{"id":594857,"date":"2026-02-16T21:38:13","date_gmt":"2026-02-16T21:38:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/594857\/"},"modified":"2026-02-16T21:38:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T21:38:13","slug":"episcopal-bishop-to-host-ash-wednesday-prayer-outside-central-ny-ice-offices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/594857\/","title":{"rendered":"Episcopal bishop to host Ash Wednesday prayer outside Central NY ICE offices"},"content":{"rendered":"

Episcopal Bishop DeDe Duncan-Probe plans to take an uncommon stance on immigration enforcement on Ash Wednesday \u2013 a prayerful middle ground.<\/p>\n

Duncan-Probe and other Episcopal and Catholic church leaders plan to pray and place ashes on foreheads at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday morning outside the headquarters for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, at 100 Northern Concourse in Mattydale.<\/p>\n

At noon, they plan to offer \u201cto-go\u201d ashes outside the federal building, 100 S. Clinton St., in downtown Syracuse.<\/p>\n

The diocese has invited people of all faiths to gather and pray at both events. She said she has also invited ICE agents.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt will just be a prayer for dignity of all humans,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

She asks people to carpool or park along the road and gather in a public space near the property. If people bring protest signs, she said, the prayer group will separate itself. It is not intended to be a protest, she said.<\/p>\n

Many churches started offering \u201cto-go\u201d ashes during the pandemic. In the last few years, she said, she has taken the mission to the community. Last year, she visited the Syracuse University campus.<\/p>\n

This year, she\u2019s wading into immigration<\/a> \u2013 one of the most divisive issues in recent American history.<\/p>\n

President Donald Trump is carrying out a campaign promise to detain and deport criminals living in the country without permission. But aggressive enforcement is more often sweeping up people who are not criminals and are voluntarily participating in a legal path to citizenship. <\/p>\n

Clashes between federal agents and protesters have also turned deadly. Federal agents shot and killed two protesters<\/a> in Minneapolis.<\/p>\n

Duncan-Probe said she plans to pray for safety without taking a political stance.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really about a human invitation to our life together, that we\u2019re honoring the dignity of other human beings, and as people who have taken vows to do this, it\u2019s part of our life of faith,\u201d she said. \u201cIn terms of the politics and partisanship, I take no stance on that. That is not my role.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thousands of people have protested in Syracuse<\/a> and surrounding communities in recent weeks. But most organizers have avoided the Mattydale office because it is difficult to access and hard for protesters to be seen.<\/p>\n

It is a nondescript office building on a side street near the busy intersection of Route 11 and Interstate 81.<\/p>\n

It is, however, the site of many arrests.<\/p>\n

This is the building where immigrants on supervised release must periodically meet with ICE agents. <\/p>\n

More and more often, immigrants who check in don\u2019t come out.<\/a> Instead, they are arrested and sent to detention centers around the country, leaving their cars, advocates and sometimes family members in the parking lot.<\/p>\n

The Rev. Fred Daley, pastor of All Saints Roman Catholic Church in Syracuse, drove up to the Mattydale headquarters in January when ICE agents detained two members <\/a>of his congregation. He said they declined to allow him inside, even when he said he was there to offer Communion.<\/p>\n

Daley said he plans to pray outside the office building Wednesday at the invitation of Duncan-Probe.<\/p>\n

Ash Wednesday marks the first day of Lent, a 40-day season of reflection that leads to Easter. <\/p>\n

Daley<\/a> has not stayed neutral on immigration policy. He said Ash Wednesday is the right time to stand outside of ICE headquarters and take a stand against cruelty.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s such an appropriate day to gather there,\u201d Daley said. \u201cLent is all about repentance, atoning for sins.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ICEICE headquarters in Mattydale, N.Y. (Michelle Breidenbach | mbreidenbach@syracuse.com)Michelle Breidenbach | mbreidenbach@syracuse.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Episcopal Bishop DeDe Duncan-Probe plans to take an uncommon stance on immigration enforcement on Ash Wednesday \u2013 a…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":594858,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5122],"tags":[256789,5229,256788,405,403,50,5226,5225,5228,5227,3009,9990,4695,4696,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":["post-594857","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-2025-pride-parade","tag-america","tag-arthur-maiorella","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-news","tag-newyork","tag-newyorkcity","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-pride","tag-pride-parade","tag-syracuse","tag-syracuse-com","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116082475454253493","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/594857","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=594857"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/594857\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/594858"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=594857"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=594857"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=594857"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}