He relied on the imprecisions which in certain cases surround authorized exits. A priest received a legal reminder for celebrating a mass on Sunday at a private campsite in Isère, while the faithful were fined for breaching the confinement linked to the coronavirus.
"The facts are extremely clear: a priest came to have a mass in a private campsite in Saint-Romain-de-Jalionas (Isère), there were 13 in all," said Bourgoin-Jallieu prosecutor Dietlind Baudoin on Monday, confirming information from the regional daily Le Dauphiné Libéré.
Fines and reminders to the law
"The people attending were fined [a fine of 135 euros by the gendarmes] because the practice of religion is not one of the grounds for derogating from confinement" to stem the epidemic of Covid-19 , added the magistrate.
For the priest and a person from the campsite who provided the room, "it is legally more complex," says Dietlind Baudoin. Because if the practice of worship is not one of the five boxes provided for in the certificate of derogatory displacement, the site government.fr answers, to the question "Can I go to my place of worship?" In these words: "Yes, places of worship have been allowed to remain open. But I cannot take part in a gathering or a meeting of more than 20 people within a place of worship ”.
An argument made by the priest, who came from the department of Ain to celebrate the office, who had "taken the precaution to look" on the government site and made respect the distances between people, according to the prosecutor .
Faced with this legal "ambiguity", it is "delicate to say that there has been a total disrespect" of the legislation in force: the priest was therefore the subject of a simple reminder of the law for "endangering of the life of others, "and the person at the campsite for" complicity ", because the campsite" is not a place of worship, "said the magistrate.
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- Containment
- Coronavirus
- Society
- Wedding
- Priest