The virus, churches and religious liberty

The Catholic Register, 03 June 2020

As governments begin to ease restrictions, open up businesses and revive the economy, the standards for houses of worship are dissimilar.

Is the closure of churches and the suspension of the public celebration of Holy Mass a religious liberty issue?

At the outset of the pandemic restrictions the near-unanimous answer to that question was no. I shared that view.

Obviously a state directive to close a church and suspend the sacraments, to that end alone, would be a violation of religious liberty. An unjust law, it would not bind a citizen in obedience.

But the pandemic restrictions were not like that. It was the gathering that was banned, not the religious purpose. It applied to everyone, not just religious gatherings. One might consider them analogous to building codes or fire safety regulations. The civil authority might close a church on those grounds, but it would not be a religious liberty issue.

“No one right is utterly absolute, that includes religious freedom,” said Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore, the leading American Catholic voice on religious liberty issues. “It’s always been recognized that sometimes there is an overriding concern on the part of the government and that people of faith have to take note of that and abide by it.”

That was March. It is now June. And what was a widely held position has shifted.

In early May, the Italian bishops heavily criticized the government’s re-opening plan for not including worship in churches.

“It should be clear to everyone that the commitment to the service of the poor, so significant in this emergency, arises from a faith that must be able to nurture itself from its sources, in particular sacramental life,” the bishops said.

Rebuked by the bishops, the Italian government then made an agreement with the bishops’ conference which allowed public Masses to begin on May 18.

On May 28 in Australia, Archbishop Anthony Fisher of Sydney blasted government guidelines that favoured pubs and cafes over churches, saying that he was standing up for religious freedom “when I see so many double standards being applied to people of faith.”

The next day the government revised its position. Public Masses were permitted in Sydney as of June 1, with a maximum of 50 people, the same regulation applied to pubs and restaurants.

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