The Archdiocese of New Orleans has said that Catholics who are fearful for leaving their homes can miss Mass amid immigration raids while U.S. Border Patrol agents fan out across the city in the second week of an immigration enforcement operation .

Archbishop Gregory Aymond granted the dispensation for Catholics who are "rightfully afraid to participate in Mass.”

The dispensation will be valid "until the individual Catholic determines it is safe to attend Mass again or this dispensation is revoked or amended," Aymond said in a letter Monday to New Orleans' Catholic clergy.

Aymond's letter described "real fear and anxiety in the wake of an increase in immigration enforcement actions" felt by New Orleans-area Catholics with immigrant backgrounds.

"Let me first assure them of my prayer

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