Right to worship is ‘essential’

Richard A. Sokerka

Throughout this year of pandemic, restrictions imposed by state officials varied, except for houses of worship that were deemed “non-essential,” severely limiting the right to worship.

That all changed the night before Thanksgiving when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that New York’s state restrictions during the pandemic are in violation of the First Amendment’s protection of free religious exercise.

“It is time — past time — to make plain that, while the pandemic poses many grave challenges, there is no world in which the Constitution tolerates executive edicts that reopen liquor stores and bike shops but shutter churches, synagogues and mosques,” wrote Justice Neil Gorsuch in an opinion in the decision, which temporarily bars restrictions on worship.

The court’s ruling is temporary, as lawsuits filed by the Diocese of Brooklyn and by Orthodox Jewish synagogues in New York will continue, though the Supreme Court’s decision figures to weigh heavily in the outcome of those cases.

N.Y. Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who has Catholic roots, had called houses of worship “super spreaders” and “non-essential” during the pandemic, enacted the restrictions.

The Diocese of Brooklyn filed an emergency application with the U.S. Supreme Court for an injunction against the governor’s executive order limiting in-person congregations at houses of worship to 10 or 25 people but allowing “numerous secular businesses to operate without any capacity restrictions.”

The Supreme Court’s decision stated, “Not only is there no evidence that the applicants have contributed to the spread of COVID-19 but there are many other less restrictive rules that could be adopted to minimize the risk to those attending religious services. Among other things, the maximum attendance at a religious service could be tied to the size of the church or synagogue,” the court wrote, “... even in a pandemic, the Constitution cannot be put away and forgotten. The restrictions at issue here, by effectively barring many from attending religious services, strike at the very heart of the First Amendment’s guarantee of religious liberty.”

Newly minted Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett decided with the majority, 5-4. The justices in the majority said the governor’s order did not appear neutral and seemed to single out “houses of worship for especially harsh treatment.”

In a statement given after the decision, Bishop Nicholas Di Marzio of Brooklyn said he is “gratified by the decision of the Justices of the United States Supreme Court, who have recognized the clear First Amendment violation and urgent need for relief in this case. I am proud to be leading the Diocese of Brooklyn and fighting for our sacred and constitutional right to worship. Our churches have not been the cause of any outbreaks. We have taken our legal battle this far because we should be considered essential, for what could be more essential than safely gathering in prayer in a time of pandemic.”

We applaud the courageous efforts of Bishop Di Marzio for standing up to government officials, who clearly overstepped the boundaries of their authority in this pandemic with their unconstitutional restrictions on worship, and for fighting for all people of faith to defend our religious liberties that are enshrined in the Constitution.