September 8, 2020
Jeanine Wiater
San Francisco
I would like to ask about the following quote from your article [posted on catholic-sf.org on Aug. 31, 2020]:
“Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone is urging San Francisco officials to ease restrictions on public worship, saying the city’s ‘excessive limits’ limits to curb COVID-19 are unfair and a deprivation of religious organizations’ First Amendment rights.
“No outbreaks have been linked to U.S. Catholic churches that follow safety guidelines, the archbishop said.”
But what about the churches that do not follow the guidelines? From what I have seen in the U.S., people do not follow distancing guidelines.
Even if churches open up, I still do not feel safe going to Mass right now. If San Francisco gets another large outbreak and our metrics go back up, it will be months before schools can open again. It is too soon to open churches right now. I am just fine watching St. Ignatius via YouTube in the safety of my own home. People have to learn to accept that until the pandemic dies down, we have to live differently. This will not be forever, but we still need to avoid large gatherings to avoid the spread of disease.
Christ is always with us. I miss getting Communion too, but Christ is still with me even without receiving the body and blood of Christ every Sunday.
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