About half of San Francisco’s Catholic parishes celebrated public Mass Sunday, June 21, a sign of the revival of parish life and worship after nearly 100 days of shelter-in-place orders.
Father Francis Garbo, pastor of Mission Dolores Basilica, told his spread-out congregation how happy he was to see them again. “Thanks for your time, thanks for your faith, thanks for your love for Jesus and Communion and this church,” he said to the 50 worshippers attending 9 a.m. Mass.
The parish began celebrating daily Mass on June 15, following California Department of Public Health guidelines for religious worship and archdiocesan safety protocols to protect its congregants. Outside the Dolores Street entrance, some volunteers ensured people kept their distance and wore masks as they entered the church, while others checked temperatures, dispensed sanitizer and handled reservations and consent forms. Strips of blue painter’s tape and markings on the pews made sure people sat at a distance from one another….
At St. Dominic Church, Deacon Dan Rosen stood in the church parking lot before Mass, directing parishioners to enter through the Steiner Street doors. The temporary rules in place for the liturgy have taken many of the things parishioners take for granted, like singing, responses and socializing afterward.
“It’s definitely a different worship experience but I think people are glad for the most part to be able to come to church. Everyone’s been pretty positive,” he said.
Outside St. Mary’s Cathedral, Fernando Cabrera said the new safety requirements were “a little headache” to manage with children, “but it’s good to be back….”
Father Moisés Agudo, pastor of the Mission parishes of St. Anthony of Padua, St. Peter and St. Charles Borromeo, told the congregation at St. Anthony during their first public Mass June 14 that “The priestly ministry makes sense if you (the parishioners) are present. It has been very difficult for me to celebrate the Eucharist in front of a camera….”
Father Agudo said the parishes under his care would continue to follow state guidance on attendance numbers. “They (the city) cannot force us not to open,” he said. “There are civil laws and moral authority. When the civil laws are not fair we do not have to submit them.”
Public liturgies resumed in San Francisco on June 14. On June 15, San Francisco officially entered Phase 2B of its reopening plan, which lifted some restrictions on indoor retail, domestic services, summer camps, religious services, outdoor gathering and manufacturing, among other activities. The reopening regulations adopted by San Francisco mandate that religious gatherings and ceremonies that are open to the public can only occur outside and can be attended by no more than 12 people….
The above comes from a June 22 story in Catholic San Francisco.
God bless Archbishop Cordileone and all San Francisco Catholics! The 12-person limit is egregious, extreme and entirely arbitrary. There is no scientific or public health basis for that ruling. Mayor Breed and the Board of Supervisors would not want the Last Supper held in “their” city. (I guess Judas might have been excluded.) When will they be pushing to have the city renamed?
It is not the Last Supper that is celebrated in the Mass. It is the Sacrifice on Calvary.
Larry, I did not say that, though, the Eucharist was instituted at the Last Supper and, as you may know, the words of consecration are taken from the Last Supper. Separating Calvary, the Mass and the Last Supper is unwise, due to their intrinsic relationship.
That said, do you honestly think that Mayor Breed and the Board of Supes would want a religious meeting of twelve white males in “their” city?
(And, yes, the original peoples from Europe and the Middle East are considered caucasian or “white,” as regards their race.)
Anon clergyman,according to the pattern of logic that has prevailed thus far, the city will probably need to be renamed. St francis scores a plus for ecology by leftist standards,but left a sour note for some by his crusades visit to convert muslims in the holy land. The titles of our Lady and the angels do not set well with pachamama primacy. The mother earth set probably look askance at our Lady’s casual use of the moon as a backdrop to her glory,treating it like a golfball. A lot of very distinguished idols consider the moon their power ,diana et al. And her angels did not please the believers in the lesser light by their war in heaven that made them seem so useless like old halloween decorations
It’s a shame what Catholics have to endure in San Francisco. We have a limit of 100 people per building in San Diego (still not good, but I’m grateful.) Our Spanish community was able to set up a few iPads to live stream mass from the church. There are internet connections in our Parish hall and our Parish center across the street. So we have real time mass participation in all 3 buildings with Eucharistic ministers delivering Communion to the adjacent buildings. THREE HUNDRED people participating per mass, with 100 per building. No rules broken. Silly? You betcha. But not as silly as the rules politicians are imposing on our churches.
If hoards of people in San Francisco can be allowed to destroy public property, then surely peaceful men and women and children
should be allowed to worship the Lord at Mass.
Good for you, God bless you for standing against tyranny. Masks, Ok. Social distance, Ok, common sense, great. Dont let a godless establishment dictate of faith.
Wow. Great to see. Thanks!
Stay home. Save lives.
Don’t believe that sensible public health regulations constitute tyranny.
Accusations of godlessness about those who simply want to save lives is calumny.
Anonymous, if the issue were sensible health regulations, the archdiocese would comply (and is complying with State regulations). Viruses don’t differentiate between worshippers, protesters, shoppers and diners, only politicians do that. Why are they allowing other (non-religious) establishments to reopen? From NBC Bay Area this morning: “After several San Francisco types of businesses like retail shops and restaurants with outdoor dining reopened last week, San Francisco’s next phase of reopening has tentatively been moved up ahead of schedule and will take effect next week, Mayor London Breed announced Monday.
The city’s next phase of reopening, Phase 2c, will now occur next Monday and will see the reopening of businesses like barber shops, hair salons, tattoo shops, zoos, museums, outdoor bars and outdoor swimming.”
Because being inside for an extended period of time (as in Church) is a much more dangerous situation than being outdoors. Vocalizations, especially singing, makes it much worse, as has been proven several times. THere is a HUGE difference between sitting in a pew with a hundred others for an hour than sitting outside, at a table 6 feet from someone else. I’m sure you took lots of epidemiology and infectious disease classes at seminary?
Anon – Lacking epidemiology classes does not mean one cannot use logic for themselves. For example, if you are at risk or have loved ones who are at risk, then stay home as long as you want. No one is stopping you. For those of us who are healthy and willing to accept some risk, then we should be able to go to Mass with limited restrictions. Spending an hour in a big box store shopping for food once per week for an hour versus sitting in a pew for an hour? Is there really much difference? I have to tell you that the so called social distancing at the big box store is not well followed. The majority of the shoppers dont seem to know how to wear a mask either. And, paper masks at that. not even respirators.
Your fear is not sufficient reason to limit my freedom.
Anon. – The church and restrict singing & shaking hands, practice social distancing by preventing certain pews to be closed off to create more spaces between parishioners, requiring masks, etc. I can tell you at grocery stores, social distancing is only practiced when entering the building and checking out. But once inside people are moving around near proximity to other shoppers and in narrow aisles.
In your opinion, Keith. In your opinion as a non-expert.
Anonymous, are you an expert? (And, if so, in what?)
An expert has expertise only in a limited field. An epidemiologist isn’t an expert on Constitutional rights, for example.
(At least Keith uses his name, has some common sense and has an appreciation of the First Amendment.)
Should we never question “experts?” “Experts” had people loaded onto trains to death camps.
Being an expert does not make one infallible or omniscient.
Of course, maybe it’s anonymous experts we shouldn’t question?!
A few bureaucrats are loving their power over us mere mortals. Keith says it well: if you are at risk, stay home. But don’t impose your restrictions on the rest of us.
If I want to take a “risk” and go to Mass, I should be allowed to do that. I look at the Crucifix and imagine Jesus looking out at the red-taped pews with minimal worshippers and wonder if He is thinking — I was incarnated and suffered a gruesome Passion and Crucifixion for THIS??
There is more risk to being shut-in for long periods of time than in being out in the open air. Open the beaches, parks and churches. As the people in Poland said during Pope JP II’s visit: WE WANT GOD! The Marxists/Communists hated that then as they do now.
Oh great, now infectious disease experts and physicians are Marxists/Communists. I’m sure they screened for that in the medical school applications!
From today’s news: “Rising State COVID-19 Cases Doesn’t Deter San Francisco From Reopening.” But, places of worship are still limited to 12 persons, even inside the cathedral! Are you serious in claiming that there isn’t a political reason for this?! I’m all for public health, but that’s clearly not the only issue here.
I’m with you, Rev. Hadanuff. I’ve had enough too! The issue isn’t that the government is suggesting that we not have Mass, but that they are saying we should not gather in mass groups. There is a difference. The accepted techniques for fighting a pandemic have been with us for centuries: don’t congregate, stay a good distance from each other, and wear a mask. This is not new, its not some government scheme to bring an end to organized religion. These aren’t scare tactics, but techniques proven over the years. Look at what is happening across the state, we are hitting al- time highs for contracting the virus. That means that hospitalization will start to climb and that means that deaths will become more frequent. The US has done the worse job of fighting the virus of any other country in the world. Mostly it is because of a lack of leadership by our government, who has abandoned the fight, and because of false narratives like yours. I’m wondering if you aren’t really a bot.
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Really, “b,” are you seriously saying that the cathedral which seats 2,400 persons would have a “mass group” if 13 persons total, including the priest, were there?!
That’s currently prohibited by the City of San Francisco,
Look at photos of the inside of the cathedral. Worshippers would be much farther apart than persons at WalMart, tattoo parlors and protests. That’s why the archbishop is allowing pastors to prudently resume public Masses in defiance of the city government’s arbitrary magic number of 12.
The simple fact is that most of San Francisco’s churches are large enough for more that twelve people to safely distant themselves away from others, wear masks and bring sanitary wipes with them to clean down what they touch or handle. It is a no brainer. If it can be done in stores, and is done there, it can be done in churches.
Where was the protesting when the vandalizers were doing their thing and not distancing from each other, some with no masks? There’s where most of your newer COVID increases came from, and yes, it came from the Chinese Communist laboratories, whether unintentional or intentional..
This last Anonymous post at 5:41 p.m. was mine — Anne TE
Come and get us…