Archbishop Cordileone encourages all parishes in the archdiocese to make the Holy Mass available to parishioners during this time of church closure by holding Mass outdoors, observing the health and safety guidelines of the respective counties.
He will celebrate Mass on the Plaza of the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption tomorrow, the Feast of the Assumption of Mary (Saturday, August 15), and again on Sunday, August 16.
Next weekend he will celebrate the Feast of Mary, Queen of the World, on Saturday, August 17, and from that point forward on Sundays until further notice or restrictions on Mass are lifted.
He will be joined by other priests to a maximum safe capacity of simultaneous Masses being offered on the Plaza for small groups of permitted size. Local health and safety guidelines will be observed fully, including the protocols the archbishop has issued to priests.
All Masses are at 9 a.m.
To participate, arrive early to secure a seat (first come, first served). Bring and wear a mask, and dress appropriately for San Francisco weather.
Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption
1111 Gough St., San Francisco
Saturdays, August 15 & 22, 9 a.m.
Sundays beginning August 16, 9 a.m.
The above comes from an Aug. 14 notice issued by the San Francisco archdiocese.
I say, this is quite creative of the Archbishop: simultaneous Masses, with each Mass assisted by 12 people or less (the permitted group size in SF). The priests are not concelebrating, but are offering their own individual Masses at their own respective altars. So, if you have 10 priests present, they can have 120 people on that plaza. This harkens back to the practice prior to the Council–that of simultaneous individual Masses of priests. Very clever. The Church in the vast richness of her tradition has a lot to draw from to circumvent the draconian measures of these tin-pot local officials, dictating to houses of worship how to practice their religion.
Oh yeah, cuz wanting to keep the population safe from the pandemic is so draconian…
Indeed, limiting the number of attendance for an outdoor service to 12 people is not merely draconian, but unjust! It is unsupported by the facts we know of COVID. Straight up, Kevin T.!
What is becoming more evident with each passing week, is that the average citizen knows very little about cv statistics, and also, they do not want to know, because mortality data is very depressing. It’s difficult thinking about death, since it may involve someone in our own family, but it is necessary if we are to understand what is the proper approach for cv.
So some basic facts follow: The average daily US death rate for ALL causes, is 8000 persons a day, or 56,000 persons per week.
The Center for Disease Control (CDC) publishes ongoing data each week.
Their most recent table for cv, shows that the US pandemic started in February, and continues on to today.
But what is quite interesting is that this table also shows US deaths for ALL causes, and as of 8/1/20, the overall weekly death rate has decreased BELOW the US average weekly total, and is around 52,000 for all causes. Compare that to the National US weekly average of 56,000 per week.
Well, if the Pandemic is so serious, why is the present weekly death rate for ALL causes below the average?
The reason for this, is that the guidance for death certificates allows MDs to add pneumonia and all other flu deaths, as cv.
Also, if there is any question about the cause of death at all, cv should be listed as the cause of death.
This is called PIC. This allows the cv data to be increased, but the overall death data must still be closer to the actual numbers.
(It’s much more difficult to change or fake actual death numbers)
You should be aware of these details, and how data are being treated to increase public fear of cv, and to
allow what is a shutdown of much of our basic society and industries, despite a return to normal US human mortality figures.
(And don’t be surprised if more data manipulation follows)
It is untrue that flu deaths can be coded as covid deaths. Flu deaths are still coded as flu deaths.
It is possible that one of the reasons death rates are below average is because people aren’t eating as much fast food, and people aren’t driving and hence getting into accidents as much.
If you could make an assumption that COVID cases wouldn’t increase exponentially and that the “savings” from the shutdown would continue, you might be able to argue that the shutdown could be less shutdown, but you can’t make that assumption. Without the shutdowns, we would be many times what it is today.
Now, I believe that the 12 person rule is silly, and that outdoors, if socially distanced and masked, it is perfectly safe to have a hundred or more. And the Cathedral plaza could easily do that. It would have a weird feeling to it, but it would work. That is my opinion, not a proven sceintific fact.
Still, I congratulate the Archbishop for this effort. He is making a good-faith effort to safely supply pastoral aid to his congregation and to obey the law at the same time.
As often is the case, YFC, you miss the point or, rather more likely, you deliberately distort as with ” Without the shutdowns, we would be many times what it is today.”
I meant to say “without the shutdowns, deaths would be many times what they are today”. Sorry for the confusion Larry. Sometimes my fingers get ahead of me.
I read not long ago here on CalCatholic that Most Holy Redeemer (go figure) is doing the same thing on their property. Several priests are offering daily Mass on the church property limited to 12 people each Mass.
I wonder what the local health officials have to say. Let’s hope there is sufficient space to properly accommodate the multiple altars.
This sounds great. Can’t wait to hear how it goes.