On Wednesday, July 22, the bishops of California urged Governor Gavin Newsom to develop safe procedures to reopen schools for the 2020-21 school year. The governor announced July 17 that schools in the state would begin the school year with distance learning due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Below is an excerpt of their statement:
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the Catholic Church in California has supported and cooperated with public officials’ efforts to contain the spread of this deadly disease, including closing our schools and suspending public worship. We took these steps, not because the government issued orders, but because our God is love and he calls us to love for our neighbors. That means working for the common good and protecting the sanctity and dignity of human life, taking special care for the poor and elderly, the sick and vulnerable.
In the wake of the coronavirus lockdowns, our schools made a remarkable transition to distance learning. Within days, all of our state’s Catholic schools were up and running teaching students online.
On Friday, the 17th of July, Governor Gavin Newsom announced that all K-12 schools in California will be held to new requirements for resuming in-person instruction. As a result, schools in 33 counties across the state of California will begin the new school year with only distance learning.
We understand that the threat of the coronavirus is real and ongoing in our state. And we understand the legitimate concerns that teachers, parents, and elected officials have about the safety of returning to the classrooms this fall. At the same time, we are deeply concerned about the broader health and development issues for our children if the state presumes to rely only on distance learning until a vaccine is developed.
In-person learning, especially at the lower grades, provides emotional and social skills and supports that are crucial to early childhood development and the overall wellbeing of children which simply cannot be replaced.
What our children will lose by “virtual” education — in terms of emotional development, skills and learning and achievement — will have a significant impact. In the name of protecting their health in the short-term, we may very likely be risking their long-term growth and potential.
The public-health science suggests that elementary-age students can return with low risk of infection or transmission of the virus among students or between students and teachers. So, we are urging Governor Newsom to continue the dialogue on this crucial question of how to reopen our schools safely.
Full story at Angelus News.
Of course they want the schools reopened quickly. Because if enough people realize they don’t need Catholic schools, that’s the end of Catholic schools. Just like we’re not gonna get about 95% of the under 45 age group back to Mass post-Covid, if things ever return to normal operations. People are realizing they don’t need the Church/Mass. The bishops are standing by, helpless, as everything crumbles.
Do the Catholic bishops of California unanimously want to kill children or is it possible that (like Texans) they want to work with the governor and other government officials in trying to reach a way of safely returning children to school in the fall?
(Does anyone really think kids learn and gain skills as much by sitting in front of a computer by themselves as they would in a Catholic or other private school, most public schools or a pre-lockdown planned home education?)
Does God want children exposed to a significant health risk just to gain some ‘soft’ personal skills? Heaven forbid they interacted with the Protestant, Jewish or other kid a few doors down.
Mike, they would be violating the lock down regulations if they go out and play with neighbors, of any or no faith. Playing with friends; just like funerals, weddings and worship, is not considered “essential” by our current California rulers. And, those are First Amendment rights that already are trampled upon while our same rulers are encouraging mass protests. Do you not see the double standard? Daycares are permitted to be open, but not schools. That’s a political and economic decision, not a public health one. A virus can’t tell the difference between a six-year-old in a school and one in a daycare. It takes a politician to do that.
Everyone wants kids returned to schools. Everyone. For kids under about the age of 10, there is reasonable evidence that we can do enough preventative measures, which require extensive government funding, that they won’t transmit it up into older populations, such that they would be seriously harmed if they got infected. For those students in the middle school years we really don’t have enogh data either way. For high school age kids, this is a very very dangerous idea.
As of today, California reported at least 152 new Coronavirus deaths and 10,600 new cases of COVID. Cases and deaths are not just growing this much every day, but are actually accelerating in a mode we call “Exponential” growth. Meaning 10,000 cases today become 20,000 next month, 40,000 the month following, etc.
I hope we can get to a place where we can open schools, but that is not in our immediate future unless we want to be careless about sicknesses and deaths. I am sure that every reader of CCD wants to minimizes the number of deaths, as we are all pro-life.
With all due respect to the Bishops of California, they are NOT biologists or physicians or psychiatrists, and are not qualified to opine about the transmission and infectivity of a virus among the children in their care. Catholic teaching is very clear that the Church ought to rely upon the secular knowledge of those who have professional education in matters that impact the life of the Church. This is one of those moments. They need to sit down and listen to the physicians and epidemiologists and stop pretending to be experts in fields they know nothing about and about which can claim no ecclesiastical competence. Seminaries do not teach this stuff.
Doing whatever “biologists or physicians or psychiatrists” and other “experts” dictate is dangerous. Think Communist China; forced abortion and sterilization or the Third Reich. Or when, during World War II, doctors tested Mustard Gas on African-American soldiers and studying, rather than treating, black men with syphilis.
Such “experts” are not experts in worship, morality or Constitutional rights. Nor are they all-knowing, all-wise and all good.
That’s why we elect leaders to make decisions and don’t delegate everything to “experts,” who often differ in their opinions.
Sorry, since when does two semseters of study in Ancient Greek , one in Church History, and one in Canon Law give Bishops the knowledge to opine about when it is safe to endanger the lives of our population and open schools to a new Novel Conoravirus?
Since when does a PhD in epidemiology or microbiology give one the right to dictate worship, religious practice, education, constitutional rights and virtually everything?
You clearly prefer a dictatorship of the experts, specifically those of your choosing or with whom you are in agreement.
In a democracy, we have elected leaders who hopefully seek out the best expert advice available.
I deeply hope you are not okay with the expertise of the doctors of the Third Reich, Communist China or a tragic racist part of our own history.
Be glad that Josef Mengele MD did not treat any of your loved ones. A terminal degree does not make one a god.
Oh please. Dr mengele?
You are being asked to not do something for a few weeks so that you might not transmit a lethal virus to someone else who might die of it.
We have elected leaders, who hopefully seek out the best expert advice available, just exactly as you said. And they backed up expert advice and issued lawful orders to not congregate for a limited period of time. And now two federal courts have backed THEM up saying that the civil authorities, in the interest of the public health, do have the authority to shut down gatherings.
you want to equate saving of lives with the legacy of Josef Mengele? Please get a hold of yourself.
1,100 new deaths in the Untied States today alone
At least 70,000 new cases identified in the United States today alone
That translates into at least 700 people, and likely somewhere around 1400 or more, who contracted the virus today will die of it.
And you want ot invoke Dr. Mengele. Wow that is rich.
This quote is frankly a lie: “Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the Catholic Church in California has supported and cooperated with public officials’ efforts to contain the spread of this deadly disease”
They actually sued the State of California to overturn public officials efforts to contain the spread of this deadly disease. And lost.
Priests have been shown on this very website to try to overturn public officials efforts to contain the spread of this deadly disease.
Individual commenters on this very same website try to overturn pubic officials efforts to contain the spread of this deadly disease.
When do the lies stop?
1100 Deaths today in the US. When do the lies stop?
How many Covid deaths were of people who already had underlying conditions? Almost all of them.Those people should shelf-quarantine and the rest of us should get on with our lives. Democrat politicians are using this and fraudulently exaggerating and deliberating exacerbating this to gain political and governing power for the Democrat Party.
People’s approach to this falls squarely along political lines, as you can tell from YFC’s posts.
Oh, and the laugh of all laughs is that, like Fr. James Martin, they claim that wearing a mask is being “pro-life” when they support abortion-supporting Dems, but said nothing about being pro-life or concern for life when the BLM protests were disregarding stay-at-home orders and ruining the lives of people with their rioting, mayhem, arson, murder, and destruction of law enforcement facilities.
Not one critical word for the BLM rioters. No, they all took a knee.
All about the money. Clergy is not pro-life, only pro-revenue. Sell some underused real estate before you have to sell closed school sites.
Arness, you wrote “clergy is not pro-life.” I realize you’re trying to make a point about revenue (and, yes, it does appear that not ALL clergy are committed to the life issues). Yet, that is an untrue and uncharitable statement. Since my ordination, I have never been paid and I am committed to life (and have spoken and acted on that commitment). Painting all clergy with the same broad brush is not helpful. Do you really not know any priests or deacons who are prolife and concerned about issues more important than money? If not, that is tragic and your loss. And, I would pray that you encounter such people among the clergy, the lay faithful and our religious.
Here’s the deal: is there any meaningful difference between a God who is no help and no God at all? All those homilies and stories about God’s love for his people seem hollow.
How many deaths were among those with underlying conditions? Yes, almost all. Just like the pre-born who have an underlying condition of not yet having been born. What is your point? Those lives who have an underlying condition are dispensible?
Being in the womb is not an underlying health condition, which is defined as an ailment. The poster’s point is that almost all the people who die from coronavirus have pre-existing compromised immunity or bad health in some way that the virus exploits. Healthy people who get infected almost always recover and are fine. It’s not that people with bad health are expendable, but there’s no sense in killing the economy and 90% of the population’s livelihood and ability to provide for their families by shutting things down unnecessarily when almost everyone who gets infected will recover. I agree with the wise advice to have those in bad health stay at home; those in good health carry on as normal. Unfair to those in bad health? Well, life’s not fair. Let’s do what we can for them, but that doesn’t include killing ourselves by killing our ability to provide for ourselves. Not that none of the Democrat politicians advocating a shutdown and other economy-killing measures is going to suffer in his paycheck one penny. Only the little people will suffer.
Sally you are wrong on several. Pregnancy is a treatable medical condition, and by the way, it predisposes a woman (and her infant) to serious complications due to COVID. Secondly and more importantly, twenty people who contract the virus end up in the hospital, many of those in ICU, and some of those in a medically induced coma so that they can be intubated for sometimes over a month. I don’t think being in the hospital is doing “just fine”, especially when they can quickly so overwhelm the health care system that it cannot take care of people with accidents and heart attacks, etc., and they have to roll in portable morgues beause so many people have died. That is not what I would call “just fine”.
Thirdly, many many of those who end up “recovering” do not seem to ever recover. They have ongoing health issues including diabetes, lung, and kidney disease. I don’t consider those to be “just fine”.
Fourthly, you are wrong to say that 90% of the population’s livelihoods and economy have been killed. It is true, that restaurants and bars are in very dire straights and many have closed permanently. But the economy, even at its worse shape, was never 90% “killed”.
Fiftly, your use of the word “killed” is particularly interesting and tragic since, as we has been docmented, many many tens of thousands of Americans have actually literally been killed by this virus. A virus that had we acted promptly and properly, would pretty much be over and done with and we could have gotten back on our feet a month ago.
Today alone, 1,147 Americans were killed by this virus, bringing the totoal killing total to over 145,000 Americans.
Today alone, almost 74,000 Americans were reported to have contracted the virus in the most recent single day, bringing the total case count to over 4.1 MILLION Americans.
Life is not fair, you are right about that. It is especially not fair to the 639,000 souls who have perished in the world due to this virus.
And the numbers keep accelerating as time goes on because people like you are whining about how life isn’t fair, instead of dealing with this like responsible adults who understand that this pandemic will take the lives of millions if we don’t stop it.
Just FYI for all those who think that because people with pre-existing conditions should have their lives snuffed out because of the whims of a few, consider that:
Today alone, more than 1,100 people are reported to have died in the United States becasue of the Coronavirus. We are on target to double, every week, the number of fatalities in 9/11.
More than 60,000 Americans contracted the virus today.
That means that in a few weeks time, 600-1500 of the people who contracted the virus today will ultimately die of it.
Yet you all say this is a hoax or that it is all about defeating Trump. Or that all I want to do is shut down the economy.
Just wait intil it is your own mother or grandfather.
As I stated and asked you previously, I am a senior citizen with a compromised immune system. I’ll take extra precautions. But, why can’t I stay home and let my neighbors prudently attend church or synagogue?
I have very elderly parents and an adult child with an underlying health condition, but, the world cannot, or at least should not, revolve around our health conditions. As a matter of fact, if more of my neighbors went to Mass and prayed for the health of my loved ones and me, I’m good with that.
YFC, you or I don’t run the world, as much as you might like to.
As I have explained to you Question for YFC, people cannot prudently attend church or synagogue. Your entire premise is based in a fantasy not in reality.
YFC is just angry that gays are especially vulnerable to the coronavirus because gay sex is such an unhealthy behavior that in results in many underlying conditions.
Actually Douglas Kempf, many gays are on antiviral treatments that seem to be protecting them from COVID. So sorry, your nasty little theory about me is wrong ,and not everything in the world is all about the gay.
You are right, YFC this is about your side defeating Trump, and shutting down the economy; this man-made hoax, is a gift to big government thugs who are loving every minute of this. Ruling over us peasants like the tyrants they are. You want everything shutdown permanently, especially the Churches. You may your Marxist dream if that doddering husk Biden is elected. Freedom will be crushed, but this what you guys on the Left have always wanted.
Please tell the people working in ICUs to save your parents that “this is all a man-made hoax. I dare you.
bohemond, I cringed when I saw that last comment by a different anonymous person. It was a very rude comment. Yes the left wants nothing so much as to defeat Trump in the November election. The virus is not a hoax. Some people would like to do away with religion and Churches. The virus is not a hoax. There are no peasants in our country and there are no tyrants, but there are people who try to control others, whether in the family or the workplace or the government. There are some who let themselves be controlled and others who don’t let themselves be controlled. The virus is not a hoax. There are media outlets who will always try to twist everything to their agenda. The virus is not a hoax. This is America. Freedom will not be crushed here. We may have to fight for our rights a little harder. It has always been this way here for Catholics, for the Irish, for blacks, for women, for white males, for the Japanese, for the native population, for the Southerner, for the farmer, for the laborer. The virus is not a hoax.
bohemond,let’s take the politics out of the argument. Yes, some think differently about the issue, but let’s deal with the facts. There is a virus that is sweeping the coiuntry, hurting people and killing others. That is not a hoax, but a fact. We can argue about the numbers, but the fact that the virus is winning the war is not questrionalble. So, what do we do? We can follow the idiots on Fox News who have no trainig in medicine or virus spreading, or we can listen to the experts, who as the data changes they change their recomendations. We have used the “let’s do it this way in my state” strategy to the point of abserdity. Yes, we need some bold action from our national leadership, the President. He needs to have the brass to say that we need to tackle this virus and shut it down. We are leadersles and that leads to confusion which lead to daily r ecord setting case numbers and deaths. Are you ok with that?
There were mistakes opening too soon, but this recent spike is probably caused by people who traveled or partied and who acted like it was Phase 3 when it was Phase 1, not wearing masks or social distancing. I have left my home once in the last 4 and a half months and that was only because of an urgent medical situation.. I do not know if I will ever get back to Mass and the sacraments. I pray every day like the Pope asked us to, still doing the May prayers after the rosary which is offered to implore from Almighty God the end of the pandemic, relief for those afflicted and eternal salvation for those whom the Lord had called to himself.