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Letter to Parish: COVID Excuses Not Cutting It
https://www.churchmilitant.com/news/article/letter-to-parish-dont-make-excuses
by Jordan Bergeron • ChurchMilitant.com • March 11, 2021 32 Comments
Catholic blasts withholding sacraments, abetting Biden
A Catholic from Baton Rouge, Louisiana who read about an Indian River, Michigan parish supporting mandatory COVID shots sounded off in a letter to the parish. The letter called out the parish's unsaintly concern for physical well-being over spiritual health and clergy's complicity with governments to deny the faithful access to the sacraments, despite their canonical obligation to administer them. It also cited the broader Church's double standard in allowing prominent Democrats to profane the Holy Eucharist while denying that same access to the faithful.
Dear Fr. Mike,
I am responding to your bulletin from Feb. 28, 2021.
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A "church is closed" sign, seen at a parish
You state you support the idea of mandating the vaccine for those coming back to Mass. Your statement that "many Catholics have not yet returned to in-person worship witnesses to the perception of the inadequacy of our current sanitizing and social-distancing efforts," is untrue. Many Catholics have not yet returned to in-person worship because many of the churches are still closed to public worship, there is a dispensation removing the requirement to go to Mass on Sundays, and sadly, there are those who have lost their faith because of the cowardly approach church leaders took in response to the pandemic. You state, "Many Catholics have not been able to attend Mass in-person because of the risk of COVID infection," which is also not true. Many Catholics have not been able to attend Mass for these same reasons.
You state, "Requiring the vaccine would allow everyone to participate equally in worship and the sacraments." You cannot take away the faithful's access or right to the sacraments, ever. Making this statement is wrong. It is contradictory with another statement you made, "Since the beginning of the pandemic, church officials have tried to keep churches open for in-person services. These attempts have been motivated by a deep passion for the faithful to have access to the grace of the Mass and the sacraments." If that is truly the motivation behind these attempts, then why are you recommending Mass and the sacraments be restricted even more? Church officials have not tried to keep churches open. The faithful saw immediate capitulation from our leaders to the whims of government officials, who said that abortion facilities could remain open, but churches were a high risk. Either you are lying, or you did not experience what a majority of the faithful did, and so your comment was misinformed.
You mention, "Churches have an ethical obligation to protect the health of clergy, staff and worshipers," and say, "It is morally irresponsible for churches to invite people to worship and receive the sacraments without taking all effective steps to minimize this risk."
