Two churches in Chicago are reporting that city officials have threatened to bulldoze their churches if they do not comply with the city’s Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) mandates, which currently restrict their ability to hold in-person worship services.
Mat Staver, the founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel and legal representative of the churches, said that the city has classified his clients as “public nuisances” due to their refusal to follow some of the city’s coronavirus protocols on religious grounds.
He further said that his clients were served a letter stating that the city has “the power and duty to cause all nuisances affecting the health of the public to be abated.” This meant that the city could do everything in its power to make sure that Staver’s clients do not hold any in-person religious services for the duration of the pandemic, including the possibility of tearing down the properties should they remain defiant.
During an appearance on the Todd Starnes Radio Show, Staver said that he is seeking an emergency injunction on the city’s order for his clients to cease providing their congregation with in-person worship services. The motion for the injunction is headed to the desk of noted Christian and conservative Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
Among the churches hit with the city of Chicago’s “summary abatement” orders are the Elim Romanian Pentecostal Church, headed by Reverend Cristian Ionescu, and Metro Praise International headed by Pastor Joe Wyrostek, who told NBC Chicago that he was warned to no longer hold services that have more than 10 people present at his facilities. Ionescu has received similar citations from the city.
Wyrostek further stated that he feels very disappointed because his church was not considered an essential institution, and thus could not remain open at the height of the city’s coronavirus lockdown.
Other critics of the city’s coronavirus directives have pointed out how Chicago’s crime rate is still very high, and how the Chicago Police Department (CPD) is spending an excessive amount of time policing churches and not enough time cracking down on the violence plaguing the city. (Related: Chicago seeking help in identifying 19 persons of interest connected to ARSON ATTACKS during city’s engineered riots.)
Staver pointed out during the interview that, in a Facebook Live video filmed outside Ionescu’s church, the sounds of sporadic gunfire could be heard in the distance. Todd Starnes, host of the show, said that this was unacceptable.
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