State Backs Down as Bishops Stand Up [Minnesota]

Church Militant ^ | 5/26/20 | Paul Murano

[marshmallow]

MN governor rescinds religious regulations after bishops resolve to defy

ST. PAUL, Minn. (ChurchMilitant.com) - After Minnesota's bishops stood up last week in defiance of a state order unfairly targeting houses of worship, Democratic Gov. Tim Walz opted to change course, issuing an order to expand the resumption of limited public worship gatherings.

Walz's decision was in response to a May 20 open letter from the Minnesota Catholic Conference, signed by the state's five bishops and one diocesan administrator (for Duluth). In it, the bishops maintained the governor's reopening guidelines were unfairly restrictive toward religious services, as businesses and other entities within the state were being allowed to reopen with new safety precautions in order to guard against the Wuhan virus.

In response to Walz's decision, Abp. Bernard Hebda of Saint Paul-Minneapolis said he welcomes the governor's new executive order. In a May 23 letter addressed to the members of his archdiocese, Hebda thanked Walz and his team for their willingness to dialogue and arrive at a solution that respects both public safety and freedom of religion.

"As you know," Hebda said in his letter, "the Catholic bishops of Minnesota believe that the previous limitation on faith-based gatherings to ten people unreasonably burdened the Church's ability to fully meet the sacramental needs of our faithful."

[cloudmountain]

Good!
The Bishops stood up for God.

[STJPII]

I wish my bishop did this. Instead he accepts the “non-essential” label

[Salvation]

There are probably many of us who are wishing that our Bishops would follow suit.

[southernindymom]

Same here with the ELCA....

[piasa]

https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/tyler-o-neil/2020/05/23/minn-gov-loosens-restrictions-on-churches-after-catholics-and-lutherans-defy-his-order-n422825

[piasa]

... On Wednesday, the Minnesota Catholic Conference and the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS) sent letters announcing that they would reopen on Pentecost at 33 percent capacity, regardless of Walz’s orders. The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty and Sidley Austin LLP also sent a legal letter explaining why continuing to keep the ten-person restriction on churches would violate the First Amendment.
“Now that you have determined that current circumstances allow the partial reopening of almost every ‘critical’ and ‘non-critical’ Minnesota business with appropriate safeguards, there is no valid, non-discriminatory reason to continue the blanket closure of churches,” the letter argued.
The letter also noted that the churches Becket represents “have been—and remain—leaders in protecting public health.” They suspended in-person worship services before the stay-at-home orders. ...

[piasa]

“The ability to meet responsibly in person to worship God and support one another is invaluable to our community of faith. We cherish the church’s stewardship of the gospel and sacraments that enables Christians to live out their daily vocations as citizens contributing to the public good and serving their neighbors in love,” Rev. Dr. Lucas Woodford, president of the Minnesota South District of the LCMS, said in a statement. “We are grateful that Minnesota decided to reopen churches, without needing to resort to legal action.”
Yet Woodford also insisted that Lutherans will remain vigilant. “We will remain prayerful and watchful, so that this agreement is just the beginning of a return to full, safe and responsible, in-person worship,” he added.