Call for Lifting of Ban on Public Worship

A Letter to the Taoiseach.

On this morning of the the fourth of November, 2020, it looks as if the world is in for an agonising wait to see if The Ducky can be ejected from the White House at last. How anyone could vote for such a blatent, serial liar, narcissist, denier of reality and bully is a puzzle indeed,- but, in the hope that Joe Biden will prevail, I nonetheless feel impelled to sound a note that will very likely be perceived as coming from 'the other side'.

     While schools and universities are open, I cannot fathom the argument that churches and places of worship should invariably remain closed. It seems to me a simple matter of priorities. It may be difficult for some to understand, but the fact is that it is faith in God and the hope of eternal life that gives meaning to our lives, and thus inspires us to live life to the full. This is not merely an individual matter, but calls for communal and physical expression. 

     As believers, our instincts are generally law-abiding, except when laws transgress such fundamental obligations, and indeed reason and justice themselves. The fact is that properly organised ceremonies in airy buildings are much less likely to spread infection than, for instance, visits to a super-market or children in over-crowded little class-rooms.

     Particularly as an elderly person, suffering from cancer, the Mass is essential to my well-being and mental health. Within the wider social and political context, it is partly kick-back against secularist and materialistic pressure that has fuelled such disastrous aberrations as the elevation of Trump and Johnson.

    By the way, the discourtesy and lack of sensitivity to Moslems that they have displayed is, interestingly, shared by the champion of those cartoons in the Elysée Palace, which is not, of course, to condone those savage acts that purport to be a response. There is an arrogance and a fault in our Western civilisation here, which is emphatically not coming from the Man who urged us to take the plank from our own eye before we tried to take the mote from our neighbour's, though His followers may often be guilty of it!

     I am going to protest the ban on public worship with a call for a campaign of civil disobedience; if by the first Sunday in Advent, the 29th of this month of November and the beginning of the liturgical New Year, the Irish Government has not seen fit to lift this ban, despite the representations of their leaders, I would urge Catholics to defy it. Accordingly I am writing the following letter to An Taoiseach, our Prime Minister, and copying it to our local TDs, Bishop and Parish Priest, not to mention by way of social media.

Dear Taoiseach,

It is not apparent to me, and many others, why despite the appeals of church leaders, public worship is treated by your Government as more dangerous and less important than, for instance, keeping supermarkets, schools and universities open. The churches have nonetheless made every effort to comply with your regulations.

However, freedom of religion is guaranteed by our Constitution, and the worship of God, besides being our first duty, is in my view essential to mental health.

One cannot but suspect that there is an agenda at work here other than a truly scientific assessment of the risks. Accordingly, I give you notice that I am urging my Bishop and Parish Priest to defy such regulations, if the Government has not modified them by 29th of this month, the first Sunday of Advent.

Mise le meas,