Saturday, March 28, 2020

People Are Still Allowed to Go to Church --Italian Government

Yesterday, the Italian Ministry of the Interior sent a clarification, as requested, to the Episcopal Conference of the Catholic Church in Italy (CEI), on how people can still go to church during the present Covid-19 emergency restrictions. Here is a brief summary of that document.

1. Holy Masses with the participation of the faithful are prohibited; but you can go to church to pray, as long as the necessary precautions are respected, especially with regard to distancing and, in particular, congregations are avoided.

2. You cannot go out with the specific purpose of going to church. Therefore it is not possible to claim that one's movement is due to religious, spiritual or similar reasons.

3. You can go to church if and when you are already out for other legitimate reasons: therefore, as an example, if you are going shopping, if you are going to the pharmacy, if you are going to work (for work activities that are not suspended), if - within the allowed limits - legitimate motor activity is being done, etc.

4. Those who provide liturgical services for private celebrations (that is, without the participation of the people) can legitimately go to church, obviously provided that it is a limited number of people, prudential norms are respected, and congregations are always and in any case avoided. In these cases, but only in these cases, you can move with the specific purpose of going to church; the claim must specify that it is done for "essential work."

5. Religious marriages can be celebrated, but restricted to the presence of the celebrant, the married couple and the witnesses. Surely acolytes may also be present, as specified in point 4 above.

messainlatino.it
The Ministry of Interior Document

As I (Plinthos) have already said, it is wrong for bishops and priests to prohibit people from going to church and to prohibit the priest from saying Mass in church. Priests can and must administer the sacraments to those who rightly ask for them, taking the necessary precautions. No power on earth can forbid that. It is God's law, given to us by Christ. Even the government recognizes that. This is a point that should be clarified by the Church Herself. Shame on us!

Basic Catholic Catechism Moral Principles

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