About twenty faithful attended the mass held on May 24 at the Saint Jean-Baptiste church in Esbly (Seine-et-Marne), following administrative authorization -

Catherine Abou El Khair

The Council of State maintained Saturday the prohibition of religious ceremonies with a large public, such as Sunday mass, during the reconfinement but invites a "clarification on marriages" and "the proof of displacement".

Seized by associations, faithful and members of the Catholic clergy, the judge of summary proceedings of the Council of State "does not suspend the provisions of the decree of October 29, 2020 which temporarily restrict, within the framework of confinement, the possibility of going to the places of worship and to gather there ”, writes the Council of State in a press release.

Only funerals are allowed, with a tonnage of 30 people

Twenty-one requests had been lodged by bishops, including the president of the Conference of French Bishops (CEF) Eric de Moulins-Beaufort, Catholic associations such as Civitas, Catholic family associations, or even individual applicants.

The re-containment decree taken by the government on October 29 provides that places of worship can remain open but that “any gathering (…) within them is prohibited except for funeral ceremonies up to a limit of 30 people”.

Council wants to clarify rules for weddings

On the other hand, the summary judge of the highest administrative court "invites a clarification of the provisions on marriages as well as the proof of travel and calls for resuming consultation".

The summary judge specifies that "all places of worship remain open";

that "the faithful can take part in funerals and weddings within the respective limit of 30 and 6 people, but also go there to exercise worship on an individual basis, in particular during their other authorized trips".

He underlines that "the ministers of religion can freely take part in religious ceremonies, in particular to ensure the retransmission, and to receive there individually the faithful, as well as they can go to the domicile of these", it is he. written.

Restrictions until November 16

The judge notes that "the circulation of the virus on the metropolitan territory has greatly increased in recent weeks despite the measures already taken, and that the reasons for gathering other than school and professional must therefore have been limited".

Regarding places of worship, he "notes that the risk of contamination is not ruled out and that the restrictive measures, which must be the subject of a future review, will end, at the latest, at the end of the period. 'state of health emergency, set to date for November 16 ”.

The "disappointed" Catholic Church

He therefore considers, as it stands, "that the interference by the decree on freedom of worship, personal freedom, freedom to come and go and freedom of assembly is not manifestly illegal" .

He specifies, "however, that an extension of the state of health emergency involves consultation with representatives of the main religions on the possible extension of the measures," the statement concludes.

The CEF, which had said it was “disappointed”, underlined in the evening that “the bishops deplore above all that the faithful remain unable to participate in Mass, the height of their faith and an irreplaceable encounter with God and with their families. brothers ".

It also awaits "with impatience the consultation announced" with the representatives of the State.

"Let everyone obey the authorities" (Rom 13: 1).


With regret and aware of the spiritual effort requested, the Permanent Council of the #CEF asks the faithful and priests to respect the decision of the judge of the #ConseildÉtat.


📣Read the entire press release►https: //t.co/zB2kN1qS0N pic.twitter.com/CJ07GnLxzo

- Catholic Church (@Eglisecatho) November 7, 2020

This decision comes at a time when Pope Francis this week called for "to be very attentive to the prescriptions of the authorities, whether political authorities or health authorities, in order to protect themselves against this pandemic".

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