Bishop Davies criticises government over public Mass ban

The Bishop of Shrewsbury has strongly criticised the government’s plan to ban public acts of worship and called on ministers to rethink the idea.

Bishop Mark Davies said that no evidence has been produced to justify the move and pointed out that worship at the moment takes place “amid some of the most stringent Covid safety measures in the whole of society.”

“The Prime Minister made no reference in his statement to public worship so we were astonished to find in national guidance that the Government was seeking the authority of parliament to close all places of worship,” Bishop Davies said, adding that it is a “momentous act” for any political authority to seek to ban public worship.

“The vital role which public worship has for the well-being of hundreds of thousands of people in this Shrewsbury Diocese together with faith communities across the nation can never allow public worship to be dismissed as something non-essential,” the bishop said.

“Neither can we lightly overlook how from public worship flows support for the most vulnerable and countless charitable activities in the service of the common good.”

Echoing a previous call from Cardinal Vincent Nichols and Archbishop McMahon, the bishop called on the government to provide the evidence they are using to justify banning public worship in England.

“We believe that public worship is not part of the problem we face rather it is part of the solution to this deeply human crisis,” Bishop Davies said.