MANILA (SE): Responding to a ban or limits on religious activities by Philippine health authorities following a surge in Covid-19 coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) infections, which meant churches were closed for large gatherings during Holy Week, the Archdiocese of Manila issued a pastoral letter on March 23 defying the ban, UCAN reported on March 24.
The government’s Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Diseases (IATF) announced on March 20 that religious gatherings were prohibited from March 22 until April 4 while the holding of weddings, baptisms, and funeral services would be limited (Sunday Examiner, March 28).
However, citing a lack of consultation, the apostolic administrator of Manila, Bishop Broderick Pabillo, called the government’s ban “wrong.”
In the pastoral letter, Bishop Pabillo said, “We will not conduct any religious activities outside of our churches … but within our churches starting March 24, we will have our religious worship within 10 per cent of our maximum church capacity.”
He said Manila churches would implement strict protocols such as physical distancing during Holy Week celebrations inside churches.
“Let the worshippers be spread out within our churches, using the health protocols that we have been so consistently implementing,” the bishop said.
Bishop Pabillo was quoted in the Inquirer as saying that the pastoral instruction highlighted several things about the government policies.
“First, they should be clear about their instructions, like the proper understanding of what constitutes ‘mass gathering.’ Not all religious activities per se should be lumped together as a ‘mass gathering,’” the bishop said in a statement.
“Second, we assert our right to worship and the state should respect this and not unnecessarily hamper it. Religious activities are essential services for the wellbeing of people,” he added.
‘We will not conduct any religious activities outside of our churches … but within our churches starting March 24, we will have our religious worship within 10 per cent of our maximum church capacity’
Bishop Pabillo
Bishop Pabillo told Radio Veritas, “We should not follow such guidelines imposed without consultations, which somehow breaches the principle of the separation of Church and state.”
Bishop Pablo Virgilio David of Kalookan, also criticised the ban noting that fitness centres were allowed to operate at 70 percent capacity while establishments for personal care services ran at 50 per cent—including spas, CBCP News reported.
Noting that the government directive “came as an instant order and with not even a modicum of dialogue,” the vice president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines said, “If this is not a return to ECQ (enhanced community quarantine) total lockdown situation, why forbid our religious gatherings? Isn’t this a violation of religious freedom?”
As we celebrate the 500 years of Christianity in the Philippines. The Chaplaincy to Filipino Migrants organises an on-line talk every Tuesday at 9.00pm. You can join us at:
https://www.Facebook.com/CFM-Gifted-to-give-101039001847033
Like Bishop Pabillo, Bishop David said government should have spoken to Church authorities before banning religious gatherings during the Holy Week, UCAN reported.
However, government spokesperson, Harry Roque, warned the bishops that Catholics must follow the guidelines set by the task force.
“Defiance of an IATF resolution is not covered by the separation of Church and state. What is covered is the freedom to believe and the freedom not to endorse a religion,” he said on national television.
“In the exercise of the state’s police powers, we can order the churches closed. I hope we don’t come to that,” Roque warned the bishops.
