St. Louis Archdiocese sues federal government over clergy access to Missouri immigration detainees
The Catholic Archdiocese of St. Louis sued DHS officials and a local sheriff, alleging detainees at Saint Genevieve County Jail cannot meet privately with priests or receive sacraments. ICE, DHS and the jail had not responded when the coverage was published.
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The story, neutrally told
Mixed · 2The Catholic Archdiocese of St. Louis filed a lawsuit against the federal government on Monday 5 October, alleging that detainees at an immigration detention facility in Missouri are being denied private conversations with priests and access to sacraments such as communion and confession. Hindustan TimesN “The Catholic Archdiocese of St. Louis filed a lawsuit against the federal government on Monday, alleging that detainees at an immigration detention facility in Missouri are being deprived of their right to speak privately with priests” Read at Hindustan Times ↗ The IndependentLC “The Catholic Archdiocese of St. Louis filed a lawsuit against the U.S. federal government on Monday” Read at The Independent ↗ Centre · 1The suit, filed in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, names top Department of Homeland Security officials and the local sheriff. Hindustan TimesN “filed in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri against top officials at the Department of Homeland Security and the local sheriff” Read at Hindustan Times ↗ Mixed · 2It alleges clergy can visit the Saint Genevieve County Jail only during a four-hour window on Mondays and can speak to detainees only by telephone handset through a glass partition. Hindustan TimesN “clergy can only visit detainees at the Saint Genevieve County Jail during a four-hour window on Mondays, and can only speak to them via telephone handset through a glass partition” Read at Hindustan Times ↗ The IndependentLC “communicating solely via phone through glass partitions” Read at The Independent ↗
Mixed · 2Immigration and Customs Enforcement says on its website that clergy may visit detainees at any time as long as they notify the sheriff's office, and the suit alleges ICE is not enforcing its own policy. Hindustan TimesN “On its website, Immigration and Customs Enforcement says clergy may visit detainees at any time as long as they notify the sheriff’s office. The suit alleges ICE is not enforcing its own policy.” Read at Hindustan Times ↗ The IndependentLC “The lawsuit contends that ICE is failing to enforce its own guidelines.” Read at The Independent ↗ Mixed · 2St. Louis Archbishop Mitchell Rozanski told Reuters he is responsible for every soul in his archdiocese, including those in prisons, and said priests "cannot hear confessions, they cannot celebrate Mass, they cannot give the anointing of the sick to any of the detainees." Hindustan TimesN ““As a bishop I am responsible for every soul in my archdiocese, and that includes those who are in the prisons,” St. Louis Archbishop Mitchell Rozanski told Reuters.” Read at Hindustan Times ↗ The IndependentLC “"They cannot hear confessions, they cannot celebrate Mass, they cannot give the anointing of the sick to any of the detainees," he said” Read at The Independent ↗ Mixed · 2The diocese said most of the roughly 150 immigration detainees held at the facility are Hispanic Catholics. Hindustan TimesN “The majority of the roughly 150 immigration detainees held at the facility are Hispanic Catholics, the diocese said.” Read at Hindustan Times ↗ The IndependentLC “most of the roughly 150 immigration detainees at the facility are Hispanic Catholics” Read at The Independent ↗
Mixed · 2Catholic law does not allow priests to hear confession by electronic means, and using non-private jail phone lines would break the seal of confession, an offence that carries excommunication. Hindustan TimesN “Catholic law does not allow priests to hear confession by electronic means.” Read at Hindustan Times ↗ The IndependentLC “Using non-private jail telephone lines would break the seal of confession, an offense that carries excommunication.” Read at The Independent ↗ Mixed · 2When priests asked to see detainees to give communion, the jail proposed that consecrated hosts be placed in a container and handed to the detainee by a guard, a proposal Rozanski called "sacrilegious"; the Eucharist is meant to be handled only by ordained priests or ministers. Hindustan TimesN “the jail proposed that priests place the consecrated hosts in a container and a guard pass the container to the detainee, a proposal Rozanski called "sacrilegious."” Read at Hindustan Times ↗ The IndependentLC “jail officials suggested placing consecrated hosts in containers for guards to hand over” Read at The Independent ↗ Mixed · 2The archdiocese asks the court to give priests and other clergy the same level of access granted to attorneys and consular officials. Hindustan TimesN “priests and other clergy be given the same level of access granted to consular officials and attorneys” Read at Hindustan Times ↗ The IndependentLC “grant clergy the same visitation access provided to attorneys and consular officials” Read at The Independent ↗
Mixed · 2ICE, DHS, the Saint Genevieve County Jail and the sheriff's office did not immediately respond to requests for comment, so their account of the visiting arrangements is not yet reported. Hindustan TimesN “ICE, DHS, the Saint Genevieve County Jail and the county sheriff's office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.” Read at Hindustan Times ↗ The IndependentLC “did not immediately respond to requests for comment” Read at The Independent ↗ Centre · 1The detainees are held as part of the Trump administration's broad immigration crackdown and deportation drive, which human rights groups have condemned over alleged widespread abuses that ICE has denied. Hindustan TimesN “part of a broad immigration crackdown and deportation drive by the Trump administration that has been condemned by human rights groups alleging widespread rights abuses, which ICE has denied” Read at Hindustan Times ↗
Every sentence links to the reporting it rests on. The pill in front of each says where its sources sit: Left, Centre or Right when one side supplies at least half of them, Mixed when they are evenly split. The number is how many outlets it cites.
Left1 outlet
- Framing
- The Independent's article closely tracks the Reuters report, framing the case as detainees being denied Catholic sacraments.
- Emphasis
- Denial of sacraments and the gap between ICE's website policy and practice.
- Leaves out or plays down
- Does not add independent reporting or any response from the defendants.
- Charged language
- “denied Catholic sacraments”
- For example
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“Archdiocese sues US government over denied Catholic sacraments for ICE detainees” — The Independent
Centre1 outlet
- Framing
- Reuters copy carried by Hindustan Times leads with the lawsuit and its allegations, with bullet-point summary and the archbishop's quotes.
- Emphasis
- The access restrictions, the contrast with ICE's stated policy, and church rules on confession and the Eucharist.
- Leaves out or plays down
- No response from the defendants; no detail on the jail's reasons for its rules.
- For example
-
“Lawsuit alleges clergy visits are limited to a four-hour Monday window at Saint Genevieve County Jail” — Hindustan Times
Right0 outlets
No right outlet in our sources has covered this story yet.
What every side reports
- The Archdiocese of St. Louis sued DHS officials and the local sheriff in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri on Monday.
- Clergy are allegedly limited to a four-hour Monday window and phone calls through glass at Saint Genevieve County Jail.
- ICE's website says clergy may visit at any time after notifying the sheriff's office.
- ICE, DHS and the jail had not responded to requests for comment.
Catholic Church in the United States organisation
The archdiocese, through Archbishop Rozanski, says denying private access robs detainees of their rights to the sacraments and seeks the same access as lawyers and consular officials.
“effectively "robbing the detainees of their rights to have access to these sacraments."” — Hindustan Times
Immigration and Customs Enforcement organisation
ICE did not respond to requests for comment; its website says clergy may visit at any time after notifying the sheriff's office, which the suit says it does not enforce.
“The suit alleges ICE is not enforcing its own policy.” — Hindustan Times
Left1 article
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Archdiocese sues US government over denied Catholic sacraments for ICE detainees
Sympathetic Rewrite of the same reporting, headlined around denied sacraments for ICE detainees.
Centre1 article
-
Hindustan TimesN · · via Reuters
Catholic diocese sues US government seeking clergy access to detainees
Neutral Reuters copy presenting the lawsuit's allegations and the archbishop's quotes, noting defendants did not respond.
Right0 articles
No coverage yet.
- 5 Oct 19:58 First Hindustan TimesN Catholic diocese sues US government seeking clergy access to detainees via Reuters
- 5 Oct 22:25 +2h 27m The IndependentLC Archdiocese sues US government over denied Catholic sacraments for ICE detainees
Times are when each article was published, or when we first saw it if the outlet gave no time.