A judge has ruled that Christians must be allowed into an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility in Illinois in time for Ash Wednesday. 

Christian groups will hold an outdoor Mass and procession to begin Lent, which organisers believe will be a “public expression of prayer and solidarity with immigrant families”.

The Coalition for Spiritual and Public Leadership (CSPL), a Catholic community organisation, had taken authorities to court after being blocked from providing pastoral care at the facility in Broadview, near Chicago. 

An injunction means the Department of Homeland Security must allow clergy into the facility, after being denied access to give pastoral care since June last year. Church leaders had been allowed in the facility for more than a decade before the ban. 

Father Dan Hartnett, member of the CSPL, said: “The collective voices and faithful witness of Catholics and Christians in Chicago and across the country are making an impact. As Lent begins, we pray this ruling restores religious freedom for those detained and moves our country closer to justice in honoring the dignity of all migrants.”

A statement from the nonprofit said that “Ash Wednesday Mass will lift up immigrants’ resilience” as clergy will witness “to the human dignity of every person”. 

Cardinal Blase J. Cupich, Catholic Archbishop of Chicago, is expected to lead Mass and the procession. 

More than 5,000 people have been involved in CSPL campaigns against the ban, including “People’s Mass” outside the gates of the Broadview ICE Facility. 

The group has raised concerns that reports of “deteriorating and inhumane conditions increased” during the time when clergy were not allowed visits. 

Father Leandro Fossá said: “The whole world has seen the injustices of our federal immigration system. We are eager to see how the federal government responds to the injunction and restores the fundamental religious rights of people in detention to receive pastoral visits, rights that had been honored previously.”