CNA Staff, Oct 15, 2020 / 08:05 am
As the clock struck midnight on Oct. 6, Fr. Dermot Maloney's parish underwent a dramatic transformation -- though it remained invisible to the naked eye.
The Irish government decreed that from Oct. 7 the whole country would be placed under "Level 3" restrictions for three weeks as a result of an increase in coronavirus cases. Public worship would be suspended for a second time this year.
This created a peculiar situation in the Parish of Upper Creggan because it straddles the border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, where public Masses are still permitted, albeit with restrictions.
Maloney would therefore only be permitted to celebrate Mass with a congregation present in two of the three churches in his parish: St. Patrick's, Crossmaglen, and St. Brigid's, Glassdrummond.