From Wisconsin conservative James Wigderson:
Little protest from Archbishop Jerome Listecki
“I think early on, whether it’s the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, individual bishops in a state, should have been at least consulted,” Listecki said. “Should have been, at least, ‘Hey, this is what’s going on. We need your support in this. We need to do what we’re doing.’ And that was our part in it. So that’s where my difficulty is in it. We want to be good citizens.”
Other than that, at least publicly, silence.
Listecki didn’t have to give such a muted response to Evers’ orders while still protecting parishioners throughout the Milwaukee Archdiocese.
When Evers’ “Safer at Home” order was issued, Listecki should have protested that the 1st Amendment protected the Church from orders to close, and he would have been the “good citizen” the governor failed to be. In the same breath, Listecki could have closed the churches himself until the Archdiocese had a plan to deal with the pandemic – on his terms.
Instead, Catholics in the Milwaukee Archdiocese and elsewhere in Wisconsin have been left to wonder if this is the week they can drive through the church parking lot, maybe see a priest, or finally attend Mass in person.
Listecki was correct in waiving the requirement to attend Mass and even to close the parishes until a plan could be put into place. RightWisconsin has never said that the church doors should be flung open across the state without regard to the effects of the pandemic affecting our state. Unlike some voices on the right, RightWisconsin has been responsible in pointing out the dangers of the Coronavirus, especially the potential for spreading it at church.
However, Listecki closed the churches while conceding the state’s power over the Church itself, setting a horrible precedent. It’s that kind of passive acceptance of the state’s authority that leads government leaders to think they can actually fine churches for re-opening.
“One of the greatest frustrations of the Coronavirus has been the closing of the churches. Abortion clinics, hardware stores and lawn care businesses were all declared ‘essential’ by the state of Wisconsin while the Word of God was not.”
Oh, those “Conservative” FeeFees again. The State of Wisconsin, as well as every other State that issued similar stay-at-home orders did not declare ‘The Word of God is not essential’.
Hyperbole, man. Stay at Home. Whip out your Bible and pretend to read it like every other “Conservative” whining about this. Find the passage in the Word of God that dictates an adherent’s need to go and congregate at a building with a whole bunch of other people in order to worship. That should occupy a significant amount of time. Maybe even get you to read the thing for once.
Oh, wait. We’re confusing dogma with religion again.
Organize online gatherings, adjust to this TEMPORARY situation, and ride it out. Gatherings at Churches are deemed non-essential the same way my local book clubs have cancelled their gatherings. You don’t HAVE to gather in a singular location to have a conversation and lesson about what’s in a book. Other entities, businesses/services that can be rationalized to remain a part of this economy, get to stay open.
This isn’t that hard and “Conservatives” are making this political and about them, when it’s really the Common Sense that they all rail on “Liberals” not using. The James Wigdersons of the world are making this harder on everyone and will make this whole thing last longer because the rest of us have to endure not only the Virus but their entitlement and selfishness.
“…hundreds of years of the Church’s belief in its independence from secular authorities.”
Throw another delusion onto the pile.