The bishops’ decision to contravene a statewide executive order is the first made by U.S. bishops since the coronavirus pandemic began.In response, Governor Walz said the following:
But Minnesota’s bishops said the state’s prohibitions on religious gatherings of more than 10 people does not respect the right to the free exercise of religion.
“It is now permissible for an unspecified number of people to go to shopping malls and enter stores, so long as no more than 50 percent of the occupancy capacity is reached. Big-box stores have hundreds of people inside at any one time, and the number of goods that are being handled and distributed in one store by many people—stock staff, customers, cashiers—is astounding. Workers are present for many hours per day, often in close proximity. There is no state mandate that customers wear masks in those malls or stores, wash their hands consistently, or follow any specific cleaning protocol,” the bishops wrote.
“In these circumstances, and given the well-researched protocols that we have proposed (and that are being followed successfully elsewhere in our nation) how can reason require us any longer to keep our faithful from the Eucharist?”
It's on. And it needs to be.
6 comments:
I didn't get a "harrumph" out of that blog.
Bring it. Arrest everybody who goes to church. Just do it.
Too bad the bishops are constrained by decorum from saying something stronger than "nuts". Perhaps along the lines of Foxtrot Yankee.
I see where the mayor of New Brighton is saying she'll arrest folks that go to church.
I see where the mayor of New Brighton is saying she'll arrest folks that go to church.
Yeah, about that. . . beyond Walz's capitulation yesterday making that moot, she couldn't have made that happen even if she wanted to. New Brighton cops listen to the mayor, but they don't report to her. New Brighton has a city manager who would have made that decision. And I don't think there would have been much enthusiasm for such an edict.
Our church has continued meeting in private homes since the lock-down, in small enough groups to manage that. Our senior pastor asked the local police chief if that was going to be a concern if neighbors file a report. "We are NOT going to get in the middle of that," the Chief said. (Perhaps it helps that our senior pastor and my wife are both police chaplains for the local constabulary.)
The first Sunday we met I did notice a couple of police SUVs cruise past (we have plenty of parking space in our driveway), but we've had no hassles - and no outbreaks.
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