JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — As Santa heads back to the North Pole from his long journey around the world, millions of Catholics are attending mass to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.
“Coming together as family and giving thanks that we can all be together and rejoice in his birth,” Thomas Hoprich who is Catholic said.
Today, dozens of Catholics attended Christmas mass at St. Paul’s Catholic Church in Jacksonville Beach. This is the first Christmas the Catholic Church is led by an American-born Pope, Pope Leo XIV. For Hoprich, he says it’s really special.
“It means a lot,” Hoprich said. “It feels like it brings us closer to the church, and we feel like there’s a renaissance of the faith in America, especially with the new Pope.”
>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<
This week, Florida’s Catholic Bishops sent an appeal to the President and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to pause immigration enforcement policies during the holidays. One of those Bishops is Bishop Erik Pohlmeier from the Diocese of St. Augustine. A White House spokesperson sent an email reply to the Associated Press saying:
“President Trump was elected based on his promise to the American people to deport criminal illegal aliens. And he’s keeping that promise.”
Hoprich says mixing politics and religion puts him as a Catholic in a tough spot.
“I can understand where the Bishops are coming from, but I also understand that the Administration has a job to do and they were forced to do it because it wasn’t done for the last four years,” Hoprich said.
Action News Jax reached out to the Diocese of St. Augustine to see if Bishop Pohlmeier has a response to the White House’s statement to the Associated Press; however, their office is closed for the holidays.
[DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks]
[SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter]
Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live.