The voices of the faithful missing in-person worship services are being credited with helping loosen Ontario worship capacity limits.

Catholics heeded the pleas of Cardinal Thomas Collins and the Archdiocese of Toronto’s “A Place to Worship” campaign in lobbying MPPs and Ontario Premier Doug Ford to loosen the reins on worship spaces in “grey” lockdown areas of Toronto and the Region of Peel.

In these areas retail outlets were allowed to open when the province removed stay-at-home orders and moved the municipalities into the grey zone. 

Thanks in large part to 13,000 people sending messages to Ontario MPPs and Ford’s office, Toronto churches have been able to fill their pews to 15-per-cent capacity as of March 15, a mammoth step up from the strict in-person limit of 10 people – which led to the cancellation of in-person Masses – in place since late November.

The decision was a welcome one for Cardinal Collins.

“This is a significant improvement from the hard cap of 10 people that has been in place for several months and it is a more balanced approach in light of the recently relaxed restrictions in other sectors,” said Cardinal Collins in a statement.

The archdiocese launched “A Place to Worship” March 5 after pleas to rethink the worship restrictions fell on deaf ears. The notion of equity was at the heart of this effort. The cardinal called on the faithful to contact MPPs and Ford to express their displeasure with the inequitable treatment of churches, who were seeing retail outlets opened up to 25-per-cent capacity yet there was no movement on re-opening places of worship. Thousands responded within 48 hours.

Just days later, Cardinal Collins was among a group of faith leaders engaged in a virtual meeting with Ford, Health Minister Christine Elliot and health officials to discuss the concerns of parishioners.

Neil MacCarthy, director of communications and public relations for the Archdiocese of Toronto, stated via email that the ecumenical participation in the meeting with the provincial government perhaps had an impact on this decision.

“Throughout the entire pandemic, we’ve had productive and fruitful conversations,” said MacCarthy. “I think having representatives from many different faiths involved in the conversation also demonstrated the breadth of support for our concerns.

“Understandably, the government is trying to find the right balance with so many different groups so it’s a challenge for sure. That said, when you can meet and have a personal conversation it always helps both sides to get a more wholesome understanding of the issues involved. We hope the dialogue will continue.”

Cardinal Collins thanked Ford and the provincial government for being open to making changes.

“I wish to extend my profound gratitude to the provincial government for sharing generously of their time and for the healthy dialogue that was exchanged,” he said. 

“I know many Members of Provincial Parliament also advocated for a just and equitable approach for places of worship, on behalf of their constituents, and I thank them as well.”

This campaign really kicked into high gear the evening of March 5, when Cardinal Collins shone a spotlight on how churches were under stricter restrictions than other societal entities.

“Next week, a funeral at St. Michael’s Cathedral (capacity 1,500) will be capped at 10 people, while around the corner dozens can enter the local liquor store and thousands will visit the Eaton Centre,” said Cardinal Collins. “This makes no sense.”

The cardinal reminded all parishes to exercise strict adherence to COVID-19 distancing, hygiene, masking, and record-keeping protocols that were put in place when churches were first allowed to re-open last summer to ensure no hitches occur during the return to public services. Parishioners will again need to make an online booking to secure a spot at Mass.

The Catholic Register