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Coronavirus Lockdown Measures Are ‘Mocking God,’ San Francisco Archbishop Says

   DailyWire.com
VATICAN CITY, VATICAN - JUNE 29: Archbishop of San Francisco Salvatore Joseph Cordileone attends the mass and imposition of the Pallium upon the new metropolitan archbishops held by Pope Francis for the Solemnity of Saint Peter and Paul at Vatican Basilica on June 29, 2013 in Vatican City, Vatican. Pope Francis delivered the homily at Mass in St Peter's Basilica on Saturday morning, to mark the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles and Patrons fo the city of Rome. In his remarks following the Gospel reading, the Holy Father focused on a particular task of the Petrine ministry, which is to strengthen, or confirm, all the faithful. (Photo by Franco Origlia/Getty Images)
Franco Origlia/Getty Images

The Catholic Archbishop of San Francisco claimed that the city’s strict coronavirus lockdown restrictions against houses of worship are “mocking God.”

According to Catholic News Agency, Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone participated in one of several outdoor Eucharistic processions on Sunday, which converged near San Francisco City Hall before proceeding to the cathedral.

“For months I have pleaded with the City on your behalf, advocating for your need of the consolation of the Mass, and the consolation you derive from the practice of your faith and connection with your faith community. City Hall ignored us,” Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone preached in his homily during an outdoor Mass.

“It has become clear to me that they just don’t care about you…We have been patiently putting up with unjust treatment long enough, and now it is time to come together to witness to our faith and to the primacy of God, and tell City Hall: No More!”

Until Sept. 14, San Francisco, under the leadership of Democrat Mayor London Breed, limited even outdoor religious gatherings to 12 people, one of the strictest limits in the country. Though the permitted number has since increased to 50, only one person is allowed to enter the cathedral to pray.

Hotels in the city are nevertheless open at full capacity and most stores have reopened at 50% capacity.

“One person at a time in this great Cathedral to pray? What an insult. This is a mockery. They are mocking you, and even worse, they are mocking God,” Cordileone said. He later went on:

Our blessed Lord is openly mocked to the gleeful grins of the cultural elites. The sacred symbol of the religious habit is blasphemed with glowing approval of those who profess mutual respect and tolerance for others who are different, while they openly discriminate against us.

In fighting for justice, we fight for the glory of God. And so I am calling on every Catholic in this City, and this country, to continue to exercise responsible citizenship, to abide by reasonable public health rules, and to continue to serve our community, despite the mockery to which we are being subject in so many different ways. This is God’s way, and this is how I see Catholics serving Our Lord.

Cordileone has spoken out before against San Francisco’s clampdown on churches. As The Daily Wire reported, an Aug. 21 public letter Cordileone wrote said in part:

Ours and others’ faith is being treated as less important than a trip to the hardware store, or a nice dinner out on the patio. This denial of access to safe outdoor public worship is a serious deprivation of our rights as Americans under the First Amendment and our spiritual needs as people of faith. One million public Masses without any Covid outbreaks demonstrates that it is just as safe in San Francisco as in other parts of the state, such as San Mateo County, to permit large gatherings for outdoor public worship with reasonable safety precautions.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-NY), who is a Catholic, seemed to dismiss Cordileone’s concerns last week, saying the archbishop should “look to the science” about coronavirus.

Related: ‘A Serious Deprivation Of Our Rights’: San Francisco Archbishop Pleads With Mayor To Ease Coronavirus Restrictions

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