#NYC bishop slams Cuomo’s COVID-19 capacity reductions for churches

The leader of the Catholic church in Brooklyn slammed Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s plans to reduce capacity in churches amid a spike of coronavirus cases as an attack on religious freedom.

Cuomo announced earlier Tuesday announced the capacity reductions in all houses of worship as part of a broader reopening rollback in a large chunk of Brooklyn and two big swaths of Queens as the deadly virus surges in the areas.

But Brooklyn Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio, said the edict is being unfairly applied to Catholic churches, which he claimed have responsibly managed the pandemic.

“Catholic Churches in Brooklyn and Queens have not had any COVID outbreaks or significant cases since re-opening on July 5 to 25 percent capacity,” DiMarzio said. “We fervently object to being told to further reduce capacity, because we have strictly adhered to COVID-19 protocols, and the safety measures have been working.”

Under the governor’s order, gatherings at all houses of worship will be limited to anywhere between 25 percent capacity, or no more than 10 people, and 50 percent capacity, depending on the severity of the outbreak in the area, as non-essential businesses and schools in the cluster zones.

Cuomo said in his announcement that the virus has spread via all places of worship.

“We’ve seen one church infect people, we’ve seen synagogues infect people, we’ve seen mosques infect people,” the governor said during his announcement.

“A mass gathering causes infections,” he added. “Infections cause a cluster. A cluster causes community spread. That is the natural evolution of things unless we intervene and we stop the cycle. If you just let the cycle run, that is what’s going to happen.”

But DiMarzo argued that “the religious freedom of our parishioners is being unjustly attacked,” citing the measures the church has taken to keep visitors safe.

Congregants have followed mask mandates and rules to sit six feet apart with a row between them, according to the bishop. Brooklyn Catholic churches have also been “regularly” sanitized, with hand sanitizers set up at entrances, he went on.

“It is outrageous that after incurring great expense to implement all the safety protocols, our parishes are being forced to reduce capacity to a maximum of 10 people in the red zone and 25 people in the orange zone,” DiMarzo added.