Gov. Gavin Newsom gave California churches the green light Monday to reopen, three days after President Donald Trump threatened to "override" states that continued to block in-person religious services due to the pandemic.But that's not what Newsom actually did.Newsom also was facing pressure from more than 1,200 California pastors who vowed to resume services this upcoming Sunday regardless of what the governor decided. At the same time, a lawsuit filed by a Southern California church reached the U.S. Supreme Court on Sunday night.
The new guidelines apply to the entire state, but are subject to approval by each county's public health department. That means they don't yet apply to Los Angeles County, although some county supervisors are pushing to open up as soon as possible.He punted the issue to individual counties, whose current policies vary widely, so state "guidelines" have no specific effect unless county health departments endorse them.
It's also worth noting that reopening church services had been, before Monday, under Newsom's "Phase 3", which never had a specific target date, and which up to then no county had been eligible for. I would say that the main factor that drove Newsom to change, or more accurately appear to change, his priorities was the denial by the Ninth Circuit of the Chula Vista church's motion for a restraining order against the state. The real possibility of a loss in the Ninth Circuit was already part of the church;'s legal strategy:
[Church attorney Charles] LiMandri said, +. . . If we lose at the Ninth Circuit, then we will have a split in the federal circuit courts with the 6th Circuit, and we will file an immediate emergency appeal with the United States Supreme Court. . . ."This they did, and Newsom's response came the next morning. Exactly how this affects the Supreme Court's reaction to the emergency appeal remains to be seen. It's entirely possible that San Diego County will endorse the state guidelines, making the Chula Vista case moot, although other churches in other counties will continue to have their services prohibited, regardless of the state's guidelines.
Archbishop of Los Angeles José Gómez had this message on the archdiocesan website dated May 23, which probably continues to reflect the current situation here:
I’ve been working really hard with the city officials, the county officials, and the state officials to help them to understand what is the importance of the presence of God in our lives and how beautiful it is for us to come to church. And especially for us Catholics to have the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist.In situations like Minnesota, it's plain the churches spent a lot of time and effort trying to get the state to open, and it appears that steady pressure, with various options and threats of escalation, does eventually have an effect. It looks like Abp Gómez, who is President of the USCCB, is probably well aware of circumstances that affect all the dioceses. It wouldn't surprise me if he had been fully in the loop over the Minnesota bishops' strategy to force reopening there, and he'll likely press California officials closely as events develop.This makes a huge difference. I think the officials are, little by little, understanding better what is that urgent reality. And I also tried to explain to them that we have the protocols and everything that is necessary to make sure that there is protection for anyone coming to church — the Catholic Church in these three counties in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.
So, let us keep praying. Let us keep working together. I’m really hopeful that things are going to change really soon. I need your support and your prayers because, obviously, we need to come to that moment where we can safely open our churches to continue the celebration of the Sacraments that are so essential for us.
