Chai Brady
Bishop Tom Deenihan 
Parishes in North may open for Mass early next month
Bishop of Meath Tom Deenihan has said that it would be “difficult to justify” Catholics not being allowed to gather for Mass for Holy Week and Easter saying “Our churches are probably safer than shopping malls and supermarkets – there is less movement and more social distance.
“I think that it would be difficult to justify closing churches for Easter and quite unpopular,” he said as Covid-19 rates continue to fall and the vaccine is rolled-out.
Meanwhile, north of the border Bishop of Derry Donal McKeown has expressed optimism that there could be a return to public Masses early next month.
“I think we’re all keen to get the churches open for public worship as soon as at all possible,” Bishop McKeown told The Irish Catholic.
“March 8 marks the beginning of an ease down of the government-imposed restrictions, I think we’ll have to be pushing as well to ensure that our churches are open for public prayer [the Mass] and not just for private prayer,” Bishop McKeown said.
In the Republic, Bishop Deenihan described the current restrictions as “understandable and necessary” saying they “enjoy public support” in the context of the number of cases.
Noting that public worship was not permitted last Easter, Bishop Deenihan said that “Priests and parishioners are now quite concerned that we will not be allowed to celebrate the Easter ceremonies this year either.
“As numbers decline and as vaccines are rolled out, particularly amongst those who are most vulnerable, that would be difficult to justify,” he said.
“As we move forward, I think that it is very important that churches are open for Holy Week and Easter,” Bishop Deenihan said.
“Our churches are probably safer than shopping malls and supermarkets – there is less movement and more social distance. I think that it would be difficult to justify closing churches for Easter and quite unpopular,” he said. Easter Sunday falls on April 4 this year.
Bishop McKeown said it will be a huge challenge to “relaunch” the Church post-pandemic.
“There will be occasions to gather people, and if we want to gather people we have to invite them and they have to want to come to the churches. So, it will be a challenge for us so I’m encouraging all our parishes to be planning for a range of scenarios at this stage,” he said.
