CALIFORNIA CITY, Calif. (KGET) — The leader the Diocese of Fresno Bishop Joseph Brennan met with detainees at the Core Civic ICE detention facility in California City on Monday.
Brennan’s visit comes as national attention grows amid reports of poor conditions at the facility.
The bishop, along with other Catholic leaders from Southern California held mass inside the facility and spoke with detainees about how they’re feeling while being held at the detention facility.
“I think they need … we all need to have a sense that someone has our back or that someone even cares about us, that someone is thinking about us or that someone is there with us,” Brennan said.
Joseph Brennan was named Bishop of the Fresno Archdiocese by Pope Francis in 2019, but has been an ordained priest in the church since 1980.
Brennan oversees 87 different parishes in the Central Valley including Bakersfield and Fresno. He led the small coalition of leaders into the facility including Deacon Joe Lubatti of Bakersfield, Archdiocese of Los Angeles Bishop Brian Nunes and California City Pastor Kris Sorensen.
“We all went there to just be there with some of the folks who are incarcerated there to listen to them, accompany them, pray with them, and assure them of our prayers for them,” Brennan said.
While inside the group was given a small tour of the facility and held mass for the detainees. They also provided confession and heard from those inside. Brennan spoke about one man who was growing depressed over being separated from his daughters.
“You can see the immense pain in his eyes,” Brennan said. “And you could almost feel the pain in his heart that at the separation. And that’s part of the onerous heavy burden that that is going on there.”
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Last month, California Sens. Adam Schiff and Alex Padilla visited the facility as the facility faced allegations of poor and inhumane living conditions. Core Civic was recently ordered to make improvements to those conditions due to an ongoing lawsuit with the ACLU.
“I was actually impressed by the what I would perceive as the condition of the folks who are incarcerated there,” Brennan said. “Honestly, the cleanliness of the facility was also impressive. So I’ve been in lots of facilities, state facilities, federal facilities, and this was pretty much tops.”
Pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes in California City Kris Sorensen said the greatest part of the visit was providing spiritual healing to detainees.
“I just feel privileged to be able to offer sacraments to the to the facility,” Sorensen said. “I will do everything in my power to bring Christ to them and and comfort.”
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