ONE LAW FOR STRIP CLUBS, ANOTHER FOR CHURCHES

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"The Government has allowed you, Bishops, to open the churches and celebrate the Mass - but you have chosen to deny the faithful Holy Mass,  and the graces that come from it."

The tom-toms are telling us New Zealand's bishops are in receipt of many angry letters from laity, complaining of their inertia in the face of the Jacinda Juggernaut. 

Here is one such, from Palmerston North layman Michael Fitzgibbon, prefaced by a few pertinent comments.

"Public Mass under Alert Level 2 

"When we first heard that New Zealand would be moving to Alert Level 2 and that groups of up to 100 people would be allowed, many of us breathed a sigh of relief. But the government restricted religious services to only 10 people. 

"Yet 16 people can play rugby, and strip clubs can have up to 100 people, not including the strippers. We have been singled out and denied rights every other group has under Alert Level 2.

"While we could still have public Masses with up to 10 people, the Bishops concluded that allowing such Masses would put an intolerable burden on priests, who would have to decide who those people would be out of potentially many hundreds who would want to attend. 

"This is a ludicrous idea. Add extra Masses! Thousands of faithful per week could participate in the Holy Sacrifice of Mass. Ten people per mass is better than none.

"A letter to our Bishops

"Below is the letter I sent to our Bishops last Thursday:

"Good Evening dear Bishops,

I have read and re-read your letter dated May 12 re church activities in restricted Alert Level 2.

"The Government has allowed you to open churches and celebrate Holy Mass, but you have chosen to deny the faithful access to the Mass and its graces. The limit of ten people imposed by the Government is still ten souls who can participate in the celebration of Holy Mass. That is ten faithful for every Mass celebrated.

"Public Mass is possible but you have chosen not to celebrate it. You have chosen to deny Christ His Mass. Christ will hold you accountable for this, as He will hold us accountable for allowing this to happen. 

"When you were ordained as Bishops you gave your word to Christ to be His good shepherds. You must restart the public celebrations of Mass now! Ten people is better than none.

"Funeral directors managed to get the number for funerals increased to 50 people, and bars are allowed 100. Did they just lobby harder than you?

"The Government has dictated a different standard for religious services from that applied to everyone else. They have singled Christians out and arbitrarily denied us our religious freedom. This is a breach of the Bill of Rights. 

"You must get a lawyer and take this to the courts.

"I will pray for you.

(signed)

Michael Fitzgibbon

Palmerston North

But wait, there's more:  

"In a reply to this letter I was told that our bishops wrote to the Prime Minister asking for the limit of 10 to be increased.  Additionally, Cardinal John Dew and Bishop Pat Dunn took part in a multi-faith video meeting with the Prime Minister urging this be done. 

"Jacinda Ardern is a hard core Marxist, so asking nicely was never going to work. We need to demand to be treated like every other group, not allow ourselves to be singled out and targeted for active measures. 

"If the Government won’t treat us like everyone else, then New Zealand's bishops need to take our case to the courts.

"Our bishops took an oath to be good shepherds and protect the faithful from wolves, not to run and hide. They need to start taking action like good shepherds."

And now Bruce Tichbon of Palmerston North joins the fray:


"Why do our bishops always give us less, not more?  They shut our churches before they needed to, they deny us full Communion (in the hand only), and now they won’t restart Mass when they could.  

"In the meantime, the negative attitude of this Government to Christianity becomes more and more evident.  The Government is letting everything else function, from restaurants to shops, but they are effectively shutting down churches.

"Could these actions be construed as a ‘hate crime’? Should we complain to the Human Rights Commission, or the United Nations?

"Or is it just too hard for the bishops?  I hear schools are in a state of huge confusion over how to open. My own parish is well supplied with medical professionals and experienced business managers who are enthusiastic about helping our priests celebrate Mass in a manner that is low risk and complies with government health and safety rules.  But 'no can do'!

"Our God-given immune systems will solve this crisis in the end.  But the machinations of politicians and committees don’t seem to be adding any value."



From Evening Prayer II for today, for the Common of One Martyr (St Dymphna):

St Dymphna of Ireland
beheaded by her father

I trusted, even when I said:

'I am sorely afflicted,'

and when I said in my alarm:

'No man can be trusted.'

How can I repay the Lord

for his goodness to me?

The cup of  salvation I will raise;

I will call on the Lord's name.

-Psalm 115 (116)