BY CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE
SAN FRANCISCO (CNS) - San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone thanked priests of the archdiocese in a July 30 letter for their "continued pastoral care" to their people and reminded them to continue their care always keeping with the local health orders of your county." He also asked his priests to do everything possible to make Mass available to your people." Given the limits on numbers that have been imposed on us, I am ask- ing each priest - except for the elderly and those with underlying health condi- tions - to be willing to cel- ebrate up to three Masses on a Sunday, as necessary to respond to the demand," the archbishops said. Currently 37 of Califor- nia's state's 58 counties are on the state's coronavirus monitoring list, including the city and county of San Francisco and Marin and San Mateo counties - the jurisdictions that make up the Archdiocese of San Francisco. In San Francisco, outside religious services and fu- nerals are allowed with a 12-person limit but indoor gatherings are not cur- rently permitted. Indoor Sunday religious services also are banned at all San Mateo County churches. In Marin County all houses of worship are closed for indoor services. Small outdoor "social" gatherings of up to 12 peo- ple are allowed, but news reports said local officials are allowing protests of up to 100 people. Like Catholic dioceses across the country, many parishes in the San Fran- cisco Archdiocese continue to livestream Masses, since public celebration of the Mass remains generally unavailable. For over four months now we have been deprived of the usual way in which we Catholics keep holy the Sabbath," the archbishop said. "As a sacramental church, it is in our nature, indeed it is our very iden- tity, to physically gather together to worship and share in the Eucharist. I'm sure that you, just as I, are very concerned about the long-term effects this will have on our people's spiri- tual health." Across the country in
Directive delaying school opening overturned
WASHINGTON (CNS) - The Archdiocese of Washing- ton and its Catholic Schools Office praised the Aug. 3 emergency order by Maryland's governor to override a Montgomery County Health Department blanket di- rective that would have kept nonpublic schools from reopening for in-person instruction through at least Oct. 1. The archdiocese said it was grateful for Gov. Larry Hogan's action "that allows private and parochial schools the autonomy and flexibility to make reopen- ing decisions in line with public health guidelines." The recovery plan for Maryland public schools stresses local flexibility within the parameters set by state officials," Hogan said in a statement after signing the order. "Private and parochial schools deserve the same opportunity and flexibility (as public schools) to make reopening decisions based on public health guidelines."
Court declines request to stop border wall
WASHINGTON (CNS) - In a 5-4 vote July 31, the Su- preme Court gave the go-ahead for construction to continue on portions of the Trump administration's border wall with Mexico by declining to take up re- quests from environmental groups to stop the work. The brief order was unsigned. Justice Stephen Breyer wrote a short dissent, joined by Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan that said the government would not be harmed by the request to halt construction and that the court's decision "may operate, in effect, as a final judgment."
House measure blocks conscience protection rule
WASHINGTON (CNS) - An omnibus appropriations bill approved by the House July 31 to fund a dozen federal departments and agencies blocks a conscience protection rule for health care providers who do not want to participate in abortion, sterilization or assisted suicide on religious or moral grounds. These poison pill provisions in H.R. 7617 seek to undermine the pro-life policies of the Trump adminis- tration," said Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life. "Sadly, those who would suffer from the pro- abortion provisions would be women and their unborn children." With a 217-197 vote, the House passed the Defense, Commerce, Justice, Science, Energy and Water Devel- opment, Financial Services and General Government, Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, Trans- portation, Housing and Urban Development Appropria- tions Act of 2021. H.R. 7617 blocks implementation and enforcement of a rule titled "Protecting Statutory Conscience Rights in Health Care," issued by the Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights. The rule was published in the Federal Register May 21, 2019.
Concerns raised over restrictions' long-term impact on spiritual health
After AOC decries statue, Hawaiian Catholic says St. Damien of Molokai 'gave his life' serving lepers
BRIEFSI
CNS PHOTO ANDREW KELLY, REUTERS
A woman wearing a protective mask and gloves prays during a July 11 prayer service at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York. Kentucky, as cases of CO- VID-19 in the state rose, Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz in a July 25 letter to his priests said parishes in the Archdiocese of Lou- isville would continue holding Masses at reduced capacity and he asked pas- tors to "double down on is- sues such as social distanc- ing and mask-wearing." He has issued a dispensa- tion from the obligation to attend Mass on Sundays and holy days of obligation. In July, Gov. Andy Bes- hear urged Kentuckians to avoid large gatherings, and in recent consultation with the Kentucky Council of Churches, the governor suggested churches take a two-Sunday pause in hold- ing in-person worship. The Catholic bishops of the commonwealth of Kentucky discussed this request late this week and decided not to ask par- ishes to suspend worship because of the very good job Catholic parishes have been doing with what has been asked of us, e.g. social distancing, mask-wearing, hygiene, cleaning, etc.," the archbishop told priests.
AUGUST 7, 2020 THE CATHOLIC FREE PRESS
ACROSS THE NATION 3
CNS PHOTO ANDREW KELLY REUTERS
BY MATT HADRO
CATHOLIC NEWS AGENCY
WASHINGTON, D.C. (CNA) - A Hawaiian Catho- lic catechist said that St. Damien of Molokai is a hero" to the Hawaiian people, after a prominent congresswoman claimed the statue honoring him in the U.S. Capitol is part of colonialism and "patriar- chy and white supremacist culture." St. Damien "gave his life" serving the isolated leper colony at Kalaupapa peninsula on the Hawaiian island of Molokai, said Dal- las Carter, a native Hawai- ian and a catechist for the diocese of Honolulu, in an interview with CNA. Any Hawaiian here who is aware of their history- which most Hawaiians are - would absolutely, Catholic or not, defend the legacy of Damien as a man who was embraced by the people, and who is a hero to us because of his love for the Hawaiian people," Carter said. We did not judge him by the color of his skin. We judged him by the love that he had for our people," Carter told CNA. In an Instagram story on Thursday, Rep. Alexan- dria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) asked why there were not more statues honoring women historical figures, at the U.S. Capitol's Nation- al Statuary Hall Collection. The collection includes statues honoring historical figures from all 50 states, which are chosen by the states and sent by them to Congress for display. Even when we select figures to tell the stories of colonized places, it is the colonizers and settlers whose stories are told - and virtually no one else," Ocasio-Cortez posted, with a picture of Father Damien's U.S. Capitol stat- ue in the background. In 1969, Hawaii chose to honor St. Damien alongside Kamehameha I in the Na- tional Statuary Hall Collec- tion in the U.S. Capitol. Ocasio-Cortez noted on Thursday that Hawaii's statue was of Father Damien and not of "Queen Lili'uokalani of Hawaii, the only Queen Regnant of Ha- waii," implying that it was an example of "colonizers" being honored instead of historical figures who are native to states. This isn't to litigate each and every individual statue," she said, arguing that "patterns" among the totality" of the statues in the Capitol reveal they honor "virtually all men, all white, and mostly both." This is what patriarchy and white supremacist culture looks like!" Ocasio- Cortez said. "It's not radical or crazy to understand the influence white suprema- cist culture has historically had in our overall culture & how it impacts the pres- ent day." Ocasio-Cortez's office told CNA that "it's the pat- terns that have emerged among all of the statues in the Capitol: virtually all white men. Each individual could be worthy, moral people. But the deliber- ate erasure of women and people of color from our history is a result of the influence of patriarchy and white supremacy." Her office later added that "Father Damien con- ducted acts of great good, and his is a story worth telling. It is still worthy for us to examine from a US history perspective why a non-Hawaiian, non- American was chosen as the statue to represent Hawaii in the Capitol over other Hawaiian natives who conducted great acts of good, and why so few women and people of color are represented in Capitol statues at all." St. Damien spent the last 16 years of his life caring for lepers in the Hawaiian Kingdom.
Grants help train minority Catholic leaders
ST. PAUL, Minn. (CNS) - When Father Stan Sledz in- herited $200,000 in 1991, he wanted to use that money to help Catholics from minority communities. It was a natural desire after having served at a tradi- tionally African American parish, St. Peter Claver in St. Paul, from 1982 to 1990. In the years since, using interest earned on the prin- cipal amount, 426 grants totaling $237,323 have been awarded to Catholic leaders in 24 parishes, all but one in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. Father Sledz, now 77 and retired, called it "a great blessing" to provide grants to African American parish leaders and other members of minority communities, to allow them to bolster their ministry skills in a cul- turally responsive way. He also wanted to honor the legacy of his uncle, Father Henry Sledz, from whom the inheritance money came after his death in 1991.
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