COVID-19
Australian Police Storm Catholic Mass Searching for Unmasked
SARA CARTER | Feb. 8, 2022
Australian police stormed into a Catholic mass Friday evening searching for mask less individuals. Sky News Australia reported that St. Bernadette’s Catholic Church in Mount Hawthorn, Perth had to pause its service while a police officer walked through the church to “ensure every parishioner was masked.”
One worshipper in attendance told Australia radio’s 6PR that the experience was disturbing. They said the police officer stormed into the mass and demanded the attention of the pews. Allegedly the officer stormed in because the police station received ‘tips” that some members of the church had not been wearing masks, despite the mandate put into place on January 16 in the Perth and Peel regions of Australia.
“It’s just pretty confronting seeing police vests and stuff in church,” he said. “He didn’t remove his hat, which is pretty disrespectful in that environment…It’s pretty troubling really to see the liturgy that you love being stopped by police,” the man added. “I mean I’ve never seen anything like this and I don’t think many people have, certainly not in this country.”
The church’s priest wrote a social media post following the incident. He pleaded with the congregation to comply with the Covid-19 order so that the church doesn’t get penalized. “Heavy fines on the parish priest, our parish and individuals will be incurred if you are caught without wearing your mask. Please co-operate with this request so as to avoid any complications,” he said.
The parishioner, in his interview, added that the police “proceeded to check three or four parishioners’ exemptions and then left, everything was in order,” he said, referring to an exemption which is required from a doctor for somebody to skip the mask requirement.
Australia ‘s response to the coronavirus pandemic has been amongst the most stringent of the western, first world countries. “Since the pandemic erupted, Australia has been notorious for a strict Covid-19 mitigation regime, including prolonged lockdowns, closely monitored quarantine and isolation, state surveillance of citizens, testing checkpoints, and barring unvaccinated residents from certain activities” reports National Review.
