In a statement released last weekend, the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales asked the government to produce evidence necessitating a suspension of public worship, as is required by the latest Covid-19 guidance.
It was signed by both the President of the bishop’s conference, Cardinal Vincent Nichols, and the Vice-President, Archbishop Malcolm McMahon OP. They said: “It is thus a source of deep anguish now that the Government is requiring, once again, the cessation of public communal worship.
“Whilst we understand the many difficult decisions facing the Government, we have not yet seen any evidence whatsoever that would make the banning of communal worship, with all its human costs, a productive part of combatting the virus. We ask the Government to produce this evidence that justifies the cessation of acts of public worship.”
Arguing for the necessity of worship on a number of bases, the statement read: “Faith communities have played a vital role in sustaining personal, spiritual and mental health and encouraging vital charitable activities, which support hundreds of thousands of people in all sections of the community, especially the most vulnerable.
“That critical service towards the common good of all is created and sustained by communal worship and prayer. Part of this selfless giving has been a strong ethic of responsibility in the way in which we have reopened our churches so that essential worship has been enabled.”
The statement highlighted the “great deal” that has been done to prepare churches for public worship in “supervised and disciplined ways”.
Action
Ending the statement with a call to action, the bishops asked the Faithful to communicate their questions and concerns to their elected representatives, saying “questions can be raised with our elected Members of Parliament regarding the cessation of public common worship.
“They are in a position to require the Government to publish the data that drives the decision to cease public worship under these restrictions.”