Archbishop Eamon Martin made the comment during an April 19 meeting with Health Minister Stephen Donnelly after the Irish government published stringent new regulations on public worship.
In an April 19 statement, the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference said that Martin presented his objections to the new regulations, contained in a document known as statutory instrument 171 of 2021 and approved by Donnelly on April 12.
A statutory instrument is a form of secondary legislation allowing government ministers to legislate on day-to-day matters.
While public worship was suspended in the Republic of Ireland at the end of 2020 as a safety measure to prevent the spread of the virus, the new regulations effectively criminalize Mass with a congregation.