The Archdiocese of Indianapolis became this week the seventh Catholic jurisdiction in the United States to dispense the faithful from the obligation to attend Sunday Mass out of fear of immigration enforcement operations, according to Catholic World Report and the CNA news agency. The decree, signed by Archbishop Charles Thompson, exempts those who reasonably fear being detained, separated from their families, or subjected to intimidation due to increased immigration authority activity, regardless of their immigration status.
The dispensation took effect on September 4 and will remain in force until September 30, unless extended. Thompson asked those who avail themselves of it to make up for their absence with prayer, the recitation of the rosary, and following the Mass broadcast, and instructed pastors to ensure sacramental care, including home communion for those unable to travel.
Indianapolis joins a movement that, according to the same coverage, now includes seven jurisdictions. The other six are the Archdiocese of New Orleans and the dioceses of Columbus, Baton Rouge, Charlotte, San Bernardino, and Nashville. Together they encompass about 3.5 million Catholics.
In the document, Thompson maintained that, while recognizing the need for law enforcement to protect and defend, it is gravely concerning to witness families being separated (own translation). The archbishop presented the measure as a pastoral response to a fear that, in his view, keeps some of the faithful away from the churches.
The decision reopens the debate on the use of the Sunday precept as a form of positioning regarding U.S. immigration policy, a discussion that intensified since 2025 with letters addressed to the country’s bishops and the first diocesan dispensations. The dispensation from the precept is an ordinary faculty of the diocesan bishop; its collective application for reasons linked to a government’s actions is what gives it political scope.
Neither the decree nor the available coverage specifies how many faithful have availed themselves of the dispensation in the dioceses that have adopted it, nor do they detail the specific immigration enforcement operations that prompted the measure in Indiana.
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