The authorities have decided to keep places of worship open, because they recognize the need for people to gather for worship during these difficult times.
"I pass over the fact that our bishops, priests, and laity are, for the most part, remarkably ignorant of the medical facts"
This is a problem of the information-saturated 21st century. No one can keep track of everything, true. Would it be better if you (as a priest, say) could just trust that what the official experts are telling you is true and also represents an appropriate balancing of the medley of concerns that make up a human life? Yes. But do those people deserve that trust? Absolutely not. So you have a duty to investigate the matter yourself to some extent, even if that duty ends with finding some trusted and informed people in your own congregation to advise you. But you certainly cannot just follow the state anymore.
Perhaps you saw this thread this morning: https://twitter.com/warrtalon/status/1474409974763819010 . It does make you wonder how many people out there are still thinking, "if the state keeps telling us to do this, then it must work, and be necessary, right? Otherwise why would they keep saying it?". Both the human tendency and desire to believe the state is obvious.
PS, as a Michigan resident - Quebec and Michigan have approximately the same population and, at the moment, approximately the same number of running COVID cases. I haven't seen anyone, even very liberal churches, cancelling services in Michigan. How can the emergency require it in Quebec and not in Michigan? Obviously it doesn't.
"I pass over the fact that our bishops, priests, and laity are, for the most part, remarkably ignorant of the medical facts"
This is a problem of the information-saturated 21st century. No one can keep track of everything, true. Would it be better if you (as a priest, say) could just trust that what the official experts are telling you is true and also represents an appropriate balancing of the medley of concerns that make up a human life? Yes. But do those people deserve that trust? Absolutely not. So you have a duty to investigate the matter yourself to some extent, even if that duty ends with finding some trusted and informed people in your own congregation to advise you. But you certainly cannot just follow the state anymore.
Perhaps you saw this thread this morning: https://twitter.com/warrtalon/status/1474409974763819010 . It does make you wonder how many people out there are still thinking, "if the state keeps telling us to do this, then it must work, and be necessary, right? Otherwise why would they keep saying it?". Both the human tendency and desire to believe the state is obvious.
PS, as a Michigan resident - Quebec and Michigan have approximately the same population and, at the moment, approximately the same number of running COVID cases. I haven't seen anyone, even very liberal churches, cancelling services in Michigan. How can the emergency require it in Quebec and not in Michigan? Obviously it doesn't.