In-person worship has yet to return to Irish prisons, the Irish Prison Service confirmed, even though a number of prisons are now fully vaccinated.
Although public worship returned to the general population May 10, in-person worship is yet to take place in Irish prison settings.
The Irish Catholic was told that the return of in-person worship would be tied to the vaccination programme.
Wheatfield, Portlaoise, Arbour Hill, Shelton and Loughran prisons are all fully vaccinated, according to IPS, and visits have restarted with strict protective measures.
When asked if in-person religious services had returned in the fully-vaccinated prisons, a spokesperson for the IPS said they haven’t “currently, but they will be”.
However, there is no date set for a return to in-person religious services, the IPS spokesperson said.
“Worship services are part of our unwinding process, which we are trying to implement in the safest manner possible,” they finished.
Irish bishops have previously spoken out in support of prisoners’ “constitutional right” to practice their religion.
Bishop Kevin Doran of Elphin, who has responsibility for Castlerea prison, told The Irish Catholic, that prisoners’ constitutional right to practice their religion “should not be denied to them except for very grave reasons”.