Churches across Sydney close due to Covid

Covid is playing havoc with everything. As of today – 25 June 2021 – churches in four local government areas must close to help try and prevent the spread of the virus

Churches in the Local Government areas of Sydney, Randwick, Woollahra and Waverly will close as of midnight today 25 June.

Following restrictions announced by NSW Premier Galdys Berejiklian as a result of the latest confirmed cases of Covid in NSW, churches will remain closed until midnight on 2 July.

Residents of, or people whose usual place of work is in, the four LGAs must stay at home unless they have an essential reason to leave home.

Those living in the four Local Government Areas impacted by these rules will not be able to travel outside their council area to attend a Mass elsewhere.

While churches are closed as part of the effort to contain Covid, livestreaming of masses can occur.

Churches which will close include:

Sydney

• St Mary’s Cathedral (and its station church Woolloomoolloo) and Darlinghurst
• St Patrick’s Church Hill
• Forest Lodge, Broadway, Pyrmont
• Camperdown
• Newtown
• Surry Hills
• Erskineville
• Catholic Parishes of City South (Redfern/ Waterloo/ Rosebery)
• Paddington (Edgecliff in Woollahra LGA below)
• Elizabeth Bay

Woollahra Council

• Edgecliff
• Woollahra
• Rose Bay (Dover Heights in Waverley LGA below)
• Watsons Bay

Waverley Council

• Dover Heights
• Bondi Road & Bondi Beach
• Waverley

Randwick Council

• Clovelly
• Coogee
• Randwick & Randwick North
• Maroubra
• Maroubra Bay Beach
• Malabar & Matraville
• Pagewood
• Our Lady of the Rosary, Kensington

Parishes close to the boundary of the affected LGAs but not included in the public health orders are:

Bayside Council (excluded)

• Daceyville
• Mascott

Inner West Council (excluded)

• Annandale & Stanmore
• Enmore & Tempe

Essential reasons include for leaving home include:

• Shopping for food or other essential goods and services;
• Medical care or compassionate needs;
• Exercise outdoors in groups of 10 or fewer;
• Essential work, or education, where a person cannot work or study from home.

The government has advised residents across the broader Greater Sydney should also limit unnecessary activity and avoid large gatherings in coming days.

“While places of public worship were not expressly mentioned in today’s announcement, we understand the above restrictions to mean that churches in the affected LGAs must close, parish priests and residents at the parishes in the 4 LGAs must stay at home and staff who ordinarily work at the parishes must also stay at home even if they reside outside the 4 LGAs,” Archdiocese of Sydney Vicar General Fr Gerry Gleeson informed Catholic parishes in a circular on Friday 25 June.

“From 11:59 pm tonight, please ensure Churches in the 4 LGAs are closed and staff work from home.”