Pelosi, a practising Catholic, says Archbishop Salvatore Joseph Cordileone should not be putting people's lives at risk.

"With all due respect to my archbishop, I think we should follow science on this," Pelosi said.

Pelosi made her views clear after Cordileone led hundreds of Catholics in a street protest through San Francisco Sunday to St. Mary's Cathedral. He then celebrated an outdoor mass.

The demonstration's purpose was to pressure city leaders to allow indoor services for all faiths amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

One woman said she was upset that the church still remained mostly closed to followers.

"We're being persecuted," she said.

"I mean it's absolutely crazy. There are scores of people huddled together, bless them, on the streets and in the park and in the restaurants outside. We're allowed one person in the church. I mean, really?"

"Churches are essential for so many of us, you know, for our mental health, for our spiritual well-being," another protester said.

"You know, we want to be treated fairly."

One participant feared that the closures turn people away from the faith, and make them "lackadaisical" in their faith."

Others are upset that some counties in the area are beginning to allow places of worship to resume indoor services, while the San Francisco area is not.

The debate about the right to worship has become heated over state and local rules to stem the pandemic's spread.

Cordileone said worshipers' rights are being "unjustly repressed" by the government. Nationwide, several churches are suing to halt restrictions.

"We recognize that the government has a right to impose reasonable public health rules," he wrote in The Washington Post. "But when government asserts authority over the church's very right to worship, it crosses a line."

Pelosi says she is "sure he must have meant if it is scientifically safe, rather than jeopardizing people's health if they want to go to church."

Faith and science are sometimes seen at odds, she commented.

"Around here, people say to me, 'You're a person of faith, why do you believe in science?'

"I say, I believe science is an answer to our prayers. It is a creation of God, and one that is an answer to our prayers."

Source

• PBS
• KCBS Readio
• US News
• Image: The SF News

Results from a new survey say just 4 percent of Catholics in Britain won't be going back to worship in church.

The poll of 2,500 people was conducted by Catholic Voices, a group set up in the U.K. in 2010 to improve communications between the church and the media.

The survey's findings contradict predictions that the COVID-19 crisis would irrevocably accelerate the decline of collective worship among the faithful.

Brenden Thompson, CEO of Catholic Voices, says he is "pleasantly surprised by many of the findings."

"Catholics miss their parishes and church buildings and seem eager to return, not just content with virtual church."

"Many, it seems, by and large, have backed the bishops, been grateful for the efforts of clergy to livestream, and many have even felt at times closer to God and been more prayerful than usual."

"That said, the challenges ahead are real, so if we want to capitalize on this goodwill, we need to start thinking seriously about the conversations that need to happen as more and more begin returning to parishes."

In early September, Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, who is the president of the Commission of the Bishops' Conferences of the European Union, said many Catholics in Europe would not return to Mass or parish activities once the COVID-19 restrictions are lifted.

He said this demonstrates the urgency of a new evangelization based on Catholics actually living their faith.

The Catholic Voices study of British Catholics shows 93 percent of those interviewed worshipped by watching Mass online during lockdown.

Sixty-six percent appreciated the virtual services the dioceses and parish churches were providing.

The survey results also say 61 percent of those interviewed said they wished to revert to regular Mass attendance when the churches fully reopened.

Thirty-five percent said they would worship online only occasionally at that point — if the service remained available.

"It seems that virtual worship during the lockdown has been generally well received," the study results published last Wednesday say.

"While it may remain something that some people might dip into in the future, few would stop attending church altogether."

The study, called "Coronavirus, Church & You," was intended to explore the experience of the lockdown of both clergy and laity.

Other results show:

Sixty-one percent agreed the temporary closure of churches was right.

Eighty percent agreed church buildings were essential to "faith witness."

Eighty-four percent disagreed with the statement that church buildings were an unnecessary burden and expense.

Fifty-three percent agree the Church had responded well to the crisis, compared to 22 percent who offered the same opinion for the performance of the government.

Nearly two-thirds had some contact with clergy during lockdown.

Half of those interviewed said the crisis made them feel closer to God.

Over 50 percent said the lockdown made them more prayerful.

The survey was carried out by researchers from the Universities of Birmingham, York St. John and Warwick.

Source

• Catholic Review
• Image: Crux Now

The Oxford University vaccine has been developed from a kidney cell line (HEK-293) taken from a foetus aborted in 1973.

The Australian government has ordered 25 million doses of the vaccine. If trials prove successful, it will be offered free to all Australians.

However, in a letter sent to Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Australia's Greek Orthodox Archbishop Makarios, Catholic Archbishop Anthony Fisher and Anglican Archbishop Glenn Davies set out their objections to the vaccine claiming ethical concerns.

They told Morrison the use of foetal cells creates "an ethical quandary" and is "deeply immoral."

"Others may regard the use of a cell-line derived from an abortion performed back in the 1970s as now sufficiently removed from the abortion itself to be excusable."

"(But) those troubled by this may either acquiesce to the social and political pressure to use the vaccine or conscientiously object to the use by themselves or their dependents."

However, Australian National University researcher Gaetan Burgio is defending the use of cell lines from elective abortions, saying this practice has been part of a standard scientific process for more than 50 years.

"This cell line has been used to develop vaccines, for gene therapy and for research applications, as well. This is the most common cell line used in laboratories in the world," he says.

Australia's deputy chief medical officer says he is aware of the concerns and assured the public there were strong regulations around the use of human cells.

"The reality for the vaccines is that they need cell cultures in order for us to grow them," he said. "Human cells are a really important part of their development."

Fisher clarified the religious leaders are not "anti-vax".

"Please be assured that our churches are not opposed to vaccination, as we have said, we are praying that one may be found. But we also pray that it be one that is not ethically tainted."

A spokesperson for the Prime Minister also acknowledged the concerns, saying the government was investing in alternative vaccines that do not contain foetal cell lines. Among those is a vaccine being developed by the University of Queensland.

"The government will always follow the medical advice and will be encouraging as widespread use of the vaccine or vaccines as is possible," the spokesperson says.

Source

• The Guardian
• Greek Reporter
• SBS News
• The Guardian
• Image: Daily Mail

The online-only St. Isidore of Seville Virtual School - named after the patron saint of the internet - aims to be fully operational on 8 September.

It will teach the regular curriculum to students in kindergarten through to grade (year) eight, and class sizes will be capped at 23 people.

Students will attend an online Mass every week and like their peers will have daily prayer and preparation for the reception of sacraments.

"We hope this new virtual school provides parents concerned about their children returning to the classroom an option they are confident will meet the high standard of excellence they have come to expect throughout our schools," Bishop Michael F. Burbidge of Arlington says.

Burbidge praised the "great creativity and flexibility" among the Catholic school community in the diocese "that has made this new endeavor a reality."

Dr. Joseph Vorbach, the Superintendent for Catholic Schools in the Diocese of Arlignton, says all of the diocese's schools will have in-person instruction this coming school year, although some will do a hybrid model of in-person and e-learning.

While St. Isidore of Seville Virtual School is set to go for the coming school year, Vorbach says he is not sure if the school will continue on for years to come.

"We want to evaluate the service - the niche, if you will- that this school provides."

If things go smoothly, and it makes financial sense to continue the school in the future, "we can really seriously look at it as a component of a thorough, flourishing Catholic education going forward in the future," he says.

Source

• Catholic News Agency
• Image: Catholic News Agency