The Government has confirmed that it is an offence punishable by the law [1] 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 [2] 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.