As word spread among Catholics that immigration agents were visiting places of worship to carry out deportations, the pews inside the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels Catholic Church in downtown Los Angeles became less and less crowded.

At least two Catholic dioceses have told migrants fearful of being arrested in immigration raids outside church that they do not have to attend Sunday Mass. San Bernardino Bishop Alberto Rojas, who leads more than 1.

At least two Catholic dioceses in the U.S. say immigrants fearful of detentions from ongoing immigration raids are not required to attend Sunday Mass. Why it matters: The rare dispensations from the dioceses of Nashville and San Bernardino,