The Archdiocese of St. Louis has filed a federal lawsuit in what it deems a religious liberty case.
The St. Louis Archdiocese filed the case in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri saying it steadfastly supports the right of all Catholics and the priests who serve them to practice their Catholic faith.
What has the Archdiocese headed to court is action by the St. Genevieve Detention Center -- which church official say currently prohibits Catholic priests from offering, and Catholic detainees, from receiving the sacraments of confession and communion.
According the Archdiocesan officials, Catholic priests regularly visit and provide the sacraments to detainees in other local jails but are unable to do it in St. Genevieve - despite their requests to do so. They are asking the court to halt the current policies prohibiting them from fully ministering to detainees there.
