Churches in California can begin holding services again at a limited capacity, the state announced on Monday.
The California health department ruled that, subject to the approval of local authorities, churches in the state can begin reopening along with in-store retail shopping. The state had originally placed churches in a later reopening stage than some businesses which have already begun reopening.
Under the new 21-day policy, houses of worship can hold religious services at up to 25% capacity with a maximum of 100 attendees.
Churches have to implement virus prevention plans, recommend face coverings, set social distancing guidance, and “consider eliminating singing and group recitations.” Any singing or recitations “should be conducted outside,” the department said.
On May 12, Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone announced that he and other bishops had consulted with local leaders about safely resuming public Masses. Bishop Jaime Soto of Sacramento said on May 20 that “My brother priests and I are preparing to resume the public celebration of the Sacrifice of the Mass.”
On May 23, Archbishop Jose Gomez of Los Angeles said he was “working really hard” with state and local officials “to help them to understand what is the importance of the presence of God in our lives and how beautiful it is for us to come to church,” and that “I think the officials are, little by little, understanding better what is that urgent reality.
Full story at Catholic News Agency.
So, Churches are open, but not open, maybe open, maybe not, we really wish they wouldn’t open,
we the State Government, do not really want to reliquish control of Churches,
we love the feeling of being in complete control of Catholics.
What Catholics need, is no more interference by the Governor – he needs to end his obstruction.
What is also needed is a specific date, eg, from 5 AM, Sunday, May 31st, Churches can hold Mass,
and continue having Masses from this time on.
And, we need an end to this grudging reluctance of the State to allow the Church to resume Masses. .
Dear Anonymous… You seem to have hit the nail on the head. As a Pastor of a large parish it is frustrating to be subject to the confusion about who has the final Word on the Body of Christ (in this case the people of the Church). Some folks think it’s the secular government and press. Whenever the Church has allowed this to happen there has been a tragedy and loss of faith. Some Priests seem not to care. Others are outraged.
@ Nonombre Sacerdote: Well said. I also wonder what some priests must think of the bishops applying for and receiving government aid to cover paychecks? This, to me, is another step toward inviting the government into the Church’s business and therefore placing the Church in a position to have its tax-exempt status removed. I just shake my head at this whole mess we’re in.
The Bishops of California may find that less than 100 people are still interested in attending Mass.
The Bishops in the United States have wholly forfeited their role as Shepherd.
They have ceded their power to the Godless secular State. Empty churches and empty purses will be the result.
Return of the Daily Sacrifice:
A game of Simon Sez
w/ Herr Gavin starring as Simon
This Sunday is the birthday of the Catholic Church. There is no better Sunday than to open up all parishes in Sacramento!
Let’s open it up Bishop!!!
If you MUST attend, cover your faces and shut up! Oh, the power Governor Newsom must feel… he has those Catholics heeling to his command. Just wait to the next flu season.
We can no longer say closing churches is “unprecedented”. It may become a routine occurrence now, at the whim of the secular, anti-God government.
We don’t need bishops who cave in to whatever the gruesome governor and his minions dictated. We need bishops with ! Is there anybody out there?
Didn’t newsome used to be a Catholic?
I want to attend Sunday Mass again. I don’t want to catch a virus that has already killed 100,000 people in a few weeks. Those are two different issues and should not be thought of as one issue. There is, has not been, and in my opinion, be an effort to shut down our God-given right to practice our faith as we see fit. Let’s stop with the conspiracy theories. What the government has asked us to do is simple:1) don’t gather in large crowds no matter where 2) don’t get close to other people not in your cohort, 3) wear a mask when you go outdoors so that you don’t give the virus to someone else, 4) don’t share things other people have touched. That seems rather easy to do and it has nothing to do with churches or politics. What seems evil to me is people shopping without a mask, crowding public beaches. There is no cure, yet, for this virus and won’t be for months. Most scientists tell us this is only the start of the infections, that more will follow, and then we will have a second wave later this summer or fall.
Bob One, no one needs to wear a mask outside in most parks, unless they are going to be close to people other than family members. Many people have survived COVID 19 without even going to a hospital. We think one of our families had it, with high fevers and one with pneumonia, near the beginning of the year, but they survived, and we did not get it. People need to be careful without being hypochondriacs. Build up you immune system. Eat right by cutting out too much sugar and salt, which is in just about everything unnatural. Eat whole grains, less meat and animal products with fresh fruits and vegetables.
Bob One, You are wrong as usual – there certainly has been an effort to close down churches. My church is shut and has been for weeks,
and there still is no re-opening scheduled.
There are flus ever single year. They come in the winter, and end in summer. There will be flu next year, and the year after, and the year after that….check the CDC for a flu table, extending over the last decade, with flus every year, millions get them, and usually, up to a half million hospitalized each year. So we have to face it, flu will not go away, and closing Churches is of very little value and will not prevent future flus.
There is no cure for the common cold that has killed more than the over hyped “rona”… There is no cure for many ailments. Did we shut down for other “dis” eases? Time to get the ball rolling. Those who are still paranoid, afraid, sick, etc. can stay home. The rest of us need to do our thing. “Scientists” and docs are wrong 50% of the time. And many doctors advise against staying “locked up” and weakening our immune systems. We need to get out. I’ve been doing my thing, and this will never stop me!
Here we go again….”There is, has not been, and in my opinion, be an effort to shut down our God-given right to practice our faith as we see fit.”
If you live in a cave you might believe that. It does have to do with denying our First Amendment rights because why is Walmart, abortion clinics, pot dispensaries, liquor stores, etc. allowed to open? It certainly is about discrimination against religion liberty guaranteed in our Constitution.. I’m afraid the “sky is falling” is the agenda of those who have bought into “never let a crisis go to waste”.
Too many of these comments sound like what you would expect from someone who thinks Fox News is fair and balanced, and therefore too liberal. Folks, forget the conspiracy theories. It all has to do with large crowds. Where I live, most of the stores are limiting the number of people who can shop at once while others stand in line outside. If the idea of walking into a crowded church with five or six hundred people talking and singing without a mask, you don’t understand the severity of the situation. Throughout the country, hospitals are filling up the ICU and the ERs. People who process meat are dying by the droves while hundreds of people who tested positive are forced to work or lose unemployment. Only two states met the President’s criteria for opening. At this rate were headed for big numbers as this virus, it’s is not the flu, begins to spread. Afraid? Yes I am, but not overly, just enough.
I agree with Bob One! The U.S. Coronavirus death toll has now surpassed 100,000! Hopefully, everyone will be safe and well, as all the churches re-open.
Bob One comments: “Throughout the country, hospitals are filling up the ICU and the ERs. People who process meat are dying by the droves while hundreds of people who tested positive are forced to work or lose unemployment. Only two states met the President’s criteria for opening. At this rate were headed for big numbers as this virus, it’s is not the flu, begins to spread. Afraid? Yes I am, but not overly, just enough”.
Where exactly is this happening?
The sky is not falling. Churches said they would open carefully and with limited people and safely. Stop listening to “fake news” and the fascist tactics of mostly liberal governors who made the problem worse by their own incompetent policies.
By the way, those meat processing facilities where people are becoming infected, out of 3,600 places only 2 had a problem. My guess is that they weren’t taking precautions.
EH, Bob One again, trying hard to keep Catholics in bondage to the state.
Forget it Bob. Businesses are opening again, the parks and beaches are opening again,
and they are jammed with crowds. We are a social people, and if the beaches can be
crowded, and without restriction, then
We want the Church to open again, without meddling from the State, or Bob One.
As of today over 100,000 people are known to have died from this virus. If you compare actual deaths to average deaths for the last three months, you can probably increase the number by 20%. So far, ten states have not shown an improvement in case count and hospitalization or deaths and most of them have shown increases. California is one of the states with terrible results-deaths keep going up. Crowded beaches are Petri dishes for the virus. Crowded boardwalks are Petri dishes for the virus. Crowded churches would be Petri dishes for the virus. It has nothing to do with liberal fascists governors. (By the way way, that is an oxymoron) Why, politics aside, is it so hard for so many people to not want to follow simple guidelines that will help the common good? I don’t get it. I think we have to start thinking about how many deaths are acceptable before we take the advise of experts. The current projection is 140,000 by August. Is that ok with everyone? 200,000 by Christmas. By every measure, the results of this pandemic are worse in the US than any other country. Why are we so willing to ignore the facts?
Please stop believing fake news. Experts have been wrong before. Let people live their lives and stop controlling other people’s lives, and putting out scare tactics. The facts are simple: Act responsible, safely and let people get back to their lives. The sky is not falling. This reminds me of the myth of “global warming” or now that it’s not warming anymore but “climate change”. Liberals are obsessed with doomsday predictions. You need to get a life and leave us alone to live our lives. Risks are always there.
Bob One, if you are reading this, go onto the website for CDC, the Center for Disease Control, and next, select, the “Disease burden of Influenza”. This will bring up the statistics for flu over the last decade. You will see that every year, millions get the flu,
and from this, up to 800,000 are hospitalized, and 60,000 to 80,000 deaths. The number of those affected, millions, is so vast, that an exact number cannot be given by CDC, only estimates, and that includes the number of deaths – it has to be an estimate. This year is no exception, except that it has been politicized by the Media… More facts you should know: The claim is that the coronavirus is not a flu. Well, it is a virus, and behaves like a flu, and all flus are viruses. They are given different names like H1N1, A, B, etc. So cv should be regarded as a flu. Next, you should know that there is a flu season – when winter comes, people get cold, and get a flu. Many years have taught us that every flu is highly contagious, and cannot be avoided. If you haven’t had it yet, you will get it, sooner or later. When enough people get it, they develop the antibodies, and the flu begins to die back. This is especially true of children – they have no antibodies. The result is snotty nosed kids, and every parent knows this. We all have to develop antibodies, and the only way to do this (so far), is to actually get the flu. There is currently NO vaccine, NO medicine, NO chemical, that will stop any flu. You and everyone else will get the flu. It cannot be avoided, they are just too contagious. We can wear masks, avoid public contact, hide under a stairwell, shake with fear when you get close to another person. Sorry, none of this works. Everyone will get the flu, cv, in this case. Most of us will not have a serious problem getting a flu. This is especially true of cv – most people just seem to develop mild symptoms like malaise, a headache, not feel well. Unfortunately, this is not true of some people, those who die from cv. Every year this happens. We understand that a certain number of we humans are going to die of cancer, or heart disease, or TB, and any disease. We accept this, it is a result of being human. We have to do the same for flu and cv. We cannot escape this. So we have a choice – face this flu directly, have a normal life, or cower in fear, as directed by the Media. It’s your call.
Anonymous, Amen ! I would add that we have never responded to a situation like this before staying at home for so long , destroying the economy , and aggravating other issues such as depression , suicide , drug addiction . Life is not safe
Bob, the common good ? who is determining what that is and how it is enforced ? Again I ask when has anyone in history responded to a crisis like this , shutting down a large section of the economy and staying inside with no real outside contact ?
So what happens when 600 people show up for a morning Mass on Sunday, and 500 of them are told that they cannot enter the church? Will Newsom have the California National Guard outside to force the attendees to go home? I won’t bother to ask why not one Bishop or Archbishop in California has spoken out against Newsom’s actions.
When it comes to Santa Clara County, the guidelines for reopening Churches read like they were written by Communist China, and maybe they were. It will be well nigh impossible to conduct the liturgy. Most troubling is the requirement for contact tracing which is a surveillance system, albeit a low-tech one. Any country with a surveillance system in its churches come to mind? Yep, Communist China.
Unless the Church holds firm, it will be one infringement of our religious liberty and right to assembly after another. Stand up to this. Write. Organize. Don’t go meekly into this govt-controlled religion.