RCC priest: Closure of churches is the worst calamity in world history
The Catholic priest from London believes that all shepherds will answer before God for what they have done or failed to do during the pandemic to provide the sacraments.
On April 26, 2020, Catholic priest from London Arman de Malleray, a member of the Priesthood of Saint Peter (Fraternitas Sacerdotalis Sancti Petri, FSSP), stated that the closure of churches is the worst calamity in the history of the world.
A video of his homily was posted on the Juventutem London Facebook page.
Comparing the apostles Peter and Judas in his sermon, the priest noted that “indeed, no man, neither pope, nor bishop, nor priest can be a good shepherd unless united wholly to Christ.”
“Nowadays, the mass closure of churches worldwide, depriving Catholics of the sacraments, is the worst calamity in the history of the world,” he emphasized.
In his opinion, “shepherds must not play it down; shepherds must not excuse it; instead, shepherds must represent to the government the spiritual needs of their flocks.”
The priest wonders, “How can the faithful be deprived of even private prayer in churches, when supermarkets are open?Worse still, it is not just supermarkets, even abortion clinics remain open, offering what they term ‘basic health care’.”
Armand de Malleray compared the mortality of coronavirus this year with a much higher mortality from abortion, of which the latter, according to him, significantly outnumbers the former.
“Witness the state of our society: our souls stop breathing grace, our airways are clogged by wordliness, our eyes are blind to eternal light, our hearts ignore the pace of supernatural charity,” upheld the priest.
“What are we doing about the more deadly virus apostasy? More than praising every good deed in civil society, the role of a good shepherd is rather to steer souls to supernatural realities, as Moses did leading the Jews from captivity,” he emphasized.
According to him, “our promised land is our temples. A good shepherd, after the example of our Lord, will do all he can to secure the same level of access to churches as is granted to supermarkets", and "all shepherds will answer before God for what they have done or failed to do in this time to provide the sacraments."
“Good shepherds will see it as their chief duty to facilitate sacramental encounter between their flock and Jesus Christ ... Good shepherds will remind their flocks that our bodies are made for our souls, that time is given to us for eternity, that there is only one virus to kill our souls and its name is a sin!”, the priest noted.
In addition, in his opinion, "good shepherds will proclaim IHS as Lord of history, Whose Providence encompasses everything, even pandemics."
At the end of the sermon, Armand de Mulleray urged believers to pray for the clergy, for Pope Francis, for cardinals, bishops, priests and deacons "so that they perform their role of good shepherds."
Earlier, the UOJ wrote that Catholic lay people in England appealed to the episcopate to open temples.
