State of alarm and religious freedom

The state of alarm decree cannot suspend the fundamental right to religious freedom, if it can limit some aspects of its exercise.

April 28, 2020-Reading time: 2 minutes

The state of alarm decreed by the government has prompted legal experts to reflect on this extraordinary situation. of jurists on this extraordinary situation. Among these reflections Professor Manuel Aragón Reyes, who, in a national newspaper, states that a national newspaper, affirms that a "exorbitant use of the state of alarm". by the government. For this former judge of the Constitutional Court, the state of alarm does not allow the generalized suspension of the right to freedom of movement. the generalized suspension of the right to freedom of movement, this kind of "house arrest" indiscriminate. The protection of public health must be balanced balance with freedom of movement, not override it: this is why citizens have been allowed to go to supermarkets to that citizens have been allowed to go to supermarkets for groceries, to hospitals for medical to supermarkets for supplies, to hospitals for medical care, or to essential jobs to essential jobs to ensure the functioning of basic services.

Perhaps with this balance in mind, the royal decree of the state of alarm makes religious ceremonies conditional on the adoption of measures to avoid crowds by guaranteeing a distance of at least one meter between attendees. Thus, the fundamental right of religious freedom is not suspended, but limited.

That is why, when these past days news of the police suspension of Catholic religious ceremonies in Granada and San Fernando de Henares (ceremonies in which the required measures were respected), it is logical to conclude that we are facing serious juridical irregularities. But also these events suggest that we are facing a great opportunity to remind our secularized society that, apart from the material goods of the supermarket or medicines, the soul claims God. Especially now. We Christians need the Eucharist like bread or water. Those 49 martyrs of Abitina, referred to by Benedict XVI at Corpus Christi in 2005, said it very clearly before the Roman authority: "Sine dominico non possumus".. Without the Eucharist, we cannot live. May normality return soon so that we can once again experience the greatness of the treasure of the Eucharist!

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