Marking a year of Covid-19 on the airwaves

On the one-year anniversary of the Covid-19 outbreak in Ireland, it wasn’t surprising that the issue of the lockdown and religious practice featured prominently in the media last week, especially considering the Catholic Bishops’ statement on religious worship which put this back more prominently on the agenda.

David Quinn discussed the matter on Today with Clare Byrne (RTÉ Radio One, Wednesday) with Prof. Tomás Ryan of Trinity College. It was a reflective discussion with some respectful disagreements and differences of emphasis but with some common ground as well. Mr Quinn thought it was “entirely reasonable” to ease restrictions on public worship when lockdown rules at level five in general were eased and especially at level three, when even hairdressers were open but you couldn’t attend regular religious services. He pointed out how Ireland was very much an outlier on this issue, being much stricter than most other European countries, and drew attention to the army of volunteers who had made huge efforts to keep churchgoers safe when the churches were open in a limited way.

Prof. Ryan thought that churches were “a risk site” for super-spreader events, but also that ‘worship is incredibly important’ and that it wasn’t just on the same level of going to the cinema and the like. He believed it was a central thing “for people of all faiths and none” (worship central to people of no faith?) The Church, he believed, had an important community leadership role and he seemed to favour regional easing where Covid-19 cases were very low (he instanced Cork, Kerry and Kilkenny). He complimented the Church for being innovative in coping with lockdown and felt funerals didn’t always have to be confined to the church buildings especially with the weather improving. His argument was for us to aim at getting to level one, when we could have normal funerals and less of them, while Mr Quinn countered that this would mean months more of lockdown. They reprised the discussion on The Tonight Show (Virgin Media One) on the Thursday evening.

The issue was discussed further later that day on The Hard Shoulder (Newstalk). Fr Iggy O’Donovan OSA was “sort of” supportive of the bishops, but stressed he was not grouching about the restrictions. In Covid-19 matters he was more inclined to take his instructions from the civil authorities, like Ireland’s Chief medical Officer Tony Holohan and his US equivalent Anthony Fauchi. Religious services, he said, were far down the list of priorities for the State. Churches, he found, were poorly attended anyway but now he saw “the most unlikely people” advocating for their right to worship. Presenter Kieran Cuddihy was of the opinion that there were genuine regular Mass-goers who were deprived because of the restrictions. As regards worship he agreed that there was “nothing like the real thing”, and thought there should be more scope for movement in relation to funerals and weddings – churches were big roomy buildings.

A caller, Jason, said we needed God more than ever now and was supportive of the bishops. He said online worship was nice but it wasn’t the same – you couldn’t really receive Eucharist virtually. Another caller, Brendan (not me!) agreed on the need to allow greater numbers at funerals – he had been a steward at church and saw how safe they were – with large buildings, hand sanitising, social distancing and quick dispersal of the congregation. He also agreed the that Eucharist, like drinking water and eating food – can’t really be done virtually. While also supportive of civil authorities, he pointed out that Slovakia, Slovenia and Ireland were the only countries where you couldn’t go to Mass – the countries that allow it, the majority, have medical experts advising them too. He felt the civil authorities here had a ‘tone deafness about people’s spiritual needs, but was 100% behind the project to keep people physically safe.

On Thursday evening back on The Hard Shoulder (Newstalk) Kieran Cuddihy reviewed one year of Covid-19 restrictions by interviewing people in his home town of Kilkenny. His interviewees included Fr Willie Purcell who spoke of agonising over funerals and a church in a broadband blackspot where even the idea of livestreaming Mass was a challenge. People, he said, were missing the “on-ground” experience and the rituals around going to Mass. Mr Cuddihy showed an empathic understanding of Fr Purcell’s dilemmas – the idea of a shepherd not being able to go near his flock – no religious illiteracy there!

Pick of the week

Mass
RTÉ One Sunday March 21, 11.00am

Celebrated by the prior of Lough Derg, Msgr La Flynn. Liturgy is led by the Lough Derg pastoral team and music ministry group, directed by Mary McDaid.

New! Catholic Sphere
EWTN Wednesday March 24, 8.30pm

EWTN correspondents from around the world join Brian Patrick to provide a unique global perspective on our faith, focusing on the issues that are important to Catholics today.