Sunday's Masses for All Saints Day may be the last many Catholics in England attend for some time. From Thursday, according to government guidance released on All Hallow’s Eve, public communal worship is suspended until the 2nd of December as the country enters a second lockdown. Following the Prime Minister’s announcement, Cardinal Vincent Nichols and Archbishop Malcolm McMahon, OP signed a statement from the CBCEW asking the Government to produce evidence that this is a warranted restriction. They highlight the great good done by churches in this time of crisis, and cite the “deep anguish” the suspension of public worship will cause: the Mass is the lifeblood of the Church’s community and charitable work. Without grave reason the suspension of public worship is a deep injustice. Catholics of England have welcomed their bishops’ demand that the government give an evidential account of the returning lockdown restrictions. There is more than lockdown fatigue behind the distress many of the faithful fear at the prospect of once more being restricted to live-streamed Masses and deprived of physical participation in the Eucharist. One thing that has been highlighted by the pandemic restrictions is the sacramental heart of Catholic practice. A streamed Mass, though a blessing to the homebound, is always something less to the faithful, a make-do at best.
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Faithful support CBCEW leadership in call for govt account
Victoria Seed says the Catholic Bishops of England and Wales are right to demand the government account for the suppression of public worship.
Victoria Seed

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