The Government has confirmed that it is an offence punishable by the law for a priest to celebrate public Mass, despite months of assurances that there is no penalty attached. The same applies to all acts of public worship.
This stance is at odds with a statement to the Dáil by Health Minister Stephen Donnelly in October dismissing concerns around the criminalising of clergy who hold public worship and those who attend under the Covid-19 regulations.
The Irish Catholic reported that as part of a response to Declan Ganley’s High Court challenging the ban on public worship, the Government stated that the restrictions are, indeed, penal.
In the Seanad Monday, Independent Senator Rónán Mullen asked Minister for Health about the issue but failed to get an answer.
Senator Mullen has since followed up with a letter to the Minister asking whether “there is legal prohibition presently in force which prohibits the organising or the celebration of public mass by Catholic clergy or religious ministers, and/or the attendance at same by members of the public, which could lead in either case to the imposition of penalties?”
The Minister has promised a written answer.
