Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi on Friday criticized Salvatore Cordileone, the Catholic archbishop of San Francisco, for an op-ed in which he said that governments are using the coronavirus pandemic to restrict the right to worship.
“With all due respect to my archbishop, I think we should follow science on this,” Pelosi, a Catholic, said during a press conference.
Pelosi said that while she has gone to “very, very, very spaced” masses, she has more frequently been joining her church online. She added that while during the pandemic science and faith are sometimes seen as at odds, she personally believes that “science is an answer to our prayers.”
Cordileone’s op-ed, published in the Washington Post, said that the free exercise of faith was being “unjustly repressed” in San Francisco. The archbishop, who is a prominent voice within the American Catholic Church, noted that the city allows people to go to shopping malls, outdoor parks, and other recreational facilities, while still limiting church services to 12 people outdoors. San Francisco, like many California cities, bans indoor services.
“In imposing these restrictions, the city is turning a great many faithful away from their houses of prayer,” Cordileone wrote, adding that the archdiocese will join a Sunday protest against the city’s restrictions on churches.
“All we are seeking is access to worship in our own churches, following reasonable safety protocols — the same freedoms now extended to customers of nail salons, massage services and gyms,” he wrote. “It’s only fair, it’s only compassionate, and, unlike with these other activities, it’s what the First Amendment demands.”
Cordileone’s complaint comes amid increased calls from church leaders for their members to return to in-person services. A small, but vocal, minority of mostly evangelical churches have been championing in-person services throughout the pandemic, but in the past week, Catholic bishops, many of whom initially welcomed shutdowns, have joined the fray.
This week, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the archbishop of New York City, urged Catholics in Manhattan to return to church. In a video filmed in St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Dolan told Catholics to “get back to Mass.”
“There are still a lot of safe and secure precautions we’ve got in mind — and be careful if you’re elderly or your health is compromised in any way — but for most of us, it’s safe, it’s sound, and it’s good for us to get back to Sunday Mass,” he said. “That is a stalwart of our faith.”
Other bishops, including those in Wisconsin and South Dakota, have gone further, requiring Catholics to return to Sunday Mass to remain in good standing with the church. The Archdiocese of New York did not respond to request for comment about whether or not it would soon require its members to do the same.
The slow rollback toward in-person services comes as many churches have lifted their mandates requiring churches to limit their capacity. Analysis from the Washington Examiner found that six months into the pandemic, fewer than half of states still have restrictions on physical attendance at services.
