www.wsj.com /articles/no-more-bishop-nice-guy-11607469595 Opinion | No More Bishop Nice Guy Matthew Hennessey 5-7 minutes A family holds hands in prayer during Mass at St. Mary of the Hills Roman Catholic Church in Rochester Hills, Mich., Nov. 1. Photo: David Goldman/Associated Press Listen to this article 4 minutes This feature is powered by text-to-speech technology. Want to see it on more articles? Give your feedback below or email audiofeedback@wsj.com. The Bronx, N.Y. The Supreme Court smacked down Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s arbitrary limits on church attendance in certain Covid hot spots late last month. The decision was a welcome reprieve for religious leaders, who have for the most part bent over backward to accommodate pandemic restrictions imposed by civil authorities. But enough is enough. America’s churches should reopen fully, and they should do it now. Anyone who thought the high court’s 5-4 ruling would end government attempts to squeeze the right to free exercise of religion was wrong. Mr. Cuomo dismissed the decision as “irrelevant” and “political.” California Gov. Gavin Newsom has imposed a 10 p.m. curfew, which would seem to place midnight Mass in the category of a criminal conspiracy. They canceled Easter. Is Christmas next? At my Catholic parish in the North Bronx, the requisite masking is in effect, hand sanitizer is everywhere, and the old regulars are social distancing in the pews. What’s missing are the children. Our parish is healthy. We have a dynamic pastor, several faithful priests, and a vibrant neighborhood loaded with kids and families. During normal times, the 10:30 a.m. Sunday Mass would feature a children’s choir and a corps of young altar servers. It would be held in the auditorium of the parish high school next door, to accommodate a bulging congregation of mothers with strollers and fidgety tweens in soccer uniforms. They’re all gone. The choir is on ice, and a lone adult serves the priest at the altar. Few in the pews are under 50. Perhaps young families have adjusted their schedules and are attending Mass in smaller groups, at different times, or watching online from home. I fear, however, that Catholics who are only marginally attached to the church are slipping away. It’s an unfortunate reality that some Christians only attend services twice a year even when there’s no pandemic on. This year that minimal connection is in danger of being severed. America’s religious leaders should hear alarm bells. In our aggressively secular world, it doesn’t take much to break the habit of regular worship. Communities of faith can’t survive without children. The shuttering of churches in the spring caused untold pastoral damage. Thousands suffered and died alone, without the comfort of a bedside spiritual adviser or a priest to administer the sacraments. The departed went to eternal rest without the funeral masses and family gatherings that are so important to mark the passage of a life. When restrictions were lifted, sign-up sheets and parking-lot services did little to bring the faithful back. We are told lives have been saved by keeping the churches half-empty. Do we know how many souls have been lost? As a Catholic raising five children in the faith, I’m particularly concerned with the future of my church. Restaurateurs and small-business owners are fighting like hell every day to preserve their livelihoods. It’s inspiring to see ordinary people stand up to bullies like Messrs. Cuomo and Newsom. But what are America’s bishops doing to inspire their flocks? What will they do? We are tired of watching our leaders kneel before junior-varsity Caesars. There is no evidence that the virus is spreading in the churches, so my message to these bishops is this: Show some backbone. Open the churches. Get rid of the sign-up sheets. No more roped-off pews. No more 25% capacity. Call the faithful, young and old, to communion. Let the civil authorities try to shut it down. Chain yourselves to the altars if necessary. Be the heroes we need you to be. The alternative is subservience. The alternative is empty pews forever. The pandemic generation may never come back. Mr. Hennessey is the Journal’s deputy editorial features editor. WSJ Opinion: A Thanksgiving Heap of Coronavirus Hypocrisy 0:00 / 3:44 0:00 WSJ Opinion: A Thanksgiving Heap of Coronavirus Hypocrisy WSJ Opinion: A Thanksgiving Heap of Coronavirus Hypocrisy Main Street: What all those politicians caught violating their own Covid-19 rules really tells us. Images: Getty Images/GraphicaArtis Composite: Mark Kelly Copyright ©2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8 Appeared in the December 9, 2020, print edition.