SSPX Priest in California Prevails in Challenge to COVID Closure Order

Catholic World Report ^ | 6/3/21 | Joseph M.Hanneman

[marshmallow]

Federal and state judges approve permanent injunctions in two cases, barring the targeting of houses of worship over COVID-19.

The state of California will never again be able to target Our Lady of the Angels Church with a ban on Holy Mass due to COVID-19 under a permanent injunction in a priest’s lawsuit against California Gov. Gavin C. Newsom.

Fr. Trevor Burfitt of the Society of St. Pius X, and the Thomas More Society sued Newsom in September 2020, challenging the state’s ban on indoor worship as a violation of constitutionally protected freedom of religion. California Superior Court Judge Gregory Pulskamp issued a temporary injunction against California’s COVID restrictions on Dec. 10, 2020. A permanent injunction signed by Judge Pulskamp on May 27 bars the state from ever imposing discriminatory restrictions on houses of worship in an effort to control COVID-19. The case is Father Trevor Burfitt v. Gavin Newsom et al.

A June 1 permanent injunction signed in U.S. District Court in a case brought against Newsom by South Bay United Pentecostal Church in Chula Vista, Calif., provides a second significant victory for the Thomas More Society, a Chicago-based civil rights law firm, and churches shut down during COVID-19. Under the federal and state injunctions in the two cases, the state of California agreed to pay $2.15 million in “prevailing party” attorney fees, including $550,000 in the Burfitt case.

“The lesson to government bureaucrats is to honor and respect our cherished free exercise of religion,” said Paul M. Jonna, an attorney who represented Fr. Burfitt and South Bay United Pentecostal Church in the cases. “Courts will uphold the Constitution, and experienced lawyers will get involved to vindicate these important rights.”

Fr. Burfitt, prior of Our Lady of the Angels in Arcadia, Calif., oversees SSPX mission churches in Kern, San Bernardino......

[eyeamok]

And what about Freedom of Association? isn’t that still part of the first amendment? Wouldn’t closures and lockdowns be considered a violation of freedom of association?

[Falconspeed]

Good news for all Americans. Government workers do not have the right to decrease church attendance. From the lawyer: “If favored businesses are allowed 100-percent capacity during a pandemic, so must churches be allowed.”

If Walmart and Target can remain open, then churches should remain open.

The stupid virus really shows the ignorance of some Americans. No masks work against tiny viruses. No government is above citizens. And no state departments can boss around churches.

Archbishop Gomez in Los Angeles closed everything and did everything he could to please the governor and the mayors, since he is ignorant of the limits of American government.