Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is expected to sign a bill to grant places of worship the right to keep doors open during a state of emergency. Florida bill SB 254, which passed the Senate in January, would officially designate religious services as being essential and therefore allow houses of worship, including churches, to remain open…

COVID-19 restrictions imposed on places of worship were often more stringent than those applied to retail and liquor stores, despite the fact that freedom of conscience and religion are fundamental freedoms, a think tank calling for an update to Ontario’s Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act says. “For example, in Step One of Ontario’s Roadmap…

GARDEN GROVE, Calf.—As California enforces a state-wide mask mandate until Jan. 15, places of worship are exempt for participants who are fully vaccinated, according to the California Department of Public Health (CDPH). The state reintroduced a state-wide mask mandate beginning Dec. 15, as a 47 percent increase of COVID-19 cases were reported since Thanksgiving, according…

BRUSSELS—Brussels’ cavernous basilica is one of the largest churches in the world but COVID-19 rules allow only 15 people at a time to attend mass there, the same limit applied to much smaller religious venues in Belgium. Dozens of worshippers of different religions and clergy demonstrated in the center of the Belgian capital on Sunday…