Editor’s note: Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco, in partnership with the Benedict XVI Institute, has launched a petition calling on lawmakers to lift “extreme restrictions on public worship.” Below is an excerpt from his interview with Crisis Magazine:
Will the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops be as proactive in opposing Mass restrictions as the Archdiocese of San Francisco has been?
San Francisco has been an extreme outlier. California is one of only six states flagged by the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty as imposing greater restrictions on worship than other similar activities. And San Francisco is the strictest county in the state, far more restrictive even than the state-wide regulations issued by Sacramento. San Francisco has limited outdoor Mass to only 12 people (including the priest), regardless of the available space, for months (although the mayor now says she may allow up to 50 people for outdoor gatherings by mid-September, but even that is an arbitrary number, and too small to accommodate the need in most of our parishes).
We have parishes in San Francisco that occupy whole city blocks. The Cathedral of St. Mary’s could accommodate a thousand people, inside or outside, with proper social distancing and masks. Each bishop in each city and state is dealing with a different situation, health-wise and government-wise. This seems to me to be the proper job for the bishop, not for the USCCB.
In addition to signing the Benedict XVI Institute’s petition, what can lay Catholics do to help remove needless restrictions on Mass attendance?
Pray. Fast. Say the rosary. One thing that heartened me: the idea of doing multiple Masses outdoors simultaneously was the brainchild of a priest from Kenya now working in San Francisco. He said they do all their Masses out of doors, because they are too poor to own buildings. If your bishop or local civil authorities are not allowing indoor Masses, you might take it to your priest and see if outdoor Masses could be permitted. People need the Body and Blood of Christ.
Full story at Crisis Magazine.
Forget begging the godless San Francisco politicians. St. Peter and St. Paul did not ask the Romans or the Pharisees for permission to preach
the Gospel and administer the Sacraments.
This is a very difficult situation for the Church, and ourselves as Catholics. We do not want to disobey civil authorities. But it is more and more obvious that our Politicians are imposing burdens on us that are punitive, and damaging the Church. At the same time, covid has died down and is near baseline.
It may be that we all might have to pick a future date, for all Parishes open up, and have a daily Mass. And we need Mass very badly, to pray for California, and an end to the fires.
It isn’t being discussed, but is there a reason for the fires?
They started at a time when daily Mass was forbidden, and are getting worse as Mass continues to be restricted.
We need an end to the fires all right, the burning of our cities, the looting, the vandalism, the murders, the attacks and defunding of the police, how about we pray for that? The reason for the fires? We don’t clear the dead wood, the trash in the forest, and the 1,000s of lightening strikes!
You are right about a lot, Mojave, but the night when we got all those lighting strikes, they struck right over our house for a long time, rattling our windows. There are St. Benedict medals buried at the four corners of our property. It sounded as if St. Michael and his angels were battling the devil and his demons. I prayed the St. Michael prayer, other prayers and asked for rain since we have dry grass in our backyard.
I finally got up and told my husband I was praying for rain, but he said the T.V. news reported there would be none. I then went back to bed, kept on praying, and it rained and rained.
One should note that the Abp notes the need to adhere with health requirements. I believe God does not require one to risk serious disease to attend Church
Unlike today, in the Black Death, churches closed when the last resident priests died — not by edict of any civil authority.
Whatever Covid19 is, it is not anywhere near on par with a real plague (e.g. Ebola, Bubonic Plague, etc.). The government’s response to this was clearly illegitimate and unjust.
Bishops must ensure that the spiritual needs of their flock are met, whether they fear Covid19 … or not. They also need to remember that spiritual needs always trump physical needs.
God does not require anything of us, he gives us free will. I trust in Him and put myself in his hands.
I could get COVID just staying home, from a family member.
I need the sacraments and would not hesitate to go to Mass indoors.
Maybe a few more stern letters to the gub’mint will do the trick!
The mayor of SF closed parking lots this past weekend because she heard a rumor that a thousand people were coming to the beach for a giant party. Well, OK, Ocean beach is like 6 miles long and a thousand feet deep. I’m pretty sure it can hold a thousand people safely and comfortably, and by the way, there is only one documented case of COVID transmission outdoors in the entire world.
I am not a particular fan of the Archbishop, as everyone knows. And I think it was a horrible thing that he – in the past – openly flaunted the regulations designed to protect public safety. But he is right this time. The restrictions are too restrictive and far more than is necessary to prevent the spread of disease.
Whatever the number that the Mayor ultimately decides will always be arbirtrary. There won’t ever be a study that says 50 is ok but 51 is too many. We will just never be there, so yes, the guidelines wil always be arbiatrary just like the fire capacity restrictions on any building are somewhat arbitrary. But it really clear that 12 outdoor participants is beyone arbitrary. It is actually contrary to the science which tells us pretty clearly that outside spread of this disease is nearly impossible.
On this, I agree with Archbishop Cordileone.
Of course YFC is not a fan of Abp Cordileone; the archbishop is orthodox in his teaching.