Who is afraid of opened churches?

By Modesto P. Sa-onoy

Fr. Elias L. Ayuban, Jr., CMF, JCD, the Provincial Superior of the Claretian Missionaries of the Philippine Province and Board Member of the Association of Major Superiors in the Philippines posted on the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines website on May 4, an article that focused on closed churches, viewing the closure from a perspective of a canon lawyer.

He is with the Vatican’s Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life and professor of canon law at the Claretianum in Rome and his thoughts should provide the priests and the faithful with a better understanding of the shuttered House of God.

I am citing his views that clarify many confusions among Catholics about the closure of churches as if the government is terrified that when churches are opened there will be surge of infection. The rulers who made this decision did not consider that they had already prevented people from going out of their houses, moving in the streets, or even using their vehicles. They could not even take public transport because hardly anyone ply their routes.

Considering that, they seem afraid of opened churches, a fear without foundation. It is like being afraid a gun would fire when they have already taken out the bullet and the trigger.

The worst mind-set of the rulers of the land is that churches are not essential compared to barbershops because perhaps to them churches have no practical value, a misconception of people who declare themselves Catholics or maybe CINOs (Catholics in Name Only).

According to Fr. Ayuban “the spiritual needs of our brethren may vary. Others can continue living as good Christians without the benefit of receiving holy communion, but others get their principal spiritual nourishment from it. It is the latter that I am more worried about. And as ministers, we are mindful of the right of the faithful ‘to be assisted from the spiritual riches of the Church, especially by the word of God and the sacraments.’ (c. 213).

“It is about time to ‘reopen the doors of our churches’ for people to pray. While it is true that we can pray anywhere, there is no place like the church and no celebration like the Mass. Pope Francis, in his homily at Santa Martha, expresses support for access to sacraments and churches with the presence of the people. ‘A familiarity without community, without bread, without the Church, without the people, without the sacraments is dangerous,’ the Holy Father stressed (Zenit.org, April 17, 2020).”

Fr. Ayuban admits that, “Yes, these restrictions are in accord with the government policies, but the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) and individual bishops can negotiate and engage because the right to worship is at stake here. The Italian Bishops’ Conference (CEI), for example, has already formally protested the Italian government’s decision to keep the ban on public Masses throughout the country (Zenit.org., April 27, 2020).”

We know that among the European nations Italy is the hardest hit but precisely because of that that people should come to church, to pray not in isolation but as a people, collectively calling on God for forgiveness and mercy. But then the rulers of the land seemingly do not believe in Divine intervention because like the New York Governor, they did it, and God has nothing to do with their “success”.

Fr. Ayuban continued to say that “this is also the time for individual bishops to give dispensations as needed within the bounds of their competence (c. 85). While communion apart from the Mass is intended for exceptional cases, in these times of crisis, while public Masses are suspended, the local Ordinary can allow the administration of holy communion to parishioners who are healthy while observing the liturgical rites (c. 918).”

The Bacolod diocese celebrates Masses daily on its radio station, DYAF, with the same pre-pandemic schedule of masses at the San Sebastian Cathedral. Because of this we just “hear” the Mass and the consoling words of the celebrants but being before the Tabernacle and receiving communion are utterly different. Something is missing, incomplete.

If the rulers are afraid, protocols can be set but where there is not a single case, why fear open churches when only a few can attend? In Negros, how many towns and cities have an infection, more than tuberculosis?