An Open Letter to Bishop Michael Burbidge and the Presbyteral Council of Arlington Diocese

We, the undersigned, faithful parishioners of Arlington Diocese, respectfully urge you to reconsider the decision to suspend all public masses.

Prudent caution in the face of an entirely unknown threat is reasonable. But that is no longer the case, and no longer an excuse to deprive the people of the right to practice their faith. In light of the information we now have and continue to receive daily about the Coronavirus, its transmissibility, its mortality rate, and the highly effective treatments already available, we believe Churches can be made as safe as any other place considered ‘essential’.

We hope you will once again re-assert the essentiality, indeed the primacy, of religion to life, and adjust your policy.