Singing hymns could spread coronavirus, says minister
SINGING hymns could spread Covid-19, a government minister suggested, as he defended the decision to keep churches closed.
Speaking at yesterday’s daily briefing, Robert Jenrick said when places of worship reopened, he did not want to see “what we’ve seen in some other countries, where large gatherings in places of worship, particularly because of the demographic in some faiths, because of singing hymns and so on which can lead to exhalation, can create particular problems.”
The Government has been under pressure to allow churches to unlock their doors after bishops complained that the risk of praying alone was no greater than visiting car showrooms, which will be allowed to open today.
Mr Jenrick, the Communities Secretary, said he understood millions would “consider it strange that shops, cafés, pubs, restaurants and many other settings, might be open in the weeks and months ahead but not somewhere as important as a place of worship.” The first logical step, he said, would be to open places of worship for individual or private prayer and use that as a “springboard, hopefully” to small weddings and then “in time” to services, depending on the rate of infection.
Worshippers remain locked out of their churches and cathedrals despite car showrooms and outdoor markets being permitted to reopen in England from today, followed by all non-essential retailers in two weeks.
Churches, mosques, synagogues and other places of worship are due to open on July 4 at the earliest, along with hairdressing salons and pubs, under step three of the recovery plan.
However, two senior archbishops in the Catholic church and a Church of England bishop called on the Government to reopen places of worship in line with the retail sector.
Cardinal Vincent Nichols, the archbishop of Westminster and the most senior Catholic in England and Wales, used his homily for Pentecost Sunday to say that the decision to reopen shops “questions directly the reasons why our churches remain closed”, and that “it is now time to move to the phased opening of our churches”.
Speaking on Radio 4’s Sunday programme yesterday, he added: “I think what has been quite provocative actually to me, is the thought that on the 15th of June on Victoria Street, people
can go into Waterstones and browse around the bookshop but on the other side of the road the doors of Westminster Cathedral will remain locked.
“I can see no consistency there. It feels to many people of faith that the importance and the contribution of faith to individuals lives, to family lives and to society is either not understood or is being marginalised.”
Asked whether he thought the Government was putting business before religion, he responded: “That’s what it looks like”.
The Rt Rev Dr John Inge, the Church of England’s Bishop of Worcester, also questioned the rationale behind the decision. He tweeted: “The risk to a person sitting quietly to pray in a church which is properly cleaned and supervised is surely not greater than a trip to a supermarket?
“The benefits to that person and countless others will be much greater though. I wonder why churches [are] not being allowed to open? I’m all for caution in opening up but it’s disappointing that the Government will not allow people to pray in churches, while car showrooms will open.” He later tweeted: “To suggest that our churches should remain closed while other ‘non-essential’ shops and buildings open is to condone secularism.”
Separately, the Catholic Archbishop
‘It’s disappointing that the Government will not allow people in churches, while car showrooms will open’
of Southwark, the Most Rev John Wilson, has written to the Prime Minister calling the ongoing closure of churches for private prayer “an infringement of both religious freedom and equity”.
The Archbishop added: “There is ... a growing sense of dissatisfaction. I ask that you please take seriously the needs of different religious traditions and, where their place of worship is necessary to their faith, you create parity of access consistent with that for retail outlets.”