Washington D.C., Mar 26, 2021 / 11:00 am
A federal judge sided with the Archdiocese of Washington on Thursday in its lawsuit against Washington, D.C. over church capacity restrictions.
In an order published late Thursday evening, Judge Trevor McFadden of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia granted an injunction which prevented the city from enforcing its pandemic-related capacity limits on churches. The city’s restrictions amounted to 25% indoor capacity for churches, with a hard limit of 250 people total.
“Defendants, their agents, employees, and successors in office are hereby enjoined from enforcing their 250-person and 25 percent capacity restrictions as to houses of worship operated by the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Washington (“Archdiocese”) insofar as they require the Archdiocese to turn away individuals that it could admit while adhering to all the District’s and its own other pandemic-related limitations,” said the order.
The order came three days before Holy Week will begin on Palm Sunday.