Why are we not following the Bishop?

 

CATHEDRAL OPENING TIMES
Monday to Friday the Cathedral will be open 10am – 4pm
Saturday & Sunday 10am – 7pm
Confessions times have resumed - Saturdays from 11:00 -12:00 and 17:00-17:45 in St John’s Chapel.

Now why have I advertised the  opening times of our Cathedral in Portsmouth.     As you can see the Church is open daily, there are confessions and there is no mention of a limit on the numbers of people who can attend.    Portsmouth Cathedral is following the guidelines laid down by the Conference of Bishops, there is no major outbreak of Covid in the area, and the Government guidelines that we must learn to live with the virus provided we are aware that the outbreak is low in your area, and if that changes we change,   What does live with the virus mean?   It means we carry out our normal everyday lives though having regard to the safety of others by wearing masks in certain situations.    I watched last Saturday the Last Night of the Proms, and there were thousands inside the Albert Hall.   When entering the audience would have well been asked if they had a double vaccine or proof of a negative test, what they would not have been asked for is their telephone number, for people who have been vaccined have no requirement to self isolate, and the majority of the country having been vaccinated test and trace is no longer in use.   May I just repeat that Test and Trace is not longer in use, so when I go next to Church I will be expecting to be asked if I have been vaccinated, and not have my time wasted answering useless questions.

I have mentioned the crowd in the Albert Hall, but in Basingstoke we also have pubs and clubs opening up and the local theatre is opening up and the cinema.   So what about spacing?    There are up to 60,000 football fans in some football grounds every Saturday and depending on the status of the team during the week.    

Do you travel by bus?    Masks are recommended but let us turn to cleaning.   When I go on a bus I grab the handle of a seat and sit down.    Many hands have been there before me, but the driver does not at every stop, rush to wipe the seats of those who have left.   Nor in the Albert Hall, the pubs and clubs, when people leave there is not a furious attempt at wiping the tables to dislodge Covid.    In fact when have your heard anything from the media about piking up Covid from the surfaces.    Right at the beginning of the epidemic, tests were done which I have mentioned before and the chances of picking up Covid from a surface, is one in ten thousand.    And then there is the handle we use use to sit down on the bus, a check was made on the button on traffic lights, and the outcome was that you have 5 chances in ten thousand.

I suppose the advert at the beginning for opening times in the Cathedral which shows the Bishop co-operating and living as the Government and Health Officials want us to live is his concept of how the Parishes should be enjoying their new freedoms.   My idea is that he is in charge and that is why we should be following his advice.    So when I find that parishes are not in sync with what the bishop is doing I smell a rat, I believe there is some attempt at 'political gain' going on.      Why not ask your committee to explain who they are following.     Of course you will have to find out who your committee is, and that is all part of the political game.

One more point and a very important one.   No public building should open if there is not a toilet available.   Again in the real world all toilets in bars, clubs, theatres and football stadiums have to provide toilets.    If St Joseph's the doors should not open even on a Sunday if those toilets are not easily available.

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