Police tried to enforce restriction laws in the Covid-19 pandemic, but this was against the law as they did not have a court order.

1. 176 of the Criminal Code makes it a crime to disturb a church service.

Pastor Artur Pawłowski chased the police unit out of the place of religious worship, not allowing the police to speak. Screaming, he ordered the police to get out of the property, not to show up and return without a court order. The pastor shouted that the Nazis and the Gestapo were not allowed to be there.

This can be viewed under the following link: https://twitter.com/ezralevant/status/1378506465158303747

Pastor Artur Pawłowski last year received a ticket for breaking the law in connection with the restrictions of “social distancing” Covid-19, for feeding the homeless in the streets of Calgary.

You can learn more about it at this link: https://www.rebelnews.com/fight_the_fines_1_fined_for_feeding_the_homeless_in_calgary

London, United Kingdom

In London, UK, police interrupted liturgies in a Polish church on Friday.

“We regret that the rights of the faithful were wronged on such an important day for every believer and that our cult was profaned” – this is how the Polish parish in Balham referred to the police intervention related to the violation of restrictions.

“The police brutally exceeded their powers, issuing their warrant without a proper reason, as all government requirements were met” – emphasized in the press release.

On Friday, British police officers entered the Polish church in London’s Balham, interrupted the liturgy and ordered to leave the church. Police officers claimed that pandemic restrictions had been broken. The video of the incident shows that some of the faithful did not have their masks properly on, and some did not have any.

– “Unfortunately, this gathering is illegal due to the regulations currently in force due to Covid-19. According to the law, you cannot meet here in such a large group. You must go home now. Failure to do so could result in a fine of £ 200. However, refusal to provide data may lead to arrest “- warned one of the officers.

The parish writes about “profanation”

The parish in Balham referred to the matter. As stated in the statement, “the police brutally exceeded their powers by issuing their warrant for no good reason, as all government requirements were met.”

“We believe municipal police officials have been misinformed about the current guidelines for places of worship, claiming that the reason for their intervention is the London ban on public celebration in places of worship, due to the lockdown introduced from January 4, 2021,” the release reads. The parish also regretted that “the rights of the faithful were wronged on such an important day” and that “worship was profaned”. As she added, the superiors of the Polish Catholic Mission in England and Wales were informed about this incident, and the police were asked to explain the matter.

“The latest government guidelines of March 26, 2021, and the Episcopal Conference of England and Wales on living Holy Week, clearly allow – with all sanitary rules – to be celebrated in places of worship with the participation of the faithful,” reads the statement. The parish called on the faithful to observe the restrictions so that a similar situation would not happen again.

Poland

Currently, there is a full lockdown in Poland, which, however, does not apply to places of religious worship. In such a situation, priests ask the faithful to take prudent decisions, observe the distance, use masks and use the mass media, TV, radio, and the Internet to participate in ceremonies.

The current restrictions due to the Covid-19 pandemic say that in places of worship there can be 1 person per 20 sq m, while maintaining 1.5 m and safety rules.

The police, alerted by the faithful about large or mass gathering in churches and not using masks at the same time, do not intervene, do not take any steps and they do not control the churches.

The Primate of Poland, Wojciech Polak, asked the faithful to obey the law, and his message about Easter in the time of the coronavirus can be viewed here:

In Poland, there are no rules of “social buble”, “local buble”, “regional buble”, you can travel freely around the country. The full lockdown in the Polish version does not prohibit trips abroad. Large number of Poles travel on holidays abroad, and currently Zanzibar is the most attractive destination during Easter. When returning from abroad, you must have a negative Covid-19 test result. When traveling through the Schengen Area, e.g., via Germany, using a German travel agent, you are not subject to quarantine. When traveling directly from a country outside the Schengen Area, you must undergo a 14-day quarantine.