Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch (pictured), in a rare personal statement released on 18th May, expressed his concerns regarding the extension of Title 42 restrictions on immigration, a decision upheld by the Supreme Court in Arizona v Mayorkas.

The high court on Thursday dismissed as moot a case seeking to preserve Title 42 after the pandemic emergency expired last week.

The public health authority had allowed for the swift expulsion of migrants without allowing them to seek asylum.

Gorsuch voiced his disapproval of states' attempts to prolong Title 42 despite this month's official end of the COVID-19 emergency.

Justice Gorsuch argued that the Supreme Court's decision in December 2022 to extend Title 42 was a serious mistake, as it extended an emergency decree designed for one crisis to address an entirely different situation.

Gorsuch, in an attached statement to the court's unsigned order, more broadly railed against using emergency powers since COVID-19 shut down normal life. He referenced, among other things, lockdown orders, a federal ban on evictions and vaccine mandates.

"Since March 2020, we may have experienced the greatest intrusions on civil liberties in the peacetime history of this country. Executive officials across the country issued emergency decrees on a breathtaking scale," Gorsuch wrote.

Churches targeted during the pandemic

According to Gorsuch, this action implicated the Supreme Court in a significant "disruption" of how laws are formulated and freedoms are upheld.

The Justice condemned the unrestricted and, at times, supported actions of legislative and judicial authorities, both local and executive, across the country.

Gorsuch pointed out that executive officials issued unprecedented emergency decrees, compelling people to remain in their homes, closing businesses, schools and churches, while favouring certain establishments like casinos.

He also criticised the imposition of civil penalties and even criminal sanctions for violating lockdown orders.

Gorsuch specifically highlighted the targeting of churches during the pandemic, with authorities monitoring parking lots, recording licence plates, and threatening criminal charges for attending outdoor services that complied with all social distancing and hygiene requirements.

Referring to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn v Cuomo case, where a Catholic diocese sued the former New York Governor for singling out religious institutions, Gorsuch emphasised that individuals were forced to defend their freedoms in court.

He called upon Congress and state legislatures to re-evaluate the extent of emergency executive powers, lamenting the inadequate response from these bodies during the crisis.

Gorsuch also held the judicial system partly responsible, stating that courts, with a duty to protect liberties, failed to address all infringements and even facilitated the continuation of emergency public-health decrees for secondary purposes.

He stressed the importance of learning from this chapter in history, highlighting the power of fear and the desire for safety, and cautioned against concentrating power in the hands of a few, advocating for robust and uncensored debate.

Sources

Catholic News Agency

The Hill

This was, after all, the same Brian Tamaki whose Destiny Church followers wanted to reclaim Christchurch "for Jesus" in the immediate aftermath of the 2019 terrorist attacks. And who blamed the Christchurch earthquakes on "gays, sinners and murderers".

Those familiar with the branch of modern Christianity known as Pentecostalism would not have been surprised at all. Tamaki's Destiny Church is part of the fastest-growing religious movement in the world, with an estimated 500 million adherents.

Today the average Pentecostal is as likely to be Nigerian, Fijian, Korean or Brazilian as they are to be British, American, Australian or Kiwi.

Aotearoa New Zealand is just one of many places Pentecostalism is flourishing. As well as the more prominent churches such as Destiny, City Impact, the Assemblies of God (AOG) and Elim, a host of smaller congregations exist throughout the country.

Here and elsewhere, Pentecostals' steadfast assertion that the raw power of the Holy Spirit will prevail over the principalities of darkness has run up against the cultural and environmental realities of the modern world.

A record of resistance

Nowhere is this more obvious than in their responses to COVID-19. As nation-states have rolled out public health measures, Pentecostals have seemed unwilling and unable to accept epidemiological explanations and strategies.

Tamaki's actions are the tip of an iceberg of global resistance. Pentecostals have been at the forefront of legal pushbacks against gathering restrictions and insisted only the second coming of Christ would force churches to close their doors.

They have proclaimed COVID cannot survive in the bodies of the faithful, declared a link between the virus and 5G mobile technology, and maintained the pandemic is God's yardstick for distinguishing his loyal servants from pretenders.

While these claims and interpretations can appear outlandish and dangerous, they are not entirely incomprehensible. Rather than view them as nonsense, it is more helpful to see them as a different kind of sense altogether.

Miracles and wonder

Specifically, Pentecostal values are a religious response to the pandemic and a spiritualisation and demonisation of the virus. This goes directly to the Pentecostal obsession with the Holy Spirit.

Pentecostalism is defined, above all, by its intense experientialism. More than any other Christian variant, it is concerned with saturating human existence in otherworldly power.

The Pentecostal vocabulary is not one of ritual, liturgy or structure, but of ecstasy, surprise, miracles and wonder.

From this standpoint, any stricture, rule or earthly imposition that impedes a life in the Spirit is, by default, suspect and anathema. This sets up an overall opposition between the spiritual and the worldly that helps define the difference between good and evil or God and Satan.

Defining Pentecostalism

For the devoted Pentecostal, everything is either one or the other, and to be on the side of the world is to collaborate with the enemy. Several features of this theology directly shape Pentecostal responses to COVID-19.

Triumphalism: Pentecostals are fearless combatants in a spiritual war against Satan. The Holy Spirit is the ultimate weapon in this charge, providing absolute confidence in a Biblically preordained victory. With its long shadow of sickness and fear, COVID-19 bears the Devil's signature.

Framed as an active demonic force, the virus is something that should not - must not - be feared. The triumphalism determined by a total faith in the Spirit to conquer evil immediately establishes an ethos that spurns caution, regulation and withdrawal.

Deliverance and healing: The former expels demonic forces threatening well-being, while the latter cleanses a diseased body affected by those same powers. These religious tools are brought to bear against the pandemic, warding off the Satanic viral threat while healing the afflicted. Logically, vaccination becomes unnecessary, misguided and a betrayal of faith.

Tribulation: Pentecostals are deeply concerned with the end of human history as the precursor to Christ's return and the establishment of God's paradisical kingdom. The Tribulation is a seven-year nightmare of evil and suffering featuring the rise of a nefarious "new world order".

Within this end-times scenario, all humanity is branded with the mark of the beast, a process authorised by Satan. An apocalyptic plague and Satanic mandates for vaccination provide further prophetic justification for a pro-healing, anti-vaccination position.

The Kingdom: Pentecostals are not huge fans of worldly entities and human rules. They prefer divine authority, spiritual inspiration and Biblically sanctified morality. The Kingdom of God is juxtaposed with the debased platforms of government and capitalism (even if countless Pentecostals embrace a divinely sanctioned materialism).

Translated into the pandemic context, the continual legislative and policy directives of the government are, by virtue of their human origin, tainted with iniquity. As always, paramount trust must be placed in the Holy Spirit and the Bible.

Faith and science

It may be tempting to see Pentecostalism as its own worst enemy by denying the science and leaving its followers vulnerable to epidemiological catastrophe.

But it is also a relatively young branch of Christianity and not necessarily uniform in its beliefs. As has been observed elsewhere, "medical science and divine healing […] have never been considered mutually exclusive by the entire movement".

The question therefore becomes, can Pentecostalism reach a détente with the world, as mainstream Protestant, Anglican and Catholic churches have done?

It would seem the tide can be turned, even if compelled by tragedy. For example, after the death of one of its congregants, the Pentecostal church at the centre of the largest sub-cluster of Auckland's current Delta outbreak embraced vaccination, having initially denied its validity.

This is a pattern now being repeated across many pockets of the Pentecostal world, albeit within a church still fixated on spiritual dynamism and miraculous cures. For now, however, it may take more than faith in worldly reason to persuade Brian Tamaki and his flock that vaccines and lockdowns are a blessing and not a curse.

• Fraser Macdonald is a Senior Lecturer in Anthropology, University of Waikato
• First published in The Conversation

Holy Trinity Anglican Church distributed 26 roast pork meals from Cafe 88 to elderly residents in the town, to help them out during the Covid lockdown that came into force on Tuesday night.

With a large supply of food that wouldn't last through the three-day lockdown, Cafe 88 staff immediately began to reach out to community contacts built up over the past year to find enough people to eat it all. Read more

During the 2020 lockdown, the Soup Kitchen distributed an average of 153 takeaway meals per day.

This year the number of takeaway meals began at 190 and by Monday it had risen to 235.

Soup Kitchen manager Gary Sutton says that in 2020 he estimated that about 200 was the maximum number of meals they could manage.

He has added additional staff to meet the 2021 increased need.

Sutton said he is very grateful for the support of the Wellington City Council.

"So far they have restocked our PPE and remain ready to provide all our needs in this regard. This includes protective coveralls, disposable gloves and face masks; anything we need.

"The council arranged for the awning to be put up to protect the whanau from the weather when they pick up their takeaway meal.

"They did this on Day 3 of lockdown not even waiting for the government to announce the extension!"

The council have also tried, not so successfully, to source takeaway food containers, spoons, forks and paper bags.

"They sourced some items, burger boxes for example, but had trouble sourcing other containers so we have ordered from our usual suppliers and should get additional stock in a few days," said Sutton.

He said their relationship with other partner organisations has also been strengthened during this time, particularly with Wellington City Mission, Wellington Homeless Women's Trust, another women's refuge as well as a marae in Lower Hutt.

"I receive calls regularly from senior Wellington City Mission management thanking us for providing them with 45 hot meals we provide daily for the whanau staying at Te Paapori.

"They also offer to assist us in any way they can during this time."

"Your support especially at this time, is much appreciated," said Sutton

"There is no need for anyone to go hungry."

Source

• Supplied

Father Len Black, from Inverness, has made it to the finals with summerhouse The Oratory Of St Joseph.

He streamed Mass from the shed every day during the lockdown, attracting viewers from Essex to Australia. Read more

Bishop Pierre-Yves Michel of Valence said the protesters were not sending the right signal on behalf of the Church.

"The health situation is serious," he said.

"I would prefer that Catholics show that they are taking their share of suffering in these difficult times and that they overcome this feeling of injustice," the bishop continued.

Several other bishops and heads of dioceses publicly disassociated themselves from last weekend's prayerful protests.

Catholics across France crowded in front of churches in cities demanding they be allowed to attend Mass during lockdown.

Under France's second lockdown, all public religious gatherings throughout the country, including public Masses, are suspended from Nov. 3 until at least Dec. 1.

The Catholic protesters argue that community celebrations and the Eucharist are vital needs for the faithful.

They say public authorities have no right to deny them spiritual nourishment by de facto classifying it as "non-essential".

"We just want to express that our faith makes us alive. But we call on everyone to be respectful of government regulations," said Jean-Benoît Harel, a 23-year-old law student who started the "For the Mass" petition.

The petition calls for the resumption of public celebrations. More than 100,000 people have signed the document.

Yann Raison du Cleuziou, a Catholic historian and sociologist said the controversy confronts what it is necessary to do as a Catholic.

On the one hand, some Catholics believe deprivation of the Eucharist to save lives, "constitutes a sacrifice".

He said they see it as "a communion even greater than the Eucharist, because there is no greater love than to give one's life for those one loves".

But, on the other hand, he said there are Christians who see fidelity to Mass as a reminder that the first and absolute goal of life is contemplation of God, salvation. Even if it means endangering the individual body.

"There are two relationships that oppose each other here. To one's neighbour and to the priority of service that must be rendered to God," the sociologist concluded.

Sources

• La Croix International
• Catholic Telegraph
• The Tablet

Under Covid-19 rules, at the time the legal limit was only 15.

Fr Simon Hall of Our Lady of the Angels church in Nuneaton, UK was told by police to expect a summons in the mail.

Hall, 43, said he was told by wedding organisers that only 15 people would be attending.

"It was just such a shock to me. We had arranged for 15 people, and this was what we had agreed. This was repeated every time I met them, and then on the day it was very different."

When asked why he allowed it to carry on, he replied: 'What could I do? I just wanted to get through it as quickly as I could.'

The illegal wedding took place two days before the country was plunged into its second national lockdown.

Before lockdown, no more than 15 people were allowed to attend a wedding, 'even where large numbers could be accommodated with social distancing in a Covid-secure venue', according to the Government's website.

As the priest prepared for the ceremony, a cavalcade of cars was winding its way through the streets of the Midlands town. The cars were led by a white horse-drawn carriage.

Local driver Mandeep Mudhar commented on Facebook: 'I saw it in town, the couple in a white horse-drawn carriage, surrounded by loads of flashy expensive cars blocking the three lanes hooting away and no regard to traffic lights or other cars."

Father Hall only learned of the problem when it was too late. Now the priest is facing a fine.

In a statement, the Archdiocese of Birmingham said: ‘In light of public health guidance, the Bishops Conference of England and Wales have provided guidance on all aspects of Church life, including weddings. The parish has been following these guidelines with appropriate measures in place to help prevent the spread of infection.

‘On this occasion, despite the parish stating that only 15 people can be present at a wedding, many more attended. Attempts made by the parish to remove the crowd were unsuccessful and police intervened. The Archdiocese and the parish are committed to following the latest Government guidelines as and when they are issued and do not condone large gatherings of this kind. Warwickshire Police are now investigating this matter. Witnesses are asked to contact them with any information.'

Sources

Daily Mail

Euro Weekly

The study undertaken during lockdown is providing a glimpse into New Zealand's mental health. Young people in particular found it hard-going.

The study results were reported in a research paper,'Psychological distress, anxiety, family violence, suicidality, and wellbeing in New Zealand during the COVID-19 lockdown: a cross-sectional study', which was published in the international journal, PLOS ONE.

The Otago University study involved a survey of 2000 people taken in April. Besides almost 40 percent of respondents reporting low wellbeing, the researchers also found about a third of them reported moderate-to-high distress.

About a third of New Zealanders reported significant distress, with rates in younger people (18-34 years) being higher than for older people.

Just over 47 percent of 18 to 24 year olds reported to have severe levels of psychological distress.

More people reported feeling suicidal and there were higher rates of family violence during lockdown too.

There was no difference by ethnicity in the way lockdown affected people: 6.1 percent reported suicidal ideation, with 2.1 percent making active plans, and the same proportion reported having made a suicide attempt.

This was more common among young people, however.

Rates of distress among women and men were similar, which is unusual as often women report higher levels of distress.

The study also found one in five New Zealanders increased their usual drinking habits over lockdown.

The results of the survey provide an interesting snapshot of people's self-reported psychological distress, anxiety and suicidality captured at the 'peak' of the early lockdown period, says Associate Professor Janet Fanslow from The University of Auckland.

She would like to see mental health and family violence response systems resourced to respond to increased need during times of lockdown.

In her opinion Covid-19 response and post-crisis recovery plans need to promote women's economic empowerment and address gender inequalities in employment and social protection systems.

This will require systemic change to address the underlying causes of mental health issues and family violence whether the country is in lockdown or not.

Setting up such a change would require investment in and implementation of evidence-based prevention strategies to prevent family violence, Fanslow says.

Clinical psychologist Dr Dougal Sutherland says the stresses affecting people during lockdown were probably from more than one source.

"Although the study couldn't tell us exactly what about the lockdown people found stressful, it is likely that a combination of health anxiety and worry about the potential economic consequences of Covid-19 played a role," he says.

Dr Susanna Every-Palmer from Otago University says not all the consequences of the lockdown were negative.

Many (62 percent of respondents enjoyed 'silver linings' the lockdown offered: working from home, spending more time with family and living in a quieter, less polluted environment.

"Governments should make providing mental health support a similar priority to other health measures, such as contact tracing, provision of personal protective equipment and procurement of ventilators," she says.

Source

• RNZ
• Image: University Hospitals

For counselling and support

• Need to talk? Free call or text 1737 any time
• Lifeline - 0800 543 354
• Samaritans - 0800 726 666
• Chinese Lifeline - 0800 888 880
  (for people who speak Mandarin or Cantonese)
• Youthline - 0800 376 633, free text 234 or email talk@youthline.co.nz
  (for young people, and their parents, whanau and friends)
• What's Up - 0800 942 8787
  (for 5-18 year olds; 1 pm to 11 pm)
• The Lowdown - visit the website, email team@thelowdown.co.nz or free text 5626 (emails and text messages will be responded to between 12 noon and 12 midnight)
• SPARX - an online self-help tool that teaches young people the key skills needed to help combat depression and anxiety.