# Australian police barge into Catholic mass to check for mask compliance



## CarolfromTX (Feb 6, 2022)

Heard on the news that Western Australia is 93% vaccinated, and yet this happened. This is tyranny at its worst. Interrupting a religious service? Shameful! 

https://news.yahoo.com/australian-p...4oTQUtg1G_tVQEaZ46GpLgzmbwMDnFtABPPj8zMLrt9c7


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## Sunny (Feb 6, 2022)

This can be a slippery slope. What is to stop any group of people, indoors and unmasked, from saying they were having a "religious service?"  OK, a Mass in a Catholic Church is pretty obvious, but other religious services might not be. Any group participating in a rally, a party, whatever, could say the police outrageously interrupted their "religious service!"

Having said that, I do think having the police burst in on perfectly legal gatherings is WAY over the top. It conveys a police state mentality. Especially with that many people vaccinated in Australia, what are they so afraid of any more?  Even if the Catholic service turns out to be a spreader event, it probably isn't any worse than the usual "there's a lot of it going around" kind of bug that spreads all the time.  I think that's what Covid will settle down into, IF most people are fully vaccinated, preferably with boosters. The police should not be involved at all.


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## Jules (Feb 6, 2022)

> Perth paused its service after a police officer walked in to ensure every parishioner was masked,



It was one police man.  Someone had reported some people weren’t wearing masks.  The officer checked those for exemptions and then left.  One man went on tall radio to complain. The priest posted a reminder than parishioners should wear their masks.  Not quite the story as implied by the headline.


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## CarolfromTX (Feb 6, 2022)

Jules said:


> It was one police man.  Someone had reported some people weren’t wearing masks.  The officer checked those for exemptions and then left.  One man went on tall radio to complain. The priest posted a reminder than parishioners should wear their masks.  Not quite the story as implied by the headline.


Turning in your neighbors for not wearing a freaking mask?? Even one policeman is too many. Even one.

And with a 93% vaxx rate, it’s stupid To insist on masks.


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## Jules (Feb 6, 2022)

Vax rate in Australia as of Feb 5.  1 dose 85%, 2 doses 79% and booster 35%.  

If there a complaint about some members in the church by other members of the church, then they would be obligated to attend.  It doesn’t seem like it was bad enough that members were whipping out their phones to video it.


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## StarSong (Feb 6, 2022)

Jules said:


> It was one police man.  Someone had reported some people weren’t wearing masks.  The officer checked those for exemptions and then left.  One man went on tall radio to complain. The priest posted a reminder than parishioners should wear their masks.  Not quite the story as implied by the headline.


Thanks for giving this story some context.


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## OneEyedDiva (Feb 6, 2022)

Let the sanctuary be a sanctuary! Mass going on...respect that.


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## Packerjohn (Feb 6, 2022)

Has Australia turned into a police state?  Seems so!  They should be ashamed!  Bloody Coppers!


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## CarolfromTX (Feb 6, 2022)

I would think there might be something a little more pressing for police to do other than mask compliance.


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## Jules (Feb 6, 2022)

No where does it say who initiated the complaint, or how many, about the anti-maskers.  It most likely was other parishioners or maybe even the priest.


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## Shero (Feb 6, 2022)

CarolfromTX said:


> I would think there might be something a little more pressing for police to do other than mask compliance.


Yep, like making sure the laws are kept!!!!


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## Shero (Feb 6, 2022)

Oh Carol, Carol, Carol another amusing find!
It was *one* police officer, doing his job. Un policier !!
It might interest you to know that Western Australia suffered only* 9 *deaths
since the start of covid.
How many has "free" Texas had?
.


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## Shero (Feb 6, 2022)

Packerjohn said:


> Has Australia turned into a police state?  Seems so!  They should be ashamed!  Bloody Coppers!



Yes the jackboots are out everywhere, London too!


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## Warrigal (Feb 6, 2022)

Jules said:


> It was one police man.  Someone had reported some people weren’t wearing masks.  The officer checked those for exemptions and then left.  One man went on tall radio to complain. The priest posted a reminder than parishioners should wear their masks.  Not quite the story as implied by the headline.


Exactly. *One* policeman entered the church. 

We have had certain churches disregard masks and social distancing before and they became super spreader events, setting off a chain of infections. 

If there was a complaint the police need to respond. Too late once the congregation has dispersed.


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## CarolfromTX (Feb 7, 2022)

Someone made a complaint? Oooh, how scary!  someone Dropped their mask!  Y’all make excuses for politicians who don’t follow the rules, but drop your mask in church? Send in a policeman.


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## Liberty (Feb 7, 2022)




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## JimBob1952 (Feb 7, 2022)

Shero said:


> Oh Carol, Carol, Carol another amusing find!
> It was *one* police officer, doing his job. Un policier !!
> It might interest you to know that Western Australia suffered only* 9 *deaths
> since the start of covid.
> ...



Australia is an island.  Government can control who comes and goes.  

Texas is not an island.  Every day  thousands of unvaccinated folks from south of Texas cross the Rio Grande and start wandering around.  

I say this as someone who is double-vaccinated, had a booster, and also recently had Covid.


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## Packerjohn (Feb 7, 2022)

I really don't know what to think about events such as this?  Last year in my province, with a population of 1.38 million people, we had 3,200 Enforcers.  I don't know who they were or were they paid.  I haven't heard about any "enforcers" this year but I have heard a lot in the media about democracy and people losing their rights.  The government seems to be moving away from telling people all this bull about "get vaccinated and stop Covid19."  Now, the latest is that we have to learn to live with this pandemic because it is not going away no matter how many vaccines and booster we get.  There are still a lot of people that are not happy with 80 or 90% of the population having the vaccine.  They want 100% vaccinated but I think they are dreaming.


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## Warrigal (Feb 7, 2022)

Australia has a very high rate of immunisation but omicron is nevertheless doing a lot of damage to the economy. The rate of infection from this variant is very high, the work force is being depleted and businesses are struggling to keep operating. The number of deaths has also risen, particularly in nursing homes. Old people are basically being neglected while supposedly in care; going without meals and showers and having no-one available to pick them up off the floor when they fall out of bed.

So bad is it now (and with an election looming) that the PM has finally allowed military personnel to be deployed to nursing homes. Two weeks ago he said that this would not be happening.

Covid 19 is not finished with us yet.


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## Alligatorob (Feb 7, 2022)

Australia has some mandatory rules I would not agree with, however they are a sovereign country and have every right to make their own rules.  They didn't ask me.

That said if they make the rules I have no problem with them enforcing them, and as @Shero and others have pointed out this was not a particularly intrusive thing.  Kind of a small molehill made into a mountain...


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## Lara (Feb 7, 2022)

This is Outrageous. Why did they make everyone leave the church...even those WITH masks on.

Why choose a church service while I'm sure there are zillions of other places where a few can be found not wearing a mask?

If they shut down one place they should do it to all.
Like why not shut down all the grocery stores then?
I'm sure they can find a few of the unmasked there...and bars, concerts, sports arenas, restaurants


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## Jules (Feb 7, 2022)

Lara said:


> Why did they make everyone leave the church...even those WITH masks on.


I re-read the article and can’t see anything about this.  They didn’t shut it down.

It seems like the policeman was quite polite and then left.  If someone or many in the congregation complained, there’d be a need to follow up.


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## Warrigal (Feb 7, 2022)

Jules said:


> I re-read the article and can’t see anything about this.  They didn’t shut it down.
> 
> It seems like the policeman was quite polite and then left.  If someone or many in the congregation complained, there’d be a need to follow up.


QFT


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## Lara (Feb 7, 2022)

Shero said:


>


@Jules and @Warrigal , I was referring to post #13 above.
Shero posted the video of the police asking everyone to exit the building in London


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## Shero (Feb 7, 2022)

Lara said:


> This is Outrageous. Why did they make everyone leave the church...even those WITH masks on.
> 
> Why choose a church service while I'm sure there are zillions of other places where a few can be found not wearing a mask?
> 
> ...



Well Lara, it is common knowledge that many devout church goers do not follow the rules, thinking that their faith will protet them. Consequently, they are considered very risky. They were warned, they disobeyed and they suffered!

As for Carol's attention grabbing headline - police, numbering *one* man did not *barge* into the church. He waked in, talked to the priest and then spoke to the congregation!!


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## Shero (Feb 7, 2022)

Lara said:


> This is Outrageous. Why did they make everyone leave the church...even those WITH masks on.
> 
> Why choose a church service while I'm sure there are zillions of other places where a few can be found not wearing a mask?
> 
> ...


You may not know this Lara, but in Australia during lockdowns, someone stands outside of the store with bottles of hand sanitisers. 
People are not allowed into the shops without masks. 
Australia sticks to its guns, quite unlike where you live it seems!
.


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## Lara (Feb 7, 2022)

Shero said:


> Well Lara, it is common knowledge that many devout church goers do not follow the rules, thinking that their faith will protet them. Consequently, they are considered very risky. They were warned, they disobeyed and they suffered!


I disagree. There aren't "many" "devout church goers not following the rules". There are a handful of religious zealots that believe, for instance,  that you can handle snakes and God will protect them. No sense in stereotyping all church goers in with snake handlers.


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## Shero (Feb 7, 2022)

Lara said:


> I disagree. There aren't "many" "devout church goers not following the rules". There are a handful of religious zealots that believe, for instance,  that you can handle snakes and God will protect them. No sense in stereotyping all church goers in with snake handlers.


Point taken - no offence meant to the snakes!


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## Warrigal (Feb 8, 2022)

Shero said:


> You may not know this Lara, but in Australia during lockdowns, someone stands outside of the store with bottles of hand sanitisers.
> People are not allowed into the shops without masks.
> Australia sticks to its guns, quite unlike where you live it seems!
> .


Added to that, when I go down to my local pharmacy, if I've forgotten to put on my mask I am politely asked "Do you have a mask" as a reminder to put it on.

At my local church masks and sanitiser are supplied to anyone who needs or wants them and we log in by scanning the QR code that has been used to inform people when they have been in contact with a Covid positive person. The QR codes have been used extensively at shopping centres and other businesses and in medical centres. Measures like this were very effective before Omicron, as was the practice of social distancing.

Omicron has made disease control much harder.  We are now relying more on really high levels of vaccination, including boosters.

As an additional piece of information I went to see Turandot at the Sydney Opera House last Saturday. I wore a mask on the train and in the Opera House for the full performance. One thing that was interesting was that while the principals and the chorus were not masked on stage, there were about 8 non singing dancers who all wore black masks. It took me a while to notice this. O cannot say whether or not any members of the orchestra were wearing masks. All Opera House personnel in contact with the patrons were masked.


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## Shero (Feb 8, 2022)

Warrigal said:


> Added to that, when I go down to my local pharmacy, if I've forgotten to put on my mask I am politely asked "Do you have a mask" as a reminder to put it on.
> 
> At my local church masks and sanitiser are supplied to anyone who needs or wants them and we log in by scanning the QR code that has been used to inform people when they have been in contact with a Covid positive person. The QR codes have been used extensively at shopping centres and other businesses and in medical centres. Measures like this were very effective before Omicron, as was the practice of social distancing.
> 
> ...


Absolutely! I see no hardship in complying with these regulations, they are now part of life for me. As soon as I approach somewhere, I get my phone ready to scan  my QR code. I wish France had done all these things earlier on, would have prevented a lot of deaths.

Glad you enjoyed the Opera,we had our boosters middle of January, and have not yet ventured into a cinema or theatre, but we will later!
.


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## Warrigal (Feb 8, 2022)

We sat in the circle seats and there were a lot of empty seats, allowing us to move from the side to very central seats. Great view of the stage.


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