Prayer services during a pandemic: Why some churches stay open
Rusty Reno has been a bit alarmed over the past few weeks as both civil and religious authorities began to restrict the number of people who can gather together to pray.
The Catholic theologian and conservative political thinker bristled when the New York archdiocese shut down most services over three weeks ago in response to the coronavirus crisis – even though Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s executive order stated that houses of worship were not ordered closed.
“I mean, right now I’m looking out of my window at the construction project on a very tall apartment building, and it’s ongoing,” says Mr. Reno, editor of First Things, a Manhattan-based journal published by the Institute on Religion and Public Life. “So the trades in New
