Archbishop Cordileone Discusses Religious Liberty, COVID Restrictions and Equal Treatment, by Lauretta Brown

The San Francisco archbishop told the Register that the continuing unfair treatment of religious worship compared to some secular activities is ‘outrageous,’ as well as unconstitutional.

By Lauretta Brown, National Catholic Register, December 4, 2020

Lauretta Brown Lauretta Brown is the Register’s Washington-based staff writer.

On Thursday, the Supreme Court vacated the 9th Circuit Court’s ruling against California churches that had sued over restrictions that banned indoor worship altogether while still permitting some businesses to remain open at 25% capacity in areas with severe spread of the coronavirus. This followed the high court’s decision last week in Diocese of Brooklyn v. Cuomo, in which it ruled 5-4 that places of worship should have injunctive relief against New York’s 10- and 25-person occupancy limits in areas with a lot of coronavirus spread.

Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco has been a vocal opponent of oppressive coronavirus restrictions aimed at California churches over the year. In September, he led a demonstration and Eucharistic procession to “Free the Mass,” protesting city and state COVID restrictions on churches when businesses deemed “essential” were allowed to operate at a larger capacity. The Department of Justice took notice, warning San Francisco Mayor London Breed that the rules of just one individual at a time in a place of worship was “unconstitutional,” and the limit was changed to no more than 100 people at a time for indoor worship.  …

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