FINALLY: Bishops Defy Order, Reinstate Masses

The six Minnesota bishops have permitted parishes to resume public Masses defying a statewide order prohibiting religious gatherings which exceed ten people.

“An order that sweeps so broadly that it prohibits, for example, a gathering of 11 people in a Cathedral with a seating capacity of several thousand defies reason,” they wrote in a May 20 statement.

They chose to move forward in the absence of any specific timeline laid out by strongly pro-gay Governor Walz, “We cannot allow an indefinite suspension of the public celebration of Mass.”

The principle the bishops invoke is, that there is no obligation to follow a clearly unreasonable order, even when it comes from a legitimate authority.

Picture: Msgr. Bernie Hebda, Saint Paul and Minneapolis, © wikicommons, CC BY-SA, #newsMzcngzsgdr