While not commenting on any specific incident, Flanigan said these incidents of contagion at churches "occurred prior to the use of those guidelines."
"We know that one very significant outbreak occurred where there was a lot of contact with different church members, very close contact, a lot of physical contact, touching, different materials, passing things around," he said. "Of course this was prior to our awareness of the spread of coronavirus and prior to an understanding of how important it is that we follow the CDC guidance."
"The CDC has described outbreaks that have occurred in the setting of singing," he said. "We know that different activities can cause more aerosolization of droplets, and that has let to very specific recommendations. Unfortunately, choirs are recommended not to practice and not to sing, and not to perform in all areas. Whether it is in Mass or other choral groups or performances, for example."
He said outbreaks have been related to public gatherings, carnivals, celebrations, conferences, and public worship.
"I think it's a mistake to say 'is a conference safer or less safe than a house of worship?' That's the wrong question," Flanigan told CNA. "The CDC gives us that guidance to decrease the rate of transmission. It's just as important that guidance be followed at a house of worship, as at a conference, as at any other gathering."
"If somebody makes an arbitrary judgment that a church is not going to follow that guidance, without any evidence, that is biased and there is no evidence for that," he said.
Flanigan questioned the categories of some governors who classified religious gatherings as "non-essential," compared to more "essential" activities like grocery stores.
"Being able to come together and pray together, being able to receive the sacraments, to encounter the Lord, right there in the sacraments, is so important," Flanigan commented.
Mental health is just as important as physical health, just as important as spiritual health," he said. "We are a whole self, which has a mind, a body, a heart a soul. To be able to pray together, to be able to support each other, to be able to worship together, to be able to receive the Lord in communion, is so important for us to be healthy and to thrive."
"That is why our churches are essential," he told CNA. "That is why this whole argument of essential vs. non-essential was a mistake, and not supported by anyone. Some governors just made assumptions that church is non-essential, and that is a grave error. It is an error from the public health point of view, and it is an error from the public health point of view."
One hallmark of the Covid-19 pandemic, he said, is isolation.
"We are alone in the hospital, we are alone in our nursing homes, we are alone with our fear at two o'clock in the morning. The way we normally get our support is suddenly taken away from us," he reflected. "That alone-ness is very very difficult. The evil one can attack us, gravely, during these times."
Coronavirus restrictions have polarized some supporters and critics, and appears to have resulted in violence at times. Across the country, Several store clerks who have asked patrons to wear masks have been assaulted or killed. A Holly Springs, Mississippi Pentecostal church that filed a legal challenge against the city's stay-at-home order was burned down in an apparent arson, with a note chalked nearby denouncing church members as hypocritical.
Even as some states open up, outbreaks continue. Five of seven Redemptorists at a Houston, Texas community went back into quarantine after testing positive for the coronavirus, and after another priest died after possible exposure.
Kevin J. Jones is a senior staff writer with Catholic News Agency. He was a recipient of a 2014 Catholic Relief Services' Egan Journalism Fellowship.