Cardinal Dolan hails Supreme Court decision on churches, COVID-19

Archbishop of New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan applauded the Supreme Court’s decision on Wednesday to block restrictions on religious gatherings that had been put in place by New York to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

“Our churches are essential,” Dolan wrote in one tweet in which he congratulated the groups that had brought the challenges to the New York restrictions. 

“I’d like to congratulate @BpDiMarzio and the @BrooklynDiocese on their victory for religious freedom in the U. S. Supreme Court. Our churches are essential,” Dolan wrote Thursday on Twitter.

Dolan also wrote in a second tweet that while Catholic churches had adhered to safety measures because of the coronavirus, it was important to preserve “religious liberty.”

While we have been and will continue to adhere to all safety protocols to protect our communities, it is also important to protect that fundamental Constitutional right, religious liberty.

— Cardinal Dolan (@CardinalDolan) November 26, 2020

The Supreme Court late Wednesday in a 5-4 decision suspended measures New York had instituted that limited the number of people who could attend religious services. 

The decision marked a rightward shift for the court that ruled against the plaintiffs in similar cases this year from Nevada and California before Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died.

A more conservative justice, Amy Coney Barrett, is now on the court. She was nominated by President Trump and confirmed by the Senate in the fall after Ginsburg’s death.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-N.Y.) criticized the decision Thursday but argued it would not have a practical effect because restrictions have been lifted as cases in New York have eased.

He said the decision showed how the Supreme Court had changed.

“I think that Supreme Court ruling on the religious gatherings is more illustrative of the Supreme Court than anything else,” said Cuomo. “It’s irrelevant from a practical impact because the zone that they were talking about has already been moved. It expired last week. I think this was really just an opportunity for the Court to express its philosophy and politics.”