Republic remains almost alone in banning public Masses

Currently, we are not allowed to go to Mass again in  the Republic. All public worship is effectively banned. From the end of March last year until the end of June, public worship was called off, and again in places like Donegal and Dublin from September until early December, and in the rest of the country from October until early December.

Prohibition

The current prohibition looks like it could go on for at least another two months. It began again on St Stephen’s Day.

This means that by the time March comes around, we will have been stopped from attending Mass for roughly seven out of 12 months.

The question, as always, is whether this is proportionate and justifiable. Is it backed by evidence?

At present, given the high daily count of Covid-19 cases, a big majority of people, including Mass-goers probably, will think that it is.

But this is partly because we are not being properly informed about what is happening in other European countries.

Public worship

It is hard to keep track of all the various restrictions being imposed by all European countries, but it is relatively easy to keep an eye on what is happening in the case of public worship in the biggest ones and in our closest neighbours. The picture is subject to constant change, but at the time of writing, you could still go to Mass in England, Wales and – of course – the North.

You could go to Mass in France, Italy and Spain, Netherlands, Poland, Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic.

If you add together the populations of Britain, France, Italy, Spain, Germany and Poland you arrive at around 350 million people, the great majority of the population of Europe overall.

In all these countries, public worship is still permitted, albeit with limits on numbers who can attend at any one time.

In Britain, each of the four ‘nations’ (as they are called) can set their own Covid-19 policy. Large parts of England recently went back into lockdown again, so-called ‘tier 4’, which may become stricter still.

In November, when highest level restrictions were re-imposed following a second spike in infections, certain parts of England stopped public worship again.

Leaders of all the main faiths wrote to Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, in protest. They said their places of worship had been extremely safely run and there was no justification for banning public worship again.

This time around, public worship is being permitted even in those areas affected by the new, more infectious Covid-19 variant.

Obviously, public health authorities looked at the evidence and couldn’t find a good enough reason to stop public worship again.

In Wales, which is run by Labour, public worship has been stopped for only a very brief period since the summer.

It has been the same in Scotland, which is run by Nicola Sturgeon and the Scottish National Party. Only now that the country has gone back into full lockdown and people told not to leave their houses, is public worship ceasing again.

North

In the North, with the joint Government, public worship has been only briefly stopped since the first lockdown ended, as in Wales. This is despite the North having a consistently much higher infection rate than the South for months now, partly because it is twice as densely populated as the South.

In each case, the science simply doesn’t justify a total ban on public worship because it is so low-risk.

We hear a lot about the crucial ‘R’ number, that is the reproduction rate of the virus. If it is above 1, it is bad news. Anything that clearly adds to the R number is generally closed down, unless there is very good reason to do otherwise. (It is why we are keeping the meat factories going, for instance, despite breakouts in those places).

There have been isolated examples in some countries of breakouts in some places of worship, but they are the exceptions that prove the rule.

Overwhelmingly, churches have been safe places to be because an army of volunteers has kept them that way. Therefore, they have added nothing measurable to that R number.

This is what other countries have found and it’s why the French, British, Germans, Italians, Poles. Dutch, Spanish, etc. Can still attend Mass at present.

In fact, you can go Mass in Derry, but not in Letterkenny.

Perhaps the ban on public worship at level 5 can be justified in the name of social solidarity, or because the infection rate has gone so high.

But under NPHET guidance, public worship stops at level 3, never mind level 5.

Dr Ronan Glynn, the Deputy Chief Medical Officer told me in September that public worship is considered “less important” in the context of a pandemic.

But in level 3, outdoor dining was still permitted, you could still go to a hairdresser, or a gym or into any shop you liked. These were all considered more important.

It is as though freedom of worship and religion are not fundamental rights in the Constitution but these other things are.

When we moved back into level 5, non-essential retail was kept open to begin with, but not public worship. Again, we can see the Government’s priorities. Public worship is far down the list, and they are happy to ‘turn it off’ quickly.

Church

It doesn’t help, of course, that Church leaders right across the board have been so slow to defend the right to public worship. This contrasts strongly with their counterparts in other countries. In France, Catholic bishops took the Government to court over disproportionate restrictions, and won.

It seems amazing the religious leaders here didn’t at least express disappointment at the decision to stop public worship and point out how safe it has been to attend Mass and other services.

At this point, it is very doubtful that any voices will be raised until the latest storm has passed, but at the first opportunity Church leaders must begin to call again for the resumption of public worship, even when so many other European countries still permit it.