No virus restrictions at Mass

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This same thing has been happening at my Parish. If COVID was nearly as dangerous as we have been told half my parish should be dead. Yet here we are with no cases and no deaths. I know it’s an anecdotal account but it’s something to consider.
 
Our bishop has left the decision to each priest on what restrictions to implement. We have everything from several parishes that have still not reopened to parishes with minimal social distancing and no masks required.

My parish requires online signup for Mass and we are limited to 50% capacity. Masks are optional and the vast majority of us do not wear them. Communion may be received on the tongue or in the hand but most choose to receive on the tongue.
 
Sunbreak said:
Would you report a parish which has never closed down during the coronavirus shutdowns?
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No. I would thank the pastor for being a true father, make a sizable donation, and consider joining the parish.
 
Weave said:
This same thing has been happening at my Parish. If COVID was nearly as dangerous as we have been told half my parish should be dead. Yet here we are with no cases and no deaths. I know it’s an anecdotal account but it’s something to consider.
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The US Covid death count is around 185,000 isn’t it? At what level should Covid be considered dangerous? 🤔
 
EXdrinker said:
No. I would thank the pastor for being a true father, make a sizable donation, and consider joining the parish.
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Perhaps this “anti-authority”, “individual freedoms are paramount” orientation of many people is a driver of the high infection rates in the US?
 
Sunbreak said:
Would you report a parish which has never closed down during the coronavirus shutdowns?
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What are you currently doing for Mass? Do you feel this is your battle to fight? Unless you truly feel a need to jump in as a rescuer, the obvious option is to stay home and livestream. Of all of those people attending, it’s likely that somebody has already said something.

If you do wish to take action, do as @acanonlawyer suggests and speak first with the pastor before going over his head. This is the more ethical and charitable approach.
 
I’m not the type who’s going to tattle on some priest if he’s having a few people in to Mass. My biggest problem was I was upset they got to go and I didn’t, which I discussed with my own priest in confession which fortunately we were allowed to keep having all through the shutdown (and the churches were open for prayer and Adoration too).

My impression was the Archdiocese really didn’t want to suspend the public Mass but was kinda forced to by the governor. We didn’t have any church-related outbreaks here that I know of. Every other diocese in the area of several states seems to have not only suspended Mass but locked all the churches and suspended confession. Apart from NYC, I thought it was overkill for all the other places.

It’s a moot point now as we’ve been reopen for Mass since early June, Thank God.
I actually spent the first week of June driving to the diocese just south of here to go to Mass because they reopened a week earlier.
 
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While I have great respect for the 40 Martyrs, if this priest gets reported, which is likely given that people from all over the place are attending his Mass, the worst that will happen is that he gets told to stop saying Mass. If necessary the bishop will send him somewhere else like a monastery. He’s not going to be locked up or killed.
 
And anyway, he would not be in trouble for saying Mass per se, but for disobeying instructions to do with public health.

He could be running a whist drive or a potluck supper for the parish, it would be the same offence. Nothing to do with saying Mass as such.
 
paperwight said:
And anyway, he would not be in trouble for saying Mass per se, but for disobeying instructions to do with public health.

He could be running a whist drive or a potluck supper for the parish, it would be the same offence. Nothing to do with saying Mass as such.
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The persecution of the Catholic laity in England generally occurred by way of the Acts of Uniformity. They were the principle method of persecution of the Church.
https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15127b.htm
 
IanM said:
The persecution of the Catholic laity in England generally occurred by way of the Acts of Uniformity. They were the principle method of persecution of the Church.
CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Uniformity Acts
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Bit of a red herring, that. We are talking about what action would or could be taken against a priest in these Covid 19 times, not about the persecution of Catholics centuries ago (which, as it happens, I take an interest in, as my husband has a Lancashire martyr as an ancestor, but not one of the Big Forty).
 
Sunbreak said:
I would only call it not mainstream in the sense that it’s a parish that has Masses in multiple languages. It tends to be rather on the more traditional side. However, the pastor doesn’t think the virus is any big deal - thinks it’s overblown and so hasn’t implemented any of the anti-virus policies.
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Is that hearsay or you know this because you have personally spoken to the priest?
 
The civil authorities have various powers - such as to instruct, according to law, no large gatherings on account of health risks. The Pope, the bishops and the rest of us, finding ourselves in the relevant jurisdiction, are subject to that authority. Legitimate (secular) authority does not end at the doors of the Catholic Church.
 
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What pronouncements has your national conference of catholic bishops made on this important matter?

You utterly misrepresent the material you quote.
 
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