President Donald Trump on Friday afternoon threw a wrench into talks between Gov. Tim Walz and some Minnesota church leaders as they were close to an understanding of how churches might safely hold some semblance of services Sunday amid the coronavirus outbreak.
That might seem odd, because Trump said he wanted churches to reopen, and the churches wanted to reopen, and Walz was apparently talking to the churches about how to reopen.
And that might still happen — in some limited form — as Walz and leaders of Catholics, Lutherans and other faith groups on Friday appeared to remain committed to amicable discussions with the possibility of an announcement over the weekend.
But when the forces of religious freedom intersect with church-state separation on a collision course with federal power versus states’ rights amid a polarized political landscape during an election year in the maelstrom of a pandemic … well, it’s complicated.
And much remained unclear or unconfirmed Friday.
Here’s what we know happened:
On Wednesday, Walz announced plans to inch ahead with loosening restrictions on some aspects of society June 1. But he didn’t give churches an inch, leaving in place a ban on gatherings of more than 10 — indoors or out.
That prompted the Catholic bishops of Minnesota and the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod to announce they planned to resume in-person worship in defiance of Walz’s order — setting up a possible legal showdown and revealing a political stumble by the Walz administration as it attempts to coordinate coronavirus restrictions with affected groups. Walz has often noted that any restrictions he issues under his peacetime emergency powers are only as strong as the public support for them.
Walz and church leaders communicated Thursday, with Archbishop Bernard Hebda describing them as “a frank discussion where the governor explained his rationale for delaying the opening of churches for in-person worship,” according to an interview in the Catholic Spirit.
The sole item on Walz’s calendar Friday was a 10:30 a.m. conference call with “church leaders.” Some political observers were preparing for an afternoon announcement of some sort of accord, understanding or revision that would address the apparent impasse.
TRUMP TALKS
Then Trump jumped into the issue, which is hardly unique to Minnesota. Speaking to reporters at a hastily called White House news conference, Trump declared houses of worship “essential,” urged governors to allow them to open “right now, this weekend,” and threatened to “override” governors who failed to do so. He didn’t take questions.
It wasn’t clear what any of it meant. Trump didn’t issue anything in writing, and he cited no legal basis for having authority over governors — a claim he made once before and then backed off. Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, a former Democratic presidential candidate, promptly challenged Trump’s authority, with his chief of staff telling the New York Times, “We don’t believe the president has the ability to dictate what states can and cannot open.”
However, Walz, also a Democrat, didn’t do that. Throughout the pandemic, the former congressman from a southern Minnesota district that heavily supports Trump has sought to avoid public confrontation with the president, seeking a pragmatic approach to the man who might hold the keys to crucial COVID-19 resources.
And not lost on Walz Friday was this: The president of the United States had just essentially called on Americans to head to church and for governors to make it so.
So Walz said nothing. Instead, spokesman Teddy Tschann put out the following statement: “Governor Walz has had many productive conversations with faith leaders in Minnesota over the last few weeks. The Governor’s top priority continues to be the health and safety of Minnesotans, and he looks forward to reviewing the new CDC guidance to better understand what this means for places of worship in Minnesota.”
CDC SPEAKS
Shortly after that, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention put out revised guidelines for houses of worship. The agency had previously drafted guidelines, but the White House held them back over concerns that they could be seen as encroaching on the First Amendment principles of religious freedom, according to reporting by the Associated Press and other national news outlets. But on Thursday, Trump promised they would be released.
The guidance the CDC released Friday was “non-binding,” although in an accompanying statement, the agency did appear to acknowledge the authority of local officials: “Decisions and strategies on reopening are implemented at the state, tribal, local, and territorial levels based on their phased reopening plan.”
The guidance urged churches to be wary of large gatherings and many traditional activities of services, but it frequently hedged itself by using the word “consider.”
Here are some examples of the CDC’s new guidance:
- “Consider having clergy hold virtual visits (by phone or online) instead of in homes or at the hospital except for certain compassionate care situations, such as end of life.”
- “Consider suspending or at least decreasing use of a choir/musical ensembles and congregant singing, chanting, or reciting during services or other programming, if appropriate within the faith tradition. The act of singing may contribute to transmission of COVID-19, possibly through emission of aerosols.”
- “Consider holding services and gatherings in a large, well-ventilated area or outdoors, as circumstances and faith traditions allow.”
- “Consider appropriate mitigation measures, including taking steps to limit the size of gatherings and maintaining social distancing, at other gatherings such as funerals, weddings, religious education classes, youth events, support groups and any other programming, where consistent with the faith tradition.”
- “Encourage use of cloth face coverings among staff and congregants.”
HEALTH COMMISSIONER SPEAKS
Absent a response from Walz, reporters Friday afternoon asked Minnesota Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm what she thought of the guidelines, which were released during her daily media briefing.
“We reserve our right to maybe be a little more specific,” she said, noting that the CDC earlier this week published a report linking 61 COVID-19 cases and four deaths to Arkansas worship services attended by 98 people in March.
When asked about what her department’s recommendations to Walz would be, she said, “For our part, we will just continue to stress the value of using the safest possible ways of engaging in religious services, which still to this point are remote or some of the drive-in services that have popped up where people stay in their cars … as well as outdoor gatherings, although those, we believe, should remain size-limited.”