FROM PAGE 1A RELIGION
side the home,’’ DeSantis said at an in-person press conference Thursday in the Capitol. “It’s less important what you do as how you do it.”
He said local governments can’t shut down a church “but coming up in the Easter season, I think people are going to want to have access.”
“There’s no reason why you can’t do a church service with people six feet apart,’’ he said.
Floridians are otherwise forbidden by DeSantis’ order to gather in groups of 10 or more for any other purpose and are instructed to practice social distancing at all times, even while engaging with essential functions like grocery shopping or visiting a pharmacy.
STATEWIDE ORDER UNTIL APRIL 30
After weeks of resisting calls for a stay-home order in Florida, as partying spring breakers became a national symbol of what not to do, DeSantis announced Wednesday that all non-essential businesses and services would be suspended until the end of April.
The order was patterned after the emergency order imposed by Miami-Dade County on March 19, in which the county urged people to stay home. But, because of the establishment clause of the First Amendment, which protects people’s right to assemble to practice their religion, the county did not prohibit them from gathering.
“This order does not limit the number of persons who may be physically present at any religious service,’’ the Miami-Dade order read. “Persons attending religious services are urged, but are
archbishop of Miami on Wednesday strongly told his priests not to conduct any drive-by confessions, no palm pickups in front of church on Palm Sunday, and no in-person Masses on Easter Sunday.
“It is not prudent for parishes to plan any activity that would encourage people to leave their homes,” Archbishop Thomas Wenski wrote in a statement that he delivered to his priests Wednesday morning. “Therefore, parishes are not not required, to practice social distancing, such as keeping six feet between persons and limiting group size to less than ten people.”
By contrast, the governor’s order offered less guidance. It simply said that “essential activities” include: “Attending religious services conducted in churches, synagogues and houses of worship.”
Across the nation, headlines have recorded the deadly toll the virus has taken on well-intentioned congregations in other states.
More than 50 members of a church choir in Mount Vernon, Washington, have tested positive for COVID-19 and two died after a choir rehearsal became what epidemiologists call a “superspreading event,” in which a small group of contagious people infect dozens of others.
The public health department in Sacramento County, California, which has 172 cases, posted this warning on Tuesday: “Approximately one-third of the confirmed cases in Sacramento County are linked to gatherings related to churches. Sacramento County is urging all residents, from all faiths and all backgrounds to stay home.”
And in Albany, Georgia, a family funeral has led to more than 24 deaths and 600 cases as a rural community has become home to one of the most intense clusters of the COVID-19 outbreak in the country.
PASSOVER AND THEN HOLY WEEK
April 8 is the first day of Passover, the eight-day Jewish holiday. And next week corresponds with the holiest week in Christianity, leading up to Easter Sunday. So the exception for churches has many worried.
Rabbi Yossi Harlig, director and to offer ‘drive-through’ palms, confessions or Holy Communion or any similar type of activity.”
He said the activities would be curtailed over the next two weeks, including through Holy Week, which begins Sunday with Palm Sunday, continues through Holy Thursday and Good Friday and culminates with Easter Sunday on April 12.
A few hours later, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis told people they could congregate at houses of worship, which he exempted from his mandatory stay-at-home order. The order went into effect at 12:01 Friday mornThe spiritual leader of the Chabad Center of Kendall said he hopes that despite the importance of these holidays, people will gather with just immediate family.
“I have families in New York and Brooklyn, and I see what’s happening there with so many lives being lost,’’ he said. “I continue to tell our congregants that people should not congregate and everyone should remain in their home.
“Saving a life is the most import thing in the Jewish religion, so rabbis across the world are very strongly opinionated about this,’’ he added. “Based on all studies, separation and isolation would slow it down. Saving one person’s life is saving the world.”
The Rev. Canon John Tidy of the Episcopal Diocese of Southeast Florida, said his diocese has told congregations “that we remain closed for in-person worship to at least the 15th of May,” funerals have to be put on hold, and people should tune into the livestreaming of services their churches are offering.
“I’m glad the governor may have finally woken up,’’ he said. “But the mayors had figured this out long before.”
LOCAL OFFICIALS TOOK ACTION
Miami Beach, for example, ordered places of worship to close their doors. In Hillsborough and Osceola counties, officials issued stay-home orders that did not exempt churches and religious organizations.
But tension mounted when the Rev. Rodney Howard-Browne filled his Pentecostal megachurch with hundreds of worshipers during two church services on Sunday. Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister obtained an arrest warrant accusing Howard-Browne of unlawful assembly ing and expires on April 30.
A spokeswoman for the Archdiocese said Thursday that the curtailment of services still stands for the Miami Archdiocese, the largest in the state with 1.3 million parishioners and 109 churches. Mary Ross Agosta said the Archdiocese told its priests on March 18 to curtail all regular services, and Wenski’s Wednesday letter only reinforces that as Holy Week is set to commence.
Last weekend, St. Augustine Catholic Church in and violation of public safety rules, both misdemeanors.
Howard-Browne was booked and released on bail the next day and by Thursday had arranged for the Liberty Counsel to prepare a federal lawsuit alleging the county had violated his First Amendment rights.
“They are enforcing this unequally,’’ said Mat Staver, his lawyer. “We have express constitutional rights and we get arrested, but if you go to Home Depot, where you don’t have an express constitutional right to sell potted plants and picture frames with no six-foot separation, you get a free pass.”
By Thursday, the county reversed course and, following the example of other counties and the governor, listed religious services as “essential activities.”
“At this point, we believe it is prudent to take a pause by not opening the church doors this Sunday. This will allow an opportunity for people to take a deep breath and calm down,’’ said Howard-Browne, the pastor of the River at Tampa Bay Church in Riverview in a statement Thursday. He added that because of the publicity, “vitriol and death threats have been directed at us and the church.”
But he said he hasn’t made a decision about whether to conduct services on Easter Sunday.
“No matter your view on this matter, I encourage you to take a step back and reconsider the options.”
Tidy, of the Episcopal diocese, calls the dilemma “a delicate balance.”
“Our first responsibility is for the health and safety of individuals,’’ he said. “If people want to exercise their First Amendment right, they are free to do so, but one has to be mindful of the safety and public welfare of individuals
Coral Gables, near the University of Miami, offered drive-though confessions to its parishioners.
Wenski’s announcement comes as Florida’s confirmed COVID-19 cases have surpassed 9,000, growing by nearly 1,000 a day. MiamiDade is the state’s epicenter, with the Florida Department of Health announcing Thursday evening that the county had 2,886 confirmed cases and 20 deaths, up from 11 deaths reported on Wednesday. and the wider community. Yes, you can observe sitting six feet apart but there is no point in putting anybody at unnecessary risk because what has become very clear is that we have no idea who is carrying it.”
ELECTED OFFICIALS SPEAK OUT
In Miami, where the number of cases continue to climb, elected officials were critical of the governor’s decision to allow religious services without more restrictions..
U.S. Rep. Donna Shalala, DMiami, said the state’s exemption for religious services is “inappropriate and scary.”
State Rep. Nicholas Duran, D-Miami, said he has talked to local faith leaders about how to conduct religious services remotely. He said his office plans to help religious leaders set up online services and that the state exemption is a bad idea.
“When I read that exception in there I was scratching my head,” Duran said. “It’s already known that mass gatherings simply aren’t feasible. I think most [religious leaders] will look at that and say, ‘I can do better.’ ”
Andrew Nichols, executive director of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Fort Lauderdale, said his church has found comfort in creative innovation. It has live-streamed Sunday and Wednesday services and reached out personally to every member of the 1,500-member congregation.
“People, especially this time of year, are looking to their faith for hope,’’ he said. “We’re finding that a lot of people who never would have dreamed of watching a service on TV are engaged. We are making the best of it.”
“These next two weeks, our health professionals tell us will be very critical — with more people becoming infected and more deaths,” Wenski wrote. “Because many people who are infected may not have any symptoms, the best way to mitigate risk is to practice social isolation and, if one has symptoms or has possibly been exposed, or has an underlying health problem, to self-quarantine.”
Wenski said parishes should still respond to calls from parishioners and respond to emergencies, including visiting sick people in hospitals. He added, however, that clergy should take precautions and do so only if permitted by the hospital.
He urged pastors to continue live-streaming Masses and other services during Holy Week. He suggested that on Palm Sunday, parishioners place a palm frond on their door.
Before DeSantis signed the order, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office ordered the arrest of a pastor who defied a 10person gathering limit and promoted services at his Tampa Bay megachurch on Sunday.
Devoun Cetoute: 305-376-2026, @devoun_cetoute