A bishop with the Diocese of Brooklyn called a federal
judge's decision to deny a temporary restraining order on new coronavirus
restrictions for religious groups “disappointing” on Saturday.
Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio says the new restrictions to limit
the capacity in houses of worship will affect about 28 churches in the Brooklyn
Diocese, which covers Brooklyn and Queens.
Houses of worship in orange zones have a 25-person limit.
Red zones have a 10-person limit.
Bishop DiMarzio says with those limits being so small, they
will likely end up live streaming services on Sunday.
The diocese filed a lawsuit Thursday against the state,
claiming a violation of their First Amendment right to exercise religion
freely. They also claim that the Catholic churches are being singled out when
there have been relatively no cases of coronavirus from congregants attending
masses.
Bishop DiMarzio says that there are strict safety measures
in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19, and the churches are large enough
for parishioners to social distance.
"We think we've followed the rules. We see no
contagion happening in our churches and we believe that this blanket
prohibition against using our churches and diminishing the number to so few, it
doesn't make any sense," he says.
The judge denied their restraining order because, according
to court documents, the right to freely exercise a religion does not exempt
worshippers from complying with neutral, regulatory laws.
Bishop DiMarzio says the doors at Brooklyn
diocese churches located in red zones will be closed rather than only allowing
so few people inside. He says they will be consulting with their attorney about
how they should move forward.