Catholic Union Deputy Director, James Somerville-Meikle, writes:
Last week I sat down with a cup of coffee to go through the results of our survey on Covid and places of worship. Reading through the comments, I could have done with something stronger.
Words like “isolated”, “depressed”, and “lonely” appeared time after time. It was a harrowing reminder of the impact that restrictions imposed on our churches for the best part of two years had on people’s lives.
Two thirds of people who took part in the survey said that closing churches had an impact on their physical or mental health. Perhaps it’s no surprise that the vast majority of people (90 percent) want to see places of worship classed as “essential” in any future pandemic, and never forced to close again.
Boris Johnson was not asked directly about the decision to lockdown churches as part of his evidence to the Covid Inquiry this week. We will be sending the result of our survey to the Inquiry Chair, Baroness Hallet, and asking her to hold a stand-alone evidence session on places of worship in the New Year.
The impact of these decisions on people’s lives cannot be overlooked. Politicians and policy makers need to wake up and smell the coffee!