Amid pandemic and court ruling, Western Pa. parishioners want to attend church, but remain safe - TribLIVE

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Allegheny Township resident Jessica Pulice and her daughters want to attend church in person, but they want to do it safely.

That’s what Pulice said Sunday as she walked into Mass at Mount St. Peter Parish in New Kensington.

“People are practicing social distancing (at Mount St. Peter). They are sitting in every other pew,” Pulice said.

What should not happen, several churchgoers said Sunday in Greensburg and New Kensington, is government setting an arbitrary number of people who are permitted to gather for worship, with the belief that exceeding that number will endanger people during this surge in the covid-19 pandemic.

“I think it is up to the individual person if they want to go” to church, Pulice said.

Religious freedoms come with responsibility, local church leaders say after the Nov. 25 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court. It stepped in to temporarily — at least — bar the state of New York from limiting the size of service gatherings in houses of worship in an effort to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

Churches have to continue to balance the two issues of being able to worship in person while members keep their social distancing for the safety of their fellow parishioners, Monsignor Raymond Riffle told his congregation Sunday at Blessed Sacrament Cathedral in Greensburg. He described his comments as “my rant” on the topic.

The Rev. Liddy Barlow, executive minister for the Christian Associates of Southwestern Pennsylvania, a coalition of nearly 30 church bodies in 10 counties in the region, said churchgoers must keep their neighbors in mind.

“As we live out our religious beliefs, we need to take into account the well-being of the entire communities we’re here to serve,” he said.

Unlike New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf has not imposed any limits on the number of people who can gather to worship during the pandemic. But many churches have offered members the option of watching the service remotely, and some voluntarily closed in the spring.

The case before the Supreme Court was brought by Catholics and Orthodox Jewish groups. The 5-4 decision temporarily bars New York from enforcing restrictions against houses of worship while lawsuits continue. In an unsigned opinion, the court said the restrictions single out such entities “for especially harsh treatment.”

“Members of this court are not public health experts, and we should respect the judgment of those with special expertise and responsibility in this area,” the opinion read. “But even in a pandemic, the Constitution cannot be put away and forgotten. The restrictions at issue here, by effectively barring many from attending religious services, strike at the very heart of the First Amendment’s guarantee of religious liberty.”

Outside Blessed Sacrament Cathedral on Sunday, Sharon Sachs of Greensburg said the Supreme Court “got it right” when it prevented government from setting limits on worship. She added that her church has done a “beautiful job” of keeping people safe at this time.

Justice Amy Coney Barrett — a Catholic who is President Trump’s most recent appointment — sided with the majority. The bench’s three liberal justices and Chief Justice John Roberts disagreed.

The ruling was a reversal of the 5-4 decision earlier this year that allowed California and Nevada to restrict the number of people attending church. The late Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a liberal jurist, voted in favor of permitting government to place restrictions on church attendance. Barrett replaced Ginsburg on the court.

“A lot of churches have been taking the pandemic very seriously, as reflects the commandment to love our neighbors,” Barlow said. “Many of us have been demonstrating that love by making changes, whether it’s livestreaming services, limiting attendance or moving outside to a parking lot.”

All freedoms, including religious ones, come with responsibility, she said.

Bibleway Christian Fellowship Church in New Kensington is being responsible in taking steps to keep parishioners safe during the pandemic, said Louie Veri of Harrison’s Natrona section.

The church is practicing social distancing, parishioners are masked and there is a hand-sanitizing area. Temperatures of those attending church are taken before they enter the sanctuary.

“I believe in the church being open. You have to have God in your life,” Veri said.

The Rev. Gary Lyon of Cross Roads Community Church in Leechburg said churches and other religious bodies have not fallen under the same rules as restaurants — which Wolf in March restricted to carry-out only before allowing people to eat inside, first at 25% capacity and later at 50%.

“We don’t fall into the same category as the restaurant down the road, but we’re proceeding as though we did,” Lyon said. “Technically, the (state health) secretary’s ruling doesn’t apply to churches, but we believe it does.”

Parishioners have multiple ways to view Sunday services live, and in-person services have been spaced two weeks apart.

“We’ve had only two (in-person) services since March,” Lyon said. “The first was Nov. 8, and the second was Nov. 22. There’s another scheduled for Dec. 6. It may or may not happen.”

‘Here to serve’

In his dissenting opinion, Chief Justice Roberts said, “It is a significant matter to override determinations made by public health officials concerning what is necessary for public safety in the midst of a deadly pandemic.”

The court’s action was a victory for the Roman Catholic Church and Orthodox Jewish synagogues, which sued to challenge restrictions announced Oct. 6 by Cuomo. In practice, however, it directly affected little. Neither church is subject to any fixed attendance restriction.

Barlow said following health and safety recommendations is essentially part of caring for others in the Christian tradition.

“Across the country, we’ve seen outbreaks of covid that are linked to Christian worship,” she said. “So we need to be careful that the ways we’re exercising our freedom are not endangering the communities we’re here to serve.”

Blessed Sacrament Cathedral has been able to have parishioners seated with their families while maintaining social distance from other parishioners and families. “We haven’t had to turn anyone away,” Riffle said.

Priests and ministers now face the challenge of how to maintain social distancing during Advent and particularly at Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve, when churches typically are packed, Riffle said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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