Priests ‘face prison’ for saying Mass in public

Under new Covid restrictions passed into Irish law recently, a priest can now be fined, or imprisoned, or both, for saying Mass in public. The same applies to any minister of religion who holds a public act of worship.

This is drastic, draconian and unacceptable and must raise questions about the Constitutionality of the measure, quite apart from its total disproportionality.

Aside from Wales, the Republic of Ireland appears to be the only place in Europe where public worship has stopped, and in our case, now attracts penal sanctions.

Prior to this pandemic, when did such a law exist in Ireland? You have to go back to penal times.

Deputy Michael McNamara pointed out the implication of the new law to Health Minister, Stephen Donnelly, in the Dail last night. Minister Donnelly said Deputy McNamara was wrong, but a reading of the relevant law shows he is correct.

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