The Holy Mass in St Bernadette’s Glendalough church was interrupted by the abrupt and untimely entry of a police officer without permission to check if everyone in the church was wearing a mask or had exemptions. The incident occurred on Thursday night and has since drawn widespread criticisms from the faithful on the interruption of the Holy Eucharist.

The parish priest at St Bernadette’s Glendalough church was halfway through his liturgy when the police officer entered the church and addressed the entire congregation at the 5.45pm service as per reports.

The Archbishop of Perth, Tim Costelloe SDB said it was “highly regrettable” that police felt themselves obliged to intervene during a Mass at a Perth church to enforce the wearing of face masks and he hopes other ways can be found to deal with this delicate issue in the future.

“The celebration of the Eucharist is the central act of Catholic worship and is sacred to all Catholics. It is my hope that other ways can be found to deal with this delicate issue in future and my office stands ready to cooperate with the police in this matter”, Archbishop Costelloe said in a statement.

“It is the formal and very public policy of the Archdiocese of Perth to do everything it can to facilitate compliance with all the Government’s requirements in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is a matter of regret to me that the police were placed in a position which led them to take the action they did. They should not have been placed in this position”, he added.

“The Office of the Archbishop will continue to provide all Catholic parishes and other agencies with very clear advice as to their obligations to act in compliance with the Government’s directives”.

“The Catholic community forms an important part of our wider society, and we must play our part in ensuring that everything is done to help our society through this difficult and challenging period”.