In a letter sent this Friday, November 27 to all the priests and parishioners of Tarn-et-Garonne, Bishop Bernard Ginoux indicates that the limit of 30 people should not be taken into account.
The deconfinement plan does not please everyone. The decision of the Head of State and Government to “limit, regardless of the location, to 30 faithful participation in Mass is an attack on the freedom of each”, protested Bishop Bernard Ginoux, Bishop of Montauban .
In a letter addressed, this Friday, November 27, to all the priests and parishioners, the Tarn-et-Garonnais prelate asks that “Masses resume in the diocese at the usual hours of Sunday, by practicing the health protocol in force (diocesan circular n ° 3) which we have always respected. The faithful who want to come there, without any authority being able to demand an authorization or establish a prohibition. It is up to the parish priest, or his delegate, to ensure compliance with the rules established according to the sanitary protocol. »Mgr Ginoux thus deplores« deeply that the government refuses to listen to the Catholic Church and other cults and openly ignores what the Eucharist means for us. ”
In his call to disobedience, the bishop relies “on the Vatican Council II which recalls that free access to the sacraments derives directly from the right to religious freedom, declaration on religious freedom n ° 13. The text adds that the Church enjoys all the freedom of action which she needs to watch over the salvation of men. “
“Refuse to pay the fine”
On the separation of Church and State, Bishop Ginoux drives the point home: “the government does not have to intervene in worship or in its modalities, except public order. The presence of the faithful in a church is not in itself a public disorder. “
By now breaking the law, “the shepherd and his sheep” risk a fine for not respecting the confinement, but also a closure of the place of worship by the authorities. The bishop takes this risk: “If certain people (celebrants, liturgical actors, faithful) were the subject of a ticket at the end of Mass, they would have to refuse to pay the fine on the spot. field. I ask that these facts be transmitted to me and I would instruct the lawyer of the diocese to follow up. »And to end his sermon, regretting« that in a free country we have come to this. A scary pandemic does not justify the stranglehold on mass. “
For its part, the Conference of Bishops of France has filed an appeal for interim relief to the Council of State on the tonnage of 30 people. But condemn any illegal practice. “Mass cannot become a place of combat and demand but remain a place of peace and communion”, indicates a statement released yesterday.
Finally, the prefect of Tarn-et-Garonne Pierre Besnard cannot “accept that an ecclesiastical authority calls for not respecting the laws of the Republic. It is the responsibility of the bishop to preserve the health of his faithful as well. “
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