Catholic faithful in southern California are getting an exemption from attending Sunday services if they have a “genuine” fear about getting swept up in Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids. 

In a decree on Tuesday, the bishop of San Bernardino, Alberto Rojas, issued a dispensation from “obligation to attend Mass” due to the “fear of immigration enforcement, such as raids by the U.S. Imigration and Customs Enforcement,” which he said “may deter some members of our diocese from fulfilling the obligation to attend Mass on Sundays and holy days.” 

The bishop said the decision was made “in light of the pastoral needs of our diocese and the concerns expressed by many of our brothers and sisters.”

The decree states that members of the diocese of San Bernardino who have a “genuine fear of immigration enforcement” and are “unable to attend Sunday Mass” are “dispensed from this obligation … until such time as this decree is revoked or amended.”

However, the bishop encouraged those who do not attend on Sundays to “maintain their spiritual communion with Christ and His Church through acts of personal prayer, reading of Sacred Scripture, or participation in devotions such as the Rosary.”

The decree also stated that “pastors, parochial vicars, and other pastoral ministers are to provide compassionate support to those affected by this fear.”

The letter did not provide a specific duration of the exemption. It merely said it will be revoked when the “circumstances necessitating this decree are sufficiently resolved.”

 In June, the Diocese of Nashville also told congregants they could skip Mass due to concerns about immigration enforcement actions. And the Tennessee Catholic Conference issued a statement condemning ICE raids around Nashville that took place in May and raised concerns that illegal immigrants who were not facing “serious criminal charges” were detained during the operation. 

Bishops in America have said they support the right of nations to secure their borders, but they have become increasingly critical of the Trump administration’s deportation operations.  

Bishops in Puerto Rico criticized ICE raids that took place on the island. In June, Bishop Angel Luis Rios Matos said he told parishes not to give information to federal officials “unless supported by a court order,” and regardless, he said, “Even with a court order, when it comes to justice for the poor, a higher justice prevails.”

“If consequences must be paid, they will be. I don’t call this civil disobedience but rather obedience to the doctrine of justice and charity. We must obey God before men,” the bishop said. 

The president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Timothy Broglio, also addressed immigrants and “those affected by actions which tear at the fabric of our communities,” saying in a June statement that the Catholic Church “stand[s] with you in this challenging hour.”

Meanwhile, the archbishop of Washington, Cardinal McElroy, said in an interview with CNN earlier this month that the Trump administration’s immigration policy is “not only incompatible with Catholic teaching, it’s inhumane and it’s morally repugnant.”

While Catholic leaders have spoken out about the administration’s immigration policies, the House homeland security committee listed Catholic Charities and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops as part of an investigation into whether more than 200 nongovernmental organizations “used taxpayer dollars to facilitate illegal activity” by migrants who illegally crossed the border.

A letter sent to the organizations being examined states that lawmakers are concerned they are advising “illegal aliens on how to avoid and impede law enforcement officials, which can only be seen as an attempt to undermine the work of the federal government.”