozanski emphasized that the diocese will continue pursuing the suit, citing both pastoral responsibility for the roughly 150 ICE detainees housed at the facility at any given time and the constitutional precedent for religious freedom across institutional settings.
Source - https://www.stlouisreview.com/story/archdiocese-files-lawsuit/
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