San Bernardino Bishop Alberto Rojas, who leads more than 1.5 million Catholics in Southern California, has formally excused parishioners from their weekly obligation to attend Mass following immigration detentions on two parish properties in the diocese.
The dispensation is a move usually reserved for extenuating circumstances, like the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. But Rojas says it is necessary because of the fear of being apprehended and possibly deported that has gripped communities, including Catholic churches.
