Victorian Catholics want churches open

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Closing public gatherings for the health and safety of the community at large is not discrimination. Time and again here in the States when people ignore orders to avoid large gatherings, to limit sizes of church and other public congregations, there is always a spike in cases. Not that long ago a pastor of a church who was poo-pooing COVID and masks got hospitalized with… COVID. Let’s quit trying to play the victim card. Every little inconvenience does not constitute “discrimination”.
 
We had the Catholic churches open in the Philadelphia archdiocese throughout the whole pandemic shutdown. No public Mass or communion, but churches were open and people went and prayed. Many days there were more than 10 people in church. No one got sick at church to my knowledge.

We have been having socially distanced Mass again since June with no problems to my knowledge.

I don’t mind wearing a mask and observing every other pew/ 6 foot distance while in church, but some of the restrictions are unfair overkill when they are allowing people to gather more closely in restaurants or other revenue-generating businesses. 10 people outdoors is a ridiculously low number.
Where this has happened in the USA, several dioceses have successfully challenged it.

It’s quite simply religious discrimination because the people in charge figure that nobody “needs” to go to church and they can pray at home. Which is not true for Catholics.
 
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Here in Portland we’re doing socially distanced Masses too. I’m not saying that some of the policies aren’t a little excessive in light of allowances made for restaurants, etc (but there are many “pro-life” politicians who think the economy is the most important thing), but positioning things as though we Catholics are being discriminated against is deceptive at best.
 
JayCL said:
but positioning things as though we Catholics are being discriminated against is deceptive at best.
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In some locations, Catholics are indeed being discriminated against.

The OP lives in Australia. Many things happen there that suggest discrimination against Catholics.

There are also parts of the US where there does seem to be discrimination against Catholics. I am fortunate to not live in those areas. If you are also fortunate, then be glad, but don’t just dismiss the fact that it can and does happen other places.
 
I won’t argue the point, but in this day and age many, many people, especially Christians decry anything that’s an inconvenience or a leveling of the playing field between us and non-Christians/non-religious folks as “Discriminatory”. Having others receive the same rights and treatment as you yourself (proverbially, not you personally) have is not discrimination. I guess I’m just cautious to keep in mind that when one is used to privilege, equality feels like discrimination. I’m not saying it doesn’t happen, but the term is tossed around far too much by alarmists (on all sides) and is inappropriately applied to situations that are not discriminatory.
 
Just two covid 19 cases and no deaths reported in my State of Victoria today.
On Sunday we will hear if restrictions will be eased .
 
I’m an attorney.

I have a pretty good sense of what is and isn’t discrimination, and not just against Catholics.

YMMV.
Greenfields said:
I was amazed at prolife bill boards and garden statues of Our Lady in America on my trip there 🙂
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We are just a few decades ahead of your country in that regard. As I have mentioned before, my grandfather was anti-Catholic and a member of the Klan, likely in the 1910s and 1920s when it was a very big organization. My mother could also tell stories of discrimination. Her parents and grands who fled the UK could tell even worse ones.
 
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In California, the health board said they can’t sing in church. The churches rolled over on that one. How is that OK?
 
I know there are traditionalists, but Victorian Catholics, really?

Oh… Yes…

Not quite as familiar with my Canadian geography as history lol.
 
Fets said:
I know there are traditionalists, but Victorian Catholics, really?

Oh… Yes…

Not quite as familiar with my Canadian geography as history lol.
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Oh man, them’s fighting words.

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JayCL said:
Having others receive the same rights and treatment as you yourself (proverbially, not you personally) have is not discrimination.
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What are you talking about with reference to this thread? (Please keep on-topic.)

PS I’m a convert who had more privilege before I became Catholic, and have had to navigate discrimination (e.g. in the workplace) since becoming Catholic. So I’d agree with other posters in suggesting you maybe avoid dismissing the concerns and experiences of others just because you haven’t personally experienced something.
 
JayCL said:
Having others receive the same rights and treatment as you yourself (proverbially, not you personally) have is not discrimination.
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There are numerous examples of large gatherings that have occurred and been allowed in these locales. However, then the government turns around and says “for churches, here is the list of precautions and restrictions that must be observed, or we will shut you down completely.”

I do not see how that is considered “having others receive the same rights and treatment” as churches. The decrees have treated churches differently from other large gatherings (such as George Floyd riots.)
 
Anesti33 said:
the health board said they can’t sing in church.
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That’s pretty much the current diocesan regulation in my Swiss diocese. We have soloists but the congregation hardly ever sings.

I struggled with this at first, but the pastor commented several times about how he felt that the general atmosphere at Mass had changed and become much more prayerful and contemplative than it was before - and I have to admit he isn’t wrong.

Now I’m hoping we will have both in the future, singing and contemplation.
 
I’m not saying that no discrimination exists. But an individual or some individuals being mean to someone for being Catholic or Christian is not the same as persecution, which seems to be the insinuation. Are only Catholic churches not being allowed to open in Victoria? Or are all mass gatherings being disallowed? Let’s just be careful not to conflate inconvenience with persecution. It does a disservice to our forebears and our co-religionists who are being discriminated against (like in the PRC, Iran, and other countries like that).
 
When and where did I say that because I’ve never been discriminated against that it doesn’t exist? In fact, I conceded readily that Catholics are discriminated against in other parts of the world. But a mild inconvenience put in place for all houses of worship hardly could be considered “anti-Catholic discrimination or persecution”. Let’s not minimize what Catholics and other Christians ARE going through in places like Iran, PRC, and other countries like those by calling some inconvenient rules “persecution”.
 
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