‘Stand up and say no’: Churches fight government over vaccine mandate
Original By Michael Koziol
For our free coronavirus pandemic coverage, learn more here.
Health Minister Brad Hazzard is standing firm behind plans to require churchgoers to show proof of vaccination when NSW reopens, despite religious leaders pushing for an exemption on the grounds no one should be turned away from church.
Catholic Archbishop of Sydney Anthony Fisher, Anglican Archbishop of Sydney Kanishka Raffel and other faith leaders are lobbying Mr Hazzard directly on the issue, and some ministers have publicly contemplated civil disobedience if the government keeps the requirement.
“Churches have a responsibility to minister to all, regardless of immunisation status, so we will be discussing with government how we can fulfil that ministry commitment in future stages of the recovery,” Archbishop Raffel told The Sun-Herald. “We want everybody to be safe at church, but we also want to make sure we minister to everybody.”
The Catholic Archbishop of Sydney Anthony Fisher said he and other religious leaders had told the government worship was “an essential service, not mere recreation” for many people.
The road map announced last week allows places of worship to reopen to vaccinated people with capacity limited to one person per four square metre rule, once 70 per cent of NSW adults are fully vaccinated, estimated to be around the middle of October. Singing will not be allowed.
Saturday, September 11: New South Wales has recorded 1599 new cases of coronavirus, Health Minister Brad Hazzard has announced. Eight people have died from the virus including a person in their 30s.
The government has not clarified what will happen at 80 per cent double dose vaccination.
Last week before the road map was announced, Phil Colgan, minister at St George North Anglican Church, told The Pastor’s Heart podcast he could not imagine a scenario in which he would turn away parishioners who weren’t vaccinated.
“Even if it is consistent and churches are treated the same as cinemas … I still question whether the government has the right to impose on churches something we don’t accept,” he said.
“I think it’s really important to note that all of our acceptance of government limitations to date I consider to have been voluntary, that the government doesn’t have the right to forbid people meeting as Christians, and we have chosen to accept and comply - rightly in my view.
“But there might come a time, like with a vaccine passport for me, where I would say ‘the government requires that but we are now going to stand up and say no’, even though it is consistent with what they’re requiring for cinemas and so forth.
“I can’t ever see a time when I would deny someone access to fellowship on the grounds of their vaccination status .
No comments:
Post a Comment