On Christmas at least four San Francisco churches, including the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption, ignored San Francisco’s restrictions on religious services and celebrated the Christmas Vigil and Christmas Masses indoors. In addition to the cathedral, St. Dominic’s, Most Holy Redeemer, and Star of the Sea all refused to knuckle under to the city’s December 23 order restricting indoor worship and welcomed their flocks into their churches to celebrate the Nativity of the Lord.
The archbishop had responded by acknowledging the order and reminded his pastors that the celebration of Mass indoors was at their individual discretion:
“Yesterday evening, shortly after the District Court’s decision denying a preliminary injunction in the Harvest Rock Church case, the legal counsel for the archdiocese, Paula Carney, received a letter from the city attorney’s office, claiming that, despite other court rulings and varying health orders around the state, indoor worship services are still prohibited in the city and county of San Francisco, and asking me to modify my last instruction (allowing worship indoors at the pastor’s discretion) to you.” Archbishop Cordileone noted that the letter was unique to the city and county of San Francisco, and that he had received no such communication from the other two counties in the archdiocese: “We have received no such letter from any authority in Marin or San Mateo counties.”
Archdiocesan counsel Paula Carney responded to the city of San Francisco:
“The law on this issue in California remains far from clear. In fact, Los Angeles County lifted bans on indoor worship, as has every state in the U.S. except California. The archbishop continues to instruct his priests to celebrate Mass outdoors whenever possible and to bring their people indoors only if in their judgment they would be safer, while observing the stringent safety protocols in place. The archbishop does not want to turn his people away from their right to worship, especially on the most cherished night in the Christian calendar. We believe the archbishop’s instruction to be in line with law across the nation.”
The archbishop himself, as well as the other cathedral priests, celebrated Christmas Masses at the cathedral.
Go here to see the 11 a.m. Christmas Day Mass, and here to see the 1 p.m. Christmas Day Spanish language Mass at the cathedral.
Go here to see the 9:30 a.m. Christmas Day Mass at St. Dominic’s.
Go here to see the Christmas Day Mass at Most Holy Redeemer.
Go here to see the 8:30 a.m. Christmas Day Mass at Star of the Sea.
The above is an exclusive story by Gibbons Cooney.
++Lion-Heart!
I found it very interesting how Mass is quite different in SF than it is here in Socal. I never saw a priest lead the parishioners in singing a blessing for the love of an elderly male couple like they did at Holy Redeemer.
I just watched the Holy Redeemer Mass stream, and Maria is right: at the end of Mass was a blessing of a gay couple. Time for Cordileone to step in and stop the madness. Holy Redeemer has been a problem for decades, but to do something as brazen as this on Christmas, on video, shows the unabashed and unrepentant dissidence of that parish. The pastor should be immediately suspended. No excuse for this at all. Cordileone, are you listening?
Holy Redeemer is not typical of SF parishes.
Now that Fauci has admitted that asymptomatic spread was a lie the whole time, it’s time for us to just cut this crap and open up everything and go back to life as normal. Democrats want you to believe and live under lies. Not me. I’m done with masks, I’m done with lockdowns, I’m done with elites curtailing my freedom, and I’m sure as heck done with libs and Karens and disguised Commies telling me what I can or can’t do.
Kevin T: I don’t believe Fauci ever said that asymptomatic spread was a lie the whole time. Do you have a link to substantiate that statement? Early on, almost a year ago, Fauci said he thought it was unlikely that infected but asymptomatic people spread the virus. He and most others changed their mind when new data emerged.
There is a report out of Wuhan which might be the best test of the idea, if you believe scientists in China, which seems to show that there isn’t asymptomatic transfer. But I don’t know anybody who believes it.
Please think of others before you toss aside your mask. Don’t wear a mask because someone is telling you what to do. Wear a mask to save lives. Please.
Kevin T,
Getting rid of lockdowns is important, although the timing is no longer as appropriate as it was during the Summer when we had an abundance of hospital capacity.
Regardless, masks are still important. They don’t stop the spread of the virus, but they vastly reduce the concentration of the virus in an airspace. This suggests that someone who inhales the virus will receive a much lower concentration which gives the body a better chance to kill or weaken it before it tries to advance.
Steve, where can we verify this information that you have posted? Is there a scientific study that supports it or is it a hypothesis?
i just saw a rant on Facebook where somebody stated that Covid was sent from God to expose the disobedient. I don’t know about that but…it was a young Catholic’s view.
Thanks be to God for Bishops who are truly leading the flock and letting the pastor’s decide. I feel attendance at mass indoors has been very safe. They have many protocols in place to protect anyone who chooses to worship.
I feel safer there than in a grocery store.
Sounds more like lawyer’s chatter.