Alberta Catholic churches are banned from distributing Communion when they reopen today under Premier Jason Kenney’s partial lifting of coronavirus pandemic restrictions.The most recent COVID statistics I can find say that Alberta, with a population of 4.371 million, has had 6,515 confirmed cases, of which 5,317 have recovered, with 125 deaths.According to the province’s Guidance for Places of Worship, religious services “must not include sharing food or beverages,” and “must not include any contact between congregants such as handshaking or the sharing of communal items (e.g. communion chalice).”
. . . Churches, mosques, synagogues and “any other place of worship” are also allowed to reopen Thursday with restrictions, said Tom McMillan, assistant director of communications for the ministry of health.
“When stage 1 begins, places of worship will be able to hold services, provided they follow the guidelines provided by the Alberta government,” he told LifeSiteNews in an email.
“All worship leaders are still encouraged to hold services remotely and to use creative mechanisms whenever possible,” added McMillan.
The most recent information I can find on Alberta traffic deaths is that there were 290 people killed in fatal collisions there in 2017.
The same year, 17,186 people were injured in traffic collisions there, a number far greater than the total cases of COVID so far, of which the vast majority are recovered.
In other words, there is a stronger basis for arguing that there should be a province-wide prohibition on driving cars (except for essential trips, church attendance not allowed) than for a province-wide lockdown for COVID.
When the premier graciously allows baby steps toward "reopening" from this insane overreaction, religious services, those for Catholics in particular, will be micromanaged, with the essential element for Catholics, receiving communion, still ruled out. Teleconference is still recommended. This is done for only the flimsiest of reasons.
And this is a worldwide phenomenon.
