The bishops of Minnesota have permitted parishes to resume public Masses, and to defy a statewide order prohibiting religious gatherings exceeding 10 people.Up to now, the leadership in this movement has been largely Evangelicals, Pentecostals, and other groups at the fringe. For Catholic bishops to do this in a united front, in direct violation of a governor's orders, is a major step. Interestingly, so far, I've seen no main line Protestant parish or denomination do anything like this.“An order that sweeps so broadly that it prohibits, for example, a gathering of 11 people in a Cathedral with a seating capacity of several thousand defies reason,” the bishops of Minnesota’s six dioceses said in a May 20 statement.
“Therefore, we have chosen to move forward in the absence of any specific timeline laid out by Governor Walz and his Administration. We cannot allow an indefinite suspension of the public celebration of the Mass,” the bishops added.
“We can safely resume public Masses in accordance with both our religious duties and with accepted public health and safety standards.”
. . . The bishops’ letter permits parishes to resume public Masses May 26.
The bishops’ decision to contravene a statewide executive order is the first made by U.S. bishops since the coronavirus pandemic began.
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.
There are other states with either arbitrary ten or 25-person limits on church attendance, or no guidance at all until a vague "phase 3", still months away. It will be interesting to see if other Catholic bishops move in this direction.
For instance, our own diocesan parish had originally scheduled a drive-through distribution of palms for Palm Sunday, but this was canceled. Our pastor has now announced that this had merely been "postponed", and there will now be a drive-through distribution of those same palms this coming Sunday in the parish parking lot, with a blessing from the priests. I assume this has been squared with the bishop.
California has no provision for any type of church services in its reopening plan so far, leaving this to a future "phase 3". Even a drive-through distribution of palms is perhaps pushing things. We'll have to see what develops.
