Professor Oran Doyle from the Covid-19 Law and Human Rights Observatory at Trinity College has said that under the government’s new covid-19 lockdown rules, attending Catholic confession, even socially-distanced outdoors, is now a criminal offence.
Speaking during an interview on RTÉ Radio 1 this week, Professor Doyle was asked if even outdoor religious events had been made illegal.
“Yes, that is correct,” he said.
“So it’s this new provision applied to both indoor and outdoor events, and that’s where it is different from the restrictions on other events. So, for example, if a priest were to do the sacrament of confession with one parishioner outside, socially-distanced, that would be a criminal offence. But if the priest were to meet the parishioner for a chat, that wouldn’t be a criminal offence, because that’s dealt with under the other regulations.”
At this point, Professor Doyle was asked if, in the eyes of the law, the criminal offence was committed by the person organising the confession – i.e. the priest – or the person attending the confession.
“The offence is attending,” he replied.
“So the offence is committed by somebody who attends, not by somebody who organises. Although of course an organiser might also be attending the event,” he added.
“What’s changed is really the legal treatment. Apart from the first lockdown last April or May, into the start of June 2020, there hasn’t been a legal prohibition on religious services. The government has talked in terms of levels, but really those levels aren’t always backed up by law.
“In the case of religious services in general – there are different rules for funerals, but in general – there was no legal prohibition. So this is the first time that a clear legal prohibition on religious services has been put in place since the first lockdown.”
It was put to Doyle that Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly said over the weekend that the ban was a blanket ban on indoor gatherings, and not specifically singling out religious services.
“Well that can’t be correct,” replied Doyle, “because previously in the legislation there was a clear ban on any event in your household, and there was also a ban on what they described as “relevant events”, which in the law has a very clear definition as events for social recreational purposes. Things like that. So most types of events were already banned, but religious events weren’t. And they seem to be the most obvious thing that has been caught by this change in the law last week.”
Asked whether the change in the law could effectively be challenged on constitutional grounds, Doyle said it was “possible”, but “unlikely.”
“There’s always the possibility of challenge. We’ve seen some other countries where courts have intervened. So it’s possible that the Irish courts could intervene.
“My own instinct is that probably for as long as broadly similar events are treated in the same way, it’s unlikely that there would be a successful challenge. But already there are small differences opening up, like the treatment of outdoor events that I mentioned earlier. So if we see things like easing of restrictions in other areas ahead of easing of restrictions in relation to religious services, then the possibility for a successful challenge becomes stronger.”