"The State, our Nation and the entire Church and world should be grateful to these faithful Bishops and fearless President."
"The Parking Lot Priest" - the one who offered Holy Mass during Lockdown in the back of a truck in a snowstorm during Lockdown - said yesterday that "The clergy and the faithful of the State of Minnesota are grateful to our bishops for taking a stand in defiance of the Stay Safe order of the Governor, which opened up shopping malls to 50 percent capacity yet restricted churches to no more than ten people total."
(Does it strike you as odd that the Governor of the State of Minnesota US of A had the exact same limit on church attendance as Jacinda Ardern pretends - contradicting her own police force - is the limit in New Zealand?)
"At a moment when the spiritual leadership of our shepherds has been drastically curbed by secular authority, and yet where it is also more essential than ever, we are proud to announce that the Bishops of Minnesota have decided to defy the State of Minnesota’s increasingly draconian lockdown of Minnesota's religious houses.
Led by the Archbishop of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, Most Rev. Bernard A. Hebda, the bishops of five other dioceses have cosigned a respectful but firm letter of defiance, announcing that they will reopen Minnesota’s Catholic churches for public Masses on the 26th of May, in order to allow parishes time to prepare for the celebration of Pentecost on May 31, 2020.
The Remnant newspaper reached out to Father John Echert—'The Parking Lot Priest'—pastor of the Churches of Saint Augustine and Most Holy Trinity for comment on this historic and welcome news:
The clergy and the faithful of the State of Minnesota are grateful to our bishops for taking a stand in defiance of the Stay Safe order of the Governor, which opened up shopping malls to 50 percent capacity yet restricted churches to no more than ten people total.
Thank God for bishops with you-know-what. And thank God for President Trump, who's told America's state governors yesterday, "If you don't open the churches, I will!"As we approach the Feast of Pentecost, on which occasion the Apostles were filled with the power of the Holy Spirit, how appropriate that the Minnesota successors of the Apostles speak out boldly as did Saint Peter: “Better to obey God than man!”
Pray for our NZ bishops. Pray for President Trump.
__________________
Archbishop Hebda, at the height of pandemic two months ago, went out of his way to publicly demonstrate fidelity to Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament:
________________
"Cooperative effort of Catholic leadership with that of other Christian denominations at a time like this could be described as the most worthwhile ecumenical effort in the history of the ecumenical movement. There is no theological compromise at work here.
"Religious leaders, with obvious theological differences, are nonetheless not only entitled and obliged before God and man to cooperate against unjust orders enacted by the secular state which are not only unconstitutional but also violate natural justice itself.
"The traditional Catholic movement, not only in Minnesota but throughout the entire country (and, we might add, in New Zealand) are united in gratitude to the bishops of Minnesota for this strong and courageous stand in defense of their flock.
"We in turn pledge to stand with them against whatever civil retaliation may be forthcoming in the weeks and months ahead. - Michael J. Matt, editor
St. John Fisher, Pray for us!
Highlights:
How can reason require us any longer to keep our faithful from the Eucharist?
Therefore, we have chosen to move forward in the absence of any specific timeline laid out by Governor Walz and his Administration. We cannot allow an indefinite suspension of the public celebration of the Mass.
The human cost to this pandemic has been extraordinary, not just in terms of lives lost to the virus but the rapidly growing problems of job loss, depression, crime and violence, and substance abuse.
Our decision to suspend the public celebration of Mass was painful. We made that decision not because we were compelled to do so, but because we judged that the circumstances required it. We believe that those circumstances have changed, as confirmed by the Governor’s decision to end the Stay-at-Home order and allow more commerce.
The bishops of Minnesota are united in our conviction that we can safely resume public Masses in accordance with both our religious duties and with accepted public health and safety standards. We can worship in a way that reflects both the love of God and the love of our neighbors (cf. Mark 12:30-31). Therefore, we are giving our parishes permission for the resumption of the public celebration of Mass on Tuesday, May 26, which will give us time to be ready for the celebration of Pentecost on May 31.
Auxiliary Bishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis, Andrew Cozzens, celebrates the traditional Latin Mass at the Church of All Saints (FSSP) in Minneapolis: 
Adelie Reid says:
ReplyDeleteOur church is open an hour a day for 4 groups of 15 minutes. 10 people may enter through side door..sanitize hands and sign in and sit well apart at back of church... so not being at work on Saturday I went along... only 2 people were there.. I stayed the whole hour... but as we were by the door we couldn't even catch a glimpse of the tabernacle...
I say:
I think in 10 days or so since St Joseph's Waipukurau was opened there have been 5 names on the contact tracing list, 3 of them only once.
If you can't see the tabernacle from near the door - or anywhere else - your church must be very badly designed. Sigh. I empathise with you. Who was bishop when it was built?
Bob Gill says:
Of course, we wouldn’t expect the NZ media to report on holy activities such as that above. Much more important to report on what’s been happening in the prime minister’s fridge while she’s been away.
I say:
Groan. We get the media we deserve.