Catholic priests say a Missouri jail holding ICE detainees told them to hand Communion wafers to guards, and now the St. Louis Archdiocese is suing

The Archdiocese of St. Louis has officially filed a federal lawsuit against Ste. Genevieve County officials and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement leadership, alleging that the current jail policies are blocking Catholic detainees from practicing their faith. This legal action claims that the Ste. Genevieve County Jail is violating the First Amendment rights of those held in its custody by preventing priests from administering essential sacraments like confession and communion.

As reported by The Hill, according to the filing, the priests are unable to perform their duties because the jail mandates that all visits must happen through glass barriers. They have to use a telephone system to communicate, which completely rules out the private, face-to-face contact required for Catholic sacraments. 

The jail’s own website confirms that visitations are restricted to a single four-hour window on Sundays, with 30-minute blocks handed out on a first-come, first-served basis. The lawsuit points out that other groups, including attorneys and consular officials, are granted exceptions to the no-contact and time-limitation rules. 

The Archdiocese previously tried to resolve the matter through direct requests 

The Archdiocese notes that it tried to resolve this through direct requests, but the response from jail leadership was that they just could not accommodate them. According to the lawsuit, Andrew Johnson, the jail administrator, told the Archdiocese that the visits were not possible because of the facility’s no-contact policy. 

He also noted that “the visitation policy was implemented by ICE” and that he had no authority to change it. Since the jail houses these detainees through agreements with ICE and receives federal funding, the lawsuit argues that ICE definitely has the power to step in and fix this.

The lawsuit specifically lists Sheriff Gary Stolzer, Chief Deputy Jason Schott, and Lt. Andrew Johnson from the county side. On the federal level, it targets U.S. Department of Homeland Security Director Markwayne Mullin and acting ICE Director David J. Venturella.

As for the response from the other side, a spokesperson for the Ste. Genevieve County Jail mentioned that they have not received the documentation for the lawsuit yet. They said that once they do, it will be sent to legal counsel for a full review. Meanwhile, ICE has not returned requests for comment.