The Catholic Weekly 3 May 2020

catholicweekly.com.au 11 3, May, 2020 because you don’t hear about the Bishops lobbying Prime Ministers and Premiers and Health Ministers and oth- er Members of Parliament doesn’t mean it isn’t happen- ing behind closed doors. You would have read that Archbishop Fisher has writ- ten to the Premier to push for churches to be re-opened. I guarantee that this wasn’t the first time he has lobbied on our behalf during this crisis, and I also guarantee he is not the only Bishop to do so. Sometimes, diplomacy works better when you are discreet about who you are speaking to and what they said. While some former po- litical leaders take delight in writing memoirs detailing their conversations, the best results are often achieved when people can speak confi- dentially. And finally, leaving aside everything we don’t know and can’t see, there is plenty that we do know and can see: our clergy are doing everything they can to still minister to us. Whether it is priests in their 70s learning how to live- stream, or younger, more tech-savvy ones mastering the art of podcasting, or keep- A bit too easy to criticise bishops E arlier in the week, I was sent a petition and asked to sign it. The petition, which I imagine many of you have seen, is addressed to the Catholic Bishops of Australia, imploring them to “find safe and creative ways in order to publicly re-open our church- es and resume publicly the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass for [their] flock.” It also goes on to specifically reject the “non-es- sential” classification given to religious worship by the gov- ernment. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the petition, and I am certain that the author had very good intentions in putting it online. It is written with respect and charity, and articulates beautifully the de- sire of so many of the faithful to return to Holy Mass; their hunger for the Eucharist. Indeed, canon law reminds us that “the Christian faithful are free to make known to the pastors of the Church their needs, especially spiritual ones, and their desires” (Can- on 212§2). The petition reflects the sentiment I have been see- ing in many quarters over the last few weeks. The com- ments and criticisms have gone something like this: the Bishops were too quick to ac- cept directives about closing churches; some of the Bish- ops even closed churches be- fore the government asked; they didn’t fight hard enough to stop Mass and Confession being classified as ‘non-es- sential’; they haven’t lobbied for the churches to be re- opened; the longer they per- sist with this, the more likely it is that people won’t return to Mass. I understand the frustra- tion and the impatience. It is heartbreaking to see our church doors closed. It is an- noying that they closed be- fore the gyms or the cinemas or the indoor play centres. And in a secular age when the Church and the world needs the witness of those who will die for their faith, it is trou- bling that we have been de- nied the opportunity to risk our lives to receive the Eu- charist. But I think there are a few things that we need to keep in mind. The first is this: we had no idea if we would be able to contain COVID-19 in Austra- lia. We didn’t know our death rate would be around 1.3 per cent and not the world aver- age of about 7 per cent, or as high as France, which is see- ing nearly 1 in 5 people in- fected with the virus die. But quick decisions needed to be made. Bishops didn’t agree to close the churches because they didn’t care about us; they did it because they do. An infected but asymptomatic priest could potentially infect hundreds of people at a sin- gle Mass. I know this wasn’t a de- cision taken lightly. Bishops and priests know their entire vocation is to bring Christ to His people, and it is tear- ing many of them up hav- ing to turn people away. Like families who have chosen to stay home and not gather for Easter or birthdays or other things, they did so out of love, not indifference. They also did it because it was the law, and the law was being enforced: the Bish- ops didn’t close the church- es, the government did. Yes, they could have insisted that the churches remain open and challenged the police to a game of “chicken” over the $220,000 fine that leaving just a single church open for one week would have incurred, but did anyone like their chances? There is at least one state I know of whose justice sys- temwould have been delight- ed to bankrupt the Catholic Church. What then? The next point is this: just ing church lights on all night, or driving to people’s homes to hear confessions and give spiritual direction, or drop- ping off bottles of holy water blessed at the Easter Vigil to parishioners, or making doz- ens of phone calls a day to check in on their flock or any- thing else, they have respond- ed to these most challenging times with a pastoral creativi- ty and sensitivity that reflects their fatherly love for us. So, sign the petition or don’t. Complain on social media or don’t. Either way, I’m confident that your Bish- ops know howmuch you want to be at Mass, I know howmuch your fervour en- courages them, and I know they are petitioning on your behalf already. Bishops faced a difficult decision on church closures and no-one should jump to conclusions. 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