Trump Blocked Mass at Alligator Alcatraz — Then Pope Leo’s Bikers Showed Up

After a month of protest, rosaries, and roaring engines, Archbishop Wenski and the bikers brought Mass back to Alligator Alcatraz.

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After sustained pressure from Catholic Church leaders and laypeople alike, priests have finally been allowed to celebrate Mass inside the “Alligator Alcatraz” detention camp in Florida.

Archbishop Thomas Wenski of Miami confirmed that the first Catholic liturgy was offered for detainees this week after a month-long standoff.

“I am pleased that our request to provide for the pastoral care of the detainees has been accommodated,” Wenski announced, adding that regular Masses will continue from now on.

This breakthrough followed several weeks in which migrants at the Everglades camp were denied all access to clergy or sacraments.

Some even had their Bibles confiscated by guards who told them, “Here there is no right to religion,” one detainee reported.

Wenski slammed such conditions as an “intentional effort to dehumanize” the migrants and stressed that allowing Mass would help restore their dignity.

The eventual victory is largely thanks to a united Catholic campaign.

Archbishop Wenski literally took to the highway with the Knights of Columbus biker ministry to press for access.

On July 20, he and about two dozen Knights on Bikes rode to the camp gates and prayed the rosary after being denied entry.

Wenski pointedly noted that officials “built that place in less than a week” but kept clergy waiting weeks for access. The dramatic biker rally drew widespread attention and ramped up pressure on authorities to relent.

The detention center itself was conceived under President Donald Trump, his Catholic vice president, JD Vance, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as part of a hardline immigration crackdown.

Trump and DeSantis toured “Alligator Alcatraz” in July, boasting that its alligator-infested swamps make an ideal detention site.

By banding together — from parish pews to motorcycle rallies — American Catholics proved that when they stand united, they have the power to effect change.

Trump and his minions tried to block the sacraments. Wenski and the bikers said not a chance — and won. I imagine the pope from Chicago is damn proud of his brethren.

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