Canada Pastor remains in police custody after refusing to stop holding COVID-19 defiant services
by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) – A Canadian pastor is in police custody in Edmonton, Canada, after he refused to stop holding church services in defiance of local COVID-19 regulations, Christianity Today reports. Pastor James Coates of GraceLife Church handed himself in to police on Tuesday last week, and twice refused bail conditions that he stop holding services that defy regulations.
The case highlights the fact that many churches believe coronavirus restrictions on public worship constitute an infringement of legal rights to freedom of religion.
GraceLife Church in Edmonton moved its services live stream for several months at the start of the pandemic last year, but then moved back to in-person worship services during the summer, Christianity Today reports.
However, local authorities complained that the church had extended its capacity beyond the 15 percent allowed, and was not mandating masks or social distancing, in contravention of Alberta COVID-19 regulations.
In December, Gracelife was fined $1,200.
The church was found to be in violation of regulations this month again, and police ordered Coates to comply, Christianity Today reports. When Coates refused, the authorities called for his arrest. Upon handing himself in, Coates was charged with contravening Canada’s Public Health Act.
Representing Coates, the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms said in a statement that the pastor “could not, in good conscience, agree to” stop holding church services. In a separate statement, the commander of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in the county said in a statement that the objective of enforcing compliance “is not to interrupt church services, prohibit services, nor deny peoples’ right to practice their religion—merely to ensure that public health restrictions are adhered to while doing so.”
The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms protects freedom of religion but also allows “reasonable limits” on religious expression in the law, “as can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society.”
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