Larry Donnelly
A few years ago now, I wrote in this newspaper about my determination to bring my young son, Larry Óg, to Mass with me every week. My resolve remains strong and, though he does sometimes protest, my namesake typically attends on Sundays with his parents at St Patrick’s Church here in Wicklow Town.
Of course, during much of the pandemic, participation has been virtual and we have been watching our parish priests celebrate on computer or phone screens. We were delighted with the recent return of Mass as we knew it pre-coronavirus, with the required social distancing and a limit on numbers.
Volunteers
For the last three Sundays, we have been turned away at the door by members of the team of excellent volunteers who do wonderful work ushering people in and out and keeping us all safe. They invariably are apologetic and, in truth, we don’t mind. With an impatient eight-year-old child, it is not an option to arrive very early to ensure we get a seat. Moreover, I can’t abide the thought that we might displace elderly men and women or someone with a disability.
Holy Communion was then distributed outdoors to a crowd of perhaps 20 to 25 people”
Last summer, the situation was similar. The volunteers then brought out plastic chairs for us to sit outside – allowing for a good amount of space between the groups who came together and individuals on their own – and turned on an outdoor speaker for us to listen to the Mass. Holy Communion was then distributed outdoors to a crowd of perhaps 20 to 25 people.
It was a flawless operation. To be frank, I really enjoyed it, especially on nice days. I know that my son did, too. Sitting outside on refreshing summer mornings and reflecting upon what we heard from inside was quite a spiritual experience. Additionally, Larry was never the only child there. It was affirming for him and heartening for us to see his contemporaries asking questions of parents and grandparents as they followed along with the Mass.
I fully agree that every appropriate precaution should be taken in every single instance”
On the first occasion this year that we couldn’t get into the church, the speaker was put on and all went just as it had before. Yet for the last two weeks, we were told by volunteers that the speaker could not be turned on – that an official decision had been taken that this was encouraging people to gather and was potentially in breach of the relevant guidelines.
I was dumbfounded. So was my son. Given that outdoor dining – for which people are in far closer proximity than they are in a church car park – is being allowed and is regarded as a low-risk activity, I cannot fathom why the use of an outdoor speaker to broadcast Mass at a volume that does not disturb neighbours is apparently forbidden in the Archdiocese of Dublin.
Responses
I am ordinarily measured in my responses to things I think are foolhardy or objectionable. And I am not a coronavirus sceptic or denier. I fully agree that every appropriate precaution should be taken in every single instance. But this ‘speaker ban’ strikes me as crazy and counterproductive in equal measure.
I respectfully and sincerely urge that it be reconsidered.
Larry Donnelly is a Boston attorney, a law lecturer at NUI Galway and a regular media contributor on politics, current affairs and law in Ireland and the US. Twitter: @LarryPDonnelly