ARRESTED FOR PRAYING?
(Melanie McDonagh in the Tablet)
It’s not that often that you can get cautioned by the police for saying the Rosary outside Saudi Arabia but these are exciting times. In Ireland, limited numbers of people are allowed in church for restricted periods for private prayer. But when does private prayer become communal worship, which is forbidden under the draconian Covid restrictions? Ah, there’s the rub. And so, when a group of people in my home town came to church during the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and started saying the Rosary and even – another transgressive activity – singing hymns, there were complaints. The police were called and took the people’s names. They warned them that if there were a repeat of this sort of behaviour, they’d be fined. You know, I don’t think even in Penal times you could be fined for saying the Rosary.





