Washington DC: McConnell, a former Judge of the U.S. Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals and a Stanford Law School professor, says the church is not the state that determines whether worship of God is necessary. He said that the nation should only be concerned if certain forms of religious worship are dangerous to public health. He was delivering the keynote address at an online meeting hosted by Maggie Gallagher, executive director of the Benedict XVI Institute for Sacred Music and Divine Worship in San Francisco, on the theme “Church, State, and Epidemic.”
If the state decides what is healthy, then the church has to decide what is important, ”Connell said. He added that although the government has the power to restrict religious activity, it does not have the power to restrict religious activities in a more rigorous manner than other comparable activities. He noted that the guidelines published by the Thomistic Institute of the Dominican House of Studies, prepared by theologians, liturgical scholars, and health care professionals, were detailed and acceptable in regard to the opening of temples during the lockdown.
In addition to Connell, San Francisco bishop Salvatore Cordelione, who participated in the online event, shared a similar opinion. The bishop said that when the church has the authority to decide what is necessary, it is not right for the government to do so. He reminded the state that it is the responsibility of the state to say what is safe. Due to the enormous number of COVID patients in the United States, the uncertainty over the opening of temples continues.
