Roman Catholic Diocese Of Brooklyn Sues NY Gov Cuomo

Up to now, the most visible Catholic opponent of COVID lockdowns has been San Francisco Abp Cordileone, but his resistance has been limited to public processions and verbal persuasion. Evangelical and Pentecostal Protestants have been more willing to sue. But yesterday, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn finally lost patience with moving goalposts and arbitrary limits on capacity:

The Diocese of Brooklyn is suing the state of New York over a new order that restricts some indoor Masses in New York City to just 10 people.

The diocese alleges that the new health restrictions by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, put in place in Queens and Brooklyn amid a new spike in the coronavirus, “arbitrarily reduce capacity” at churches which worked with public health officials earlier in the summer to reopen safely after the initial wave of the virus.

“If this latest executive order stands, parishioners won't be able to go to Mass this Sunday, even though the Diocese has done everything right to ensure safe conditions in its churches,” said the diocese’s attorney Randy Mastro.

. . . Earlier this week, Cuomo capped indoor religious services in Brooklyn and Queens at 10 people in the areas deemed most seriously affected by the virus, and at 25 people in some other areas.

. . . Brooklyn Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio said that churches in the diocese faithfully abided by new precautions including that Mass attendees wear masks and sit at least six feet apart.

“The executive orders this week have left us with no other option than to go to court,” DiMarzio stated on Thursday. The bishop called it “an insult” for the state “to once again penalize all those who have made the safe return to Church work.”

Tensions had also been building throughout the week with ultra-Orthosox Jewish groups in Queens and Orange County, NY

[A] grassroots group representing Ultra-Orthodox Jewish congregations has filed a federal lawsuit seeking to halt implementation of a new shutdown order issued against their communities by Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

. . . On Tuesday, Cuomo declared areas with high rates of testing positivity, including the Village of Kiryas Joel and the Town of Palm Tree in Orange County and ultra-Orthodox Jewish areas in Rockland, to be "red zones" subject to new shutdowns. Among the new restrictions were tight limitations on houses of worship: 25% capacity or 10 worshipers, whichever is less.

Other Jewish leaders accused Cuomo of bad faith dealing:

Gov. Andrew Cuomo told Jewish religious leaders that limiting houses of worship to 50 percent capacity was sufficient to beat back the coronavirus surge — only to announce tighter restrictions just hours later.

. . . Cuomo told the leaders that a strict limit on the number of people in synagogues and other houses of worship was necessary, but indicated that it would be set at 50 percent.

. . . But in a 3 p.m. Tuesday press briefing, Cuomo unveiled a new, color-coded system of restrictions set to take effect no later than Friday — including capacity limits on religious institutions well below 50 percent.

In “intense cluster” zones, houses of worship are restricted to 25-percent capacity or a maximum of 10 people.

The ultra-Orthodox communities clearly feel that Jews are being singled out for special treatment, especially as the new controls go into place during high holidays. According to the Times of Israel,

Speaking in separate and overlapping press conferences Wednesday morning, Cuomo, New York’s governor, and de Blasio, New York City’s mayor, both avoided singling out the Jewish community or even using the word “Jewish.”

De Blasio has been criticized in the past for singling out New York Jews who violated regulations, and yesterday, Orthodox leaders accused Cuomo of misleading them regarding the scope of the new regulations. Cuomo also faced backlash on Monday for showing a 14-year-old picture of an Orthodox Jewish event while criticizing recent mass religious gatherings.

The problem I see is the conundrum posed by the non-conforming Evangelical megachurches in Southern California. They claim, and as far as I can see, haven't been challenged, that although they gather in thousands without masks or social distancing, and they sing in church, COVID illnesses and hospitalizations have been minimal -- it would appear well below regional statistics.

This suggests that the causes of COVID infections are traceable to factors other than church attendance. In areas like Brooklyn and Queens, central heating and ventilating systems in apartment buidlings are probably a more likely culprit.

The difficulty with lifting lockdown orders has been that they're based on a sort of adventitious reality sustained by media, health officials, and politicians, with a constantly shifting set of justifications for an oddly uniform set of policies. Masks may or may not be effective, but an increasing "consensus" says everyone must wear them.

If deaths and hospitalizations have remained at a low level, we must focus on "cases" even though nobody can explain exactly what a "case" is -- it may be asymptomatic, it may be a false positive, it may reflect antibodies to other viruses, but it justifies renewed lockdowns.

It's going to take a lot to get the world out of this.