Faith groups unite in plea for COVID relaxations on religious ceremonies

Leaders of Christian denominations, Muslims, Hindus and other faiths have commissioned a report to argue treating places of worship differently to hospitality venues or concert halls is “not logical”.

They worship different deities, but the leaders of the state’s major faith groups have come together to issue a prayer to the same higher power, asking the NSW government to ease restrictions on religious ceremonies.

Leaders of faiths representing 90 per cent of the state’s religious believers have commissioned a report from biosecurity and risk management expert David Heslop to argue treating places of worship differently to hospitality venues or concert halls is “not logical”.

In a letter sent to chief health officer Kerry Chant and government ministers last week, leaders including Catholic Archbishop Anthony Fisher called for rules to be relaxed so more people can worship together.

Father Sam Lynch’s socially distanced congregation at St Patrick's in Summer Hill. Picture: Adam Yip

“People are rightly asking, if you can have tens of thousands of spectators at a Grand Final to cheer their team on, then why can’t you have more than 500 gather outdoors for religious purposes?” Archbishop Fisher said.

Faith leaders want capacity for places of worship increased to allow one person per two square metres indoors, similar to rules coming into effect tomorrow for small hospitality venues.

Currently, religious services inside are bound by the 4 sqm rule — with up to a maximum of 300 people. Outdoor services can cater for 500 people (under the 2 sqm rule if parishioners are assigned a seat).

Religious leaders commissioned Dr Heslop to assess the risk of easing restrictions on places of worship, following the associate professor’s work in getting the NRL back up and running in a COVID-safe way.

Father Sam Lynch during mass at St Patrick’s. Picture: Adam Yip

Dr Heslop advised religious leaders that: “the current differential treatment between entertainment activities and religious gatherings is no longer supportable, and arguably not logical, in the current very low prevalence COVID-19 context in NSW,” a spokeswoman for the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney said.

Anglican Archbishop Glenn Davies said the government has been too slow to ease restrictions for religious communities compared to sporting groups or the hospitality industry.

“Unwittingly, the government hasn’t seen that there is discrepancy here and haven’t corrected that discrepancy,” he said.

Archbishop Davies said rules and guidelines around singing also need to change.

“Let people enjoy Christmas, gather, sing, and, meet with like minded people to sing the praises of God,” he said.

The call came from representatives of different Christian denominations, Muslims, Hindus, and other faiths — all seeking a change to the rules.

Bruce Stewart and Barbara Godlewski with their children Eloise Godlewski, 14, and Sascha Stewart, 10, at St Aloysius Catholic Church, Cronulla. Picture: Justin Lloyd

National Imam Council spokesman Bilal Rauf said: “there needs to be a level of consistency in NSW in regards to how different activities are treated”.

Previous COVID-19 clusters have been linked with religious services in southwestern Sydney, but religious leaders believe the lack of recent community transmission means it’s time to open up.

Sam Lynch, who serves as a priest for St Patrick’s Catholic Church in Summer Hill, said the current restrictions have forced him to cancel Christmas mass so he doesn’t turn people away.

He will tell his Summer Hill congregation to go to his other church in neighbouring Lewisham, because of the bigger capacity.

A NSW government spokeswoman said all decisions on restrictions are made on health advice.

“The NSW government is looking at where it is possible to further ease restrictions, including expanding the two square metre rule,” she said.

A NSW Health spokeswoman said the agency is discussing restrictions with religious leaders and has spoken to Dr Heslop.

Barbara Godlewski hopes the relaxation of COVID rules will go ahead, so her family can watch her violinist children play at Christmas mass at St Aloysius Catholic Church in Cronulla.

Her father, sister and brother currently attend a different church to observe social distancing rules and have missed out on seeing her children, Eloise Godlewski, 14, and Sacha Stewart, 10, performing at Sunday mass.

“If the two metre rule is applied in churches, and more people are allowed to attend, it would mean the whole family can go to the same mass at Christmas, we’ve always done that traditionally, it means a lot for us to go as a family,” she said.