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Gardaí gave a “last warning” to a parish priest, who told him that he had violated Covid-19 regulations after he continued to leave the doors of his church open while saying mass.
Father PJ Hughes, parish priest of Mullahoran, Co Cavan, said that he could not close the doors of his church because it would be “an insult to the people”, but he has promised to say mass at times other than the usual times of mass to guarantee people will not attend.
The priest proceeded to say mass last Sunday morning despite receiving a previous visit from two gardaí who, he said, told him that he would be breaking the law if there were people present in the Church. He said that he had told the gardaí that the people were there because of their faith and that he was not going to tell them to go home.
Fr Hughes has described Level 5 restrictions, which means that public Masses cannot be said, as something like “living in a police state.”
In an interview with Shannonside Radio on Thursday, he said that after continuing with Mass last Sunday, a Garda sergeant had come to his door with a colleague and told him that he had broken the law. He said that he had told the Gardaí that he did not realize that there was a “law against people who practice their religion” as he thought it was “safe under the Constitution”.
Indicted
Father Hughes confirmed that the Gardaí had told him that this was his last warning and that if he was caught again celebrating Mass with the people in the church, a file would be sent to the Director of the Public Prosecutor’s Office and he would be prosecuted. He said that Gardaí had told him that the penalty was a fine of up to 2,500 euros or six months in jail.
Father Hughes told the Joe Finnegan Show that Bishop Francis Duffy of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise had contacted him last week after receiving an anonymous complaint that the priest was celebrating Mass with parishioners present at the church. The bishop had told him that he was in “dangerous territory,” and that if he continued to celebrate Mass with the church open, a complaint would likely be filed with the Garda. “I heard you. I did not say yes or no ”, recalls the priest. He added that people mattered more to him and that God mattered to him more than anything else.
Father Hughes said that he felt very sad for the people in his parish who wanted to attend Mass and receive Holy Communion, and said that if God was the creator of heaven and earth, “surely he knows how to deal with the virus. better than any scientist. or CEO of HSE ”.
Emphasizing that he didn’t “normally break the rules,” he said he believed churches were safe places and that people could socially distance themselves in churches like his because of their size.
Congregation
He said he had written to the bishops asking them to propose that the churches be allowed to reopen, as closing them even though the congregation may socially distance themselves was “an insult to the faith of the people and an insult to God.”
He said that he believed that people were very angry about this as they felt that their faith was being challenged and controlled.
In a statement, Bishop Duffy said the government’s plan would continue to assess progress in reopening the society and that it was important that the Church was “ready to respond to any changes.”
“As clergymen, we have thought deeply and responsibly about our desire to celebrate Mass publicly in the context of the general public health situation,” he added.
“The Catholic Church is prioritizing public health measures for the common good,” Bishop Duffy said.
Citing Pope Francis’ request that the Church respect the prescriptions given to safeguard the health of the people, Bishop Duffy added: “Therefore, it is important to be patient and prepare cautiously to reopen public worship and, in the meantime, no parish should have a public mass. “
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