According to WalesOnline, a spokesperson for the South Wales Police commented on the incident:
Police attended New Hope Community Church in Ball Road, Llanrumney, on Sunday afternoon, following a report of a COVID-19 breach. Officers followed the policing style which we have adopted throughout the pandemic of explaining the rules and encouraging people to comply. Officers moved outside the church to allow five minutes of prayer after which all those present left. No fixed penalty notices were issued. We know civil restrictions are frustrating and disheartening for people, but by following them, we can all play a part in protecting our communities and the National Health Service.
New Hope Community Church is not the only congregation pushing back on the Welsh government’s COVID-19 restrictions. Thirty-seven pastors and church leaders throughout Wales sent a letter on Oct. 23 saying that if civil leaders were to move forward with imposing the firebreak lockdown restrictions, the church leaders would seek a judicial review. “The forced closure of churches by the state is an extreme interference with Article 9 rights,” say the ministers. “Such a far-reaching and large-scale intervention may only be justified by the most compelling scientific evidence of a resulting benefit to public health.”
There is no doubt that COVID-19 has put civil and church leaders in an extremely difficult position. New Hope Community Church congregant June Russell, 81, told WalesOnline that previously while under lockdown for 18 weeks, she had considered taking her own life. “My TV was my only connection to the outside world,” she said. “My church is the only thing I enjoy, and I go three times a week.” Russell told the BBC that after the police disbanded the church service, “I went home, I sat in my one-bedroom flat crying. I was up all night, I couldn’t sleep. This place is very important to me. You shut this down, I’ve got nothing and there are others that are lonely that come here. They have got nothing.”
