Defying Florida Governor, Miami Archbishop says there will be no Easter Masses

[FM123]

*DeSantis is such an irresponsible jerk that even priests are rebelling against him....


(Miami Herald) A few hours after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis told people they could congregate at houses of worship, which he exempted from his mandatory stay-at-home order, the Archbishop of Miami on Wednesday strongly told his priests not to conduct any in-person services, including Easter Masses, over the next two weeks.

“It is not prudent for parishes to plan any activity that would encourage people to leave their homes,” Archbishop Thomas Wenski wrote in a statement. “Therefore, parishes are not to offer ‘drive-through’ palms, confessions or Holy Communion or any similar type of activity.”

Last weekend, St. Augustine Catholic Church in Coral Gables offered drive-thru confessions to its parishioners.

“These next two weeks, our health professionals tell us will be very critical — with more people becoming infected and more deaths,” Wenski wrote. “Because many people who are infected may not have any symptoms, the best way to mitigate risk is to practice social isolation and, if one has symptoms or has possibly been exposed, or has an underlying health problem, to self-quarantine.”

Wenski, the leader of the state’s biggest Catholic diocese, said parishes should still respond to calls from parishioners and respond to emergencies, including visiting sick people in hospitals. He added, however, that clergy should take precautions and do so only if permitted by the hospital.

He urged pastors to continue live-streaming Masses and other services during Holy Week, which begins Sunday with Palm Sunday and continues through Holy Thursday and Good Friday leading up to Easter Sunday, which is April 12.

He suggested that on Palm Sunday, parishioners place a palm frond on their door as “most yards in South Florida have some type of palm in them.”

Earlier Wednesday, DeSantis, after resisting for weeks, announced he would sign an executive order limiting activity in Florida to essential services for the next 30 days to try to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus. The order will go into effect Thursday night at 12:01 on Friday, April 3, and expires on April 30.

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/coronavirus/article241695281.html

[The Magistrate]

1. Good For The Archbishop, Ma'am

[Talitha]

2. Kudos to the Archbishop!!!

At least someone down there has brains.

[Hassler]

3. In Oregon we've had cancelled mass for three weeks.

[Withywindle]

4. If Saudi Arabia can cancel or postpone the Hajj

which I've read they might do, then Catholics can hold off on Mass for a while!

I know Judaism and Islam both have tenets that if performing religious rites like fasting or pilgrimages are dangerous to health and life, it's OK to not do them. Lives come first.

So many Christians seem desperate to feel like they're martyrs.

[SoCalDem]

5. Hey..megachurch hucksters' planes are not free

they got bills to pay