Archbishop asks health officials to reconsider B.C. public worship ban

After nearly a year of restrictions and several months of churches closed to public worship, Archbishop J. Michael Miller is asking the B.C. government to give Catholic churches the same liberties that bars, restaurants and gyms have had throughout the pandemic.

Archbishop Miller sent a 19-page submission to B.C. health officials Feb. 19 asking that Catholic churches be permitted to celebrate Mass in-person with COVID-19 safety measures in place and an attendance limit of 10 per cent of capacity.

In his request he points out the importance for Catholics of attending Mass in person and the urgency of the matter with Easter, the holiest day on the calendar, just over a month away.

The archbishop said he’s not looking for special privileges, only fair treatment.

“While we respect the measures taken by government to protect the health of British Columbians, we want to be assured that the orders are being fairly applied to all sectors of the population,” he wrote in a letter to Catholics informing them of his request.

“Specifically, we seek to understand why gathering for worship in limited numbers with safety precautions is not allowed, while bars, restaurants, and gyms remain open.”

Before the ban on worship services was introduced Nov. 19, Catholic churches had been following strict mask-wearing, hand-sanitizing, and other measures and had not seen any outbreaks.

“While there have been no known COVID-19 transmissions or outbreaks within our churches, we continue to see reports of outbreaks at skiing facilities and local businesses that have been permitted to continue in their operations,” Archbishop Miller wrote in his request.

“I have no doubts that the ban on religious gatherings has had a detrimental effect on the spirituality and mental health of Catholics in British Columbia.”

Archbishop Miller isn’t the first religious leader to seek an exemption to B.C.’s ban on religious gatherings. Vancouver Island’s Rabbi Meir Kaplan sought and received an exemption for orthodox Jews, who are prohibited from using technology on the Sabbath and therefore cannot replace religious gatherings with virtual ones.

In that case, the provincial government allowed religious gatherings capped at 25 participants and held outdoors. Archbishop Miller said outdoor Masses would not be “practical” or “in the best interests” of Catholics.

He proposed other health measures to keep parishioners safe, including the 10 per cent capacity limit, mask-wearing, physical distancing, and various sanitation requirements churches had been following before the ban.

His request builds on an inquiry from the St. Thomas More Catholic Lawyers’ Guild, which in December asked health officials to explain the indefinite ban on church worship while other facilities have remained open.

Lawyer Warren Smith said the guild is still waiting for a response.

“We’d just like to know that people who want to go to church are being treated fairly and the same way that people who want to go to the grocery store, go to a pub, go to a restaurant, go skiing, go to a yoga class. All of these activities are allowed to continue in some capacity, and yet churches, particularly large buildings like the cathedral, are being told that can’t be done,” he said.

“There is a real sense of unfairness around the application, a blanket order against churches.”

In his submission, Archbishop Miller pointed out that his request is relevant to four other Catholic dioceses affected by the government’s orders. The dioceses of Kamloops, Nelson, Prince George, and Victoria are all suffragan dioceses of the Archdiocese of Vancouver.

Lawyer Robert Piasentin, also a member of the guild, said while Archbishop Miller’s letter only asked for an exemption for Catholics, “if this is to be granted at some level, it could serve as a template for applications by Christians and other denominations going forward.”

“We’re not looking to be treated better than anyone else. That’s not our intention. We want to be treated fairly,” he said.

Archbishop Miller asked officials for a response to his request by Feb. 24. The government has acknowledged receipt of the document and said it should respond “in the near future.”