Portugal’s Catholic bishops suspend public Masses amid rising COVID-19 cases

January 22, 2021 CNA Daily News News Briefs 1 Print

The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fatima in Portugal. Credit: Kate Veik/CNA.

CNA Staff, Jan 22, 2021 / 01:00 pm (CNA).- Public Masses will be suspended in Portugal from Saturday, the country’s bishops have announced.

The Portuguese Episcopal Conference said on Jan. 21 that it was taking the step due to the “extreme gravity” of the coronavirus crisis, reported ACI Digital, CNA’s Portuguese-language news partner.

“Being aware of the extreme gravity of the pandemic situation that we are living in our country, we consider that it is a moral imperative for all citizens, and particularly for Christians, to have the maximum sanitary precautions to avoid contagion, contributing to overcoming this situation,” the bishops said in a statement.

Portugal is experiencing a surge in COVID-19 deaths. The country, which has a population of 10 million, has recorded 609,000 cases and 9,920 deaths as of Jan. 22, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.

This is the second time that the bishops have suspended public worship. The first was in March 2020, when the pandemic arrived in the country located on the Iberian Peninsula, bordering Spain. The restrictions were eased at the end of May.

The bishops said that public Masses would be suspended from Jan. 23 — the day before the country’s presidential election — along with catechesis and other pastoral activities that required people to gather. They called on priests to offer livestreamed Masses.

The bishops had called for the suspension or postponement of baptisms, confirmations, and marriages earlier this month.

They said that funerals could be celebrated according to norms issued in May last year, which require mourners to maintain a social distance.

A Lenten retreat for the bishops, scheduled for Feb. 22-26, has also been canceled.

The Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima, which has been hit hard financially by the pandemic, will broadcast three Masses and two rosary prayers daily while public Masses are suspended.

The Masses, which will be transmitted via the shrine’s website, will take place at 11 a.m., 12:30 p.m. and 3 p.m. local time. The rosary will be recited at 6:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. local time.

Shrine rector Fr. Carlos Cabecinhas said: “We know that it is not the same to be physically present or to be able to follow on television, but that is the one possible way we have to participate now and therefore we want to be present with you through this difficult moment.”

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Don’t muzzle peaceful pro-life outreach, UK bishop says

February 17, 2018 CNA Daily News 1

London, England, Feb 17, 2018 / 03:17 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Proposals to bar pro-life demonstrations and outreach with a legal ‘buffer zone’ outside abortion clinics drew objections from a leading U.K. bishop who stressed the legitimacy of their cause.

“There are members of the public, often associated with churches, who gather peacefully to pray outside abortion clinics and witness to the good of human life in a dignified way,” Bishop John Sherrington said Feb. 16. “They do so because of their fundamental belief in the protection of unborn life and the good of the mother.”

Bishop Sherrington, an auxiliary bishop of the Westminster archdiocese, is responsible for the Day for Life, when the local Catholic Church dedicates a day to raising awareness about the value of human life at every stage from conception to natural death. In England and Wales, the 2018 observance falls on Sunday, June 17.

The bishop’s remarks were submitted to a British government review of abortion clinic protests as parliament and several localities consider “buffer zones.” Possible proposals could bar the display of images deemed distressing and the use of loudspeakers, but also bar congregating in large groups and approaching women going into clinics.

In 2017, Labour Party M.P. Rupa Huq organized a cross-party letter supporting buffer zones that drew support from 113 M.P.s, including Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, Sky News reports.

Bishop Sherrington was critical of the proposal.

“A blanket introduction of ‘buffer zones’ carries with it the danger of both denying freedom of expression and fostering intolerance towards legitimate opinions which promote the common good,” he said.

“The offering of leaflets is part of helping to inform women who might not have had impartial information before,” he said. “There are also those who offer practical alternatives and assistance if a woman wants to make a different choice.”

Home Secretary Amber Rudd announced the Home Office review in November 2017. It sought views about “alleged harassment and intimidating behavior near abortion clinics in England and Wales.”

“While everyone has a right to peaceful protest, this review is about ensuring the police, healthcare providers and local authorities have the right powers to protect women making these tough decisions,” Rudd said in a Nov. 26 announcement. “The decision to have an abortion is already an incredibly personal one, without women being further pressured by aggressive protesters.”

The review would consider comparisons to how demonstrations are treated in Australia, France and the U.S. It would assess several factors: the scale, frequency and nature of the protests; laws against harassment and intimidation; and the public’s right to lawful, peaceful protest.

Bishop Sherrington backed protest, rightly understood.

“In a democratic society the freedom to protest and express one’s opinion is always to be considered in relation to the common good,” he said. “It should not be necessary to limit the freedom of individuals or groups to express opinions except when they could cause grave harm to others or a threat to public order.”

Current legislation already provides the means to deal with harmful or threatening behavior, he said.

The comment period for the review ends Feb. 19.

In December, John Hansen-Brevetti, clinical operations manager at the Marie Stopes abortion clinic in Ealing, told a House of Commons’ Home Affairs committee that up to 40 protesters at a time have gathered outside the clinic, Sky News reports. He charged that they have physically grabbed or blocked women or have been “using other means of intimidation.”

However, Antonia Tully, director of campaigns at the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, said that the protests are “peaceful, prayerful people, standing near abortion facilities, offering women the help that they are simply not getting anywhere else.”

Ahead of a January meeting of Ealing Council, Tully said that “peaceful, prayerful pro-life vigils must continue to offer help to desperate women.”

 

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1 Comment

  1. People of Portugal are blessed with a strong faith in Sunday and weekly celebrations of the Holy Eucharist. The faithful in Lisbon, Restelo, Porto, Coimbra, Fatima, Braga, Evora, Almada, Cascais, Viana do Castelo, Sintra, Faro and across the length and breadth of the Iberian country love their Holy sites and centers of piety.

    Reply

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