Catholic Church cleared to hold mass at Alligator Alcatraz after long negotiation
After weeks of negotiations to hold religious services at Florida’s controversial detention center for migrants in the Everglades, the Archdiocese of Miami finally got an answer.
“I am pleased that our request to provide for the pastoral care of the detainees has been accommodated,” said Archdiocese of Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski in a statement.
The Archdiocese said the response came after “months of dialogue” between Florida Bishops, Catholic leadership and “state correctional authorities” over the request to provide ongoing religious services for detainees and staff at the detention center — a practice that’s common in most other correctional facilities in Florida.
The issue over the request for religious services sparked some confusion over which government entity has jurisdiction over the facility at Alligator Alcatraz, the country’s newest, most novel immigration detention center located in an isolated airstrip near the Big Cypress National Preserve.
Following Miami Herald reporting about Wenski’s motorcycle visit to the detention center last month, the Archdiocese announced the agreement with the Florida Division of Emergency Management over the weekend, which will ensure that Catholic chaplains and pastoral ministers have “full access” to offer mass “to detainees and Catholic staff inside the detention facility,” the Archdiocese said.
The Florida agency was also open to allowing musicians and support staff to be brought in to enhance the Catholic services, the Archdiocese said. There’s no set schedule as of now, but Catholic clergy are allowed to go as often as they can, and are looking to hold mass on Saturdays and Sundays, according to the Archdiocese.
Last month, the Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops sent a letter to Kevin Guthrie, the executive director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, requesting information on how to schedule “the celebration of Catholic sacraments, including Mass, at the facility.”
“In federal facilities, Catholic ministers are permitted to enter in order to offer the sacraments to detained persons,” the letter said. “These priests and deacons have been cleared by ICE as persons of integrity who pose no safety risk.”
With the greenlight to provide religious services, the Archdiocese held the first mass on Saturday afternoon and said that it plans to have a “successful and consistent Catholic presence at Alligator Alcatraz,” following the facility’s guidelines.
The Archdiocese said it was “unable to share photos, names of clergy or staff, or any identifiable details” about the location of the services or participants, due to “strict security protocols.”
Last month Wenski, in an interview with the Miami Herald, said the head of the Archdiocese’ Detention Ministry went to the facility in person to request access for religious services, but never heard back from the facility’s administration. In addition, Wenski said he reached out to both federal and state officials, who pointed at each other to handle the request for religious services.
“We’ve gotten a lot of runaround,” Wenski said about the process. “We don’t know who’s really accountable for that facility, whether it’s the state of Florida or the federal government.”
In his latest statement, Wenski said the church’s main goal was to spread Christianity to those who are being detained.
“The Church has ‘no borders’ for we all are members of one human family,” he said “Our ‘agenda’ was always to announce the ‘good news’ to the poor.”
This story was produced with financial support from Trish and Dan Bell and from donors comprising the South Florida Jewish and Muslim Communities, including Khalid and Diana Mirza, in partnership with Journalism Funding Partners. The Miami Herald maintains full editorial control of this work.
This story was originally published August 4, 2025 at 2:10 PM.
