{"id":9638,"date":"2020-04-26T15:29:00","date_gmt":"2020-04-26T19:29:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.worldcatholicnews.com\/italys-bishops-criticize-state-for-keeping-public-mass-ban\/"},"modified":"2020-04-26T15:29:00","modified_gmt":"2020-04-26T19:29:00","slug":"italys-bishops-criticize-state-for-keeping-public-mass-ban","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.worldcatholicnews.com\/italys-bishops-criticize-state-for-keeping-public-mass-ban\/","title":{"rendered":"Italy’s bishops criticize state for keeping public Mass ban"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rome Newsroom, Apr 26, 2020 \/ 03:29 pm (CNA<\/a>).- Italy\u2019s bishops have criticized Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte for failing to lift the ban on public Masses.
The Italian bishops\u2019 conference Sunday released a statement denouncing Conte's decree on "phase 2" of the coronavirus lockdown restrictions, which it says "arbitrarily excludes the possibility of celebrating Mass with the people."
During a press conference April 26 to announce the next phase of Italy's COVID-19 restrictions, beginning May 4, Conte said funerals may resume with a maximum of 15 people present. Other religious celebrations, including public Masses, will resume \u201cin the coming weeks.\u201d
In their April 26 statement, the bishops referred to two bodies which advised Conte on lifting lockdown measures: the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, the equivalent of the Prime Minister's office, and the Technical-Scientific Committee for COVID-19.
The bishops said: \u201cThe Presidency of the Council and the Technical-Scientific Committee are reminded of the duty to distinguish between their responsibility — giving precise indications of a health nature — and that of the Church, called to organize the life of the Christian community, in compliance with the measures prepared, but in the fullness of one's autonomy."
The prime minister\u2019s office responded late Sunday night to the bishops\u2019 statement, according to news agency ANSA. The message said \u201ca protocol will be studied that will allow the faithful to participate in liturgical celebrations as soon as possible in conditions of maximum security.\u201d
The Italian bishops' conference (CEI) said it had been in "continuous and available dialogue" with the government for weeks.
During these negotiations, "the Church accepted, with suffering and a sense of responsibility, the government limitations taken to face the health emergency," the bishops said, adding that during these conversations "it was explicitly emphasized that — when the limitations taken on to face the pandemic are reduced — the Church demands to be able to resume its pastoral action."
The statement claims the Italian bishops had also presented their own guidelines and protocols for a transitional phase which would meet all health standards.
Public Masses throughout Italy have been suspended for nearly seven weeks after the Italian government issued a decree March 8 suspending all public religious ceremonies, including funerals.
According to the prime minister\u2019s April 26 announcement, the easing of lockdown measures will allow retail stores, museums, and libraries to reopen beginning May 18 and restaurants, bars, and hair salons June 1.
Movement between Italian regions, within regions, and within cities and towns is still prohibited except under strict cases of necessity.
In a letter April 23, Cardinal Gualtiero Bassetti of Perugia, the president of the Italian bishops' conference, wrote that \u201cthe time has come to resume the celebration of the Sunday Eucharist, and church funerals, baptisms and all the other sacraments, naturally following those measures necessary to guarantee security in the presence of more people in public places.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rome Newsroom, Apr 26, 2020 \/ 03:29 pm (CNA).- Italy\u2019s bishops have criticized Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte for failing to lift the ban on public Masses.
\nThe Italian bishops\u2019 conference Sunday released a statement denouncing Conte's decree on “phase 2” of the coronavirus lockdown restrictions, which it says “arbitrarily excludes the possibility of celebrating Mass with the people.”
\nDuring a press conference April 26 to announce the next phase of Italy's COVID-19 restrictions, beginning May 4, Conte said funerals may resume with a maximum of 15 people present. Other religious celebrations, including public Masses, will resume \u201cin the coming weeks.\u201d
\nIn their April 26 statement, the bishops referred to two bodies which advised Conte on lifting lockdown measures: the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, the equivalent of the Prime Minister's office, and the Technical-Scientific Committee for COVID-19.
\nThe bishops said: \u201cThe Presidency of the Council and the Technical-Sci..<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[80],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nItaly's bishops criticize state for keeping public Mass ban - WORLD CATHOLIC NEWS<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.worldcatholicnews.com\/italys-bishops-criticize-state-for-keeping-public-mass-ban\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Italy's bishops criticize state for keeping public Mass ban - WORLD CATHOLIC NEWS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Rome Newsroom, Apr 26, 2020 \/ 03:29 pm (CNA).- Italy\u2019s bishops have criticized Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte for failing to lift the ban on public Masses. The Italian bishops\u2019 conference Sunday released a statement denouncing Conte's decree on "phase 2" of the coronavirus lockdown restrictions, which it says "arbitrarily excludes the possibility of celebrating Mass with the people." During a press conference April 26 to announce the next phase of Italy's COVID-19 restrictions, beginning May 4, Conte said funerals may resume with a maximum of 15 people present. Other religious celebrations, including public Masses, will resume \u201cin the coming weeks.\u201d In their April 26 statement, the bishops referred to two bodies which advised Conte on lifting lockdown measures: the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, the equivalent of the Prime Minister's office, and the Technical-Scientific Committee for COVID-19. The bishops said: \u201cThe Presidency of the Council and the Technical-Sci..\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.worldcatholicnews.com\/italys-bishops-criticize-state-for-keeping-public-mass-ban\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"WORLD CATHOLIC NEWS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/World-Catholic-News-109605280463871\/?modal=admin_todo_tour\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-04-26T19:29:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Worldcatholicn1\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Worldcatholicn1\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\">\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\">\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.worldcatholicnews.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.worldcatholicnews.com\/\",\"name\":\"WORLD CATHOLIC NEWS\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":\"https:\/\/www.worldcatholicnews.com\/?s={search_term_string}\",\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.worldcatholicnews.com\/italys-bishops-criticize-state-for-keeping-public-mass-ban\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.worldcatholicnews.com\/italys-bishops-criticize-state-for-keeping-public-mass-ban\/\",\"name\":\"Italy's bishops criticize state for keeping public Mass ban - WORLD CATHOLIC NEWS\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.worldcatholicnews.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2020-04-26T19:29:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-04-26T19:29:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.worldcatholicnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/491272a1cdc8eb55245d48e5044377c8\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.worldcatholicnews.com\/italys-bishops-criticize-state-for-keeping-public-mass-ban\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.worldcatholicnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/491272a1cdc8eb55245d48e5044377c8\",\"name\":\"NEWS DESK\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.worldcatholicnews.com\/#personlogo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f27f47f91f7d6f43179d283d82de5681?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"NEWS DESK\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.worldcatholicnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9638"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.worldcatholicnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.worldcatholicnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldcatholicnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldcatholicnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9638"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldcatholicnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9638\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.worldcatholicnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9638"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldcatholicnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9638"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldcatholicnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9638"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}