US Catholic leaders continue to grapple with both the stay-at-home orders in most states and with the economic tsunami that is attacking both their own institutions and the livelihoods of millions of their parishioners.
The recently passed $2 trillion stimulus bill allowed religious non-profits to apply for loans administered by banks and targeted at small businesses. These low-interest loans are primarily aimed at allowing businesses to meet their payroll: Any loan money applied to pay employees will not have to be repaid. Church entities, including parishes and schools, qualify for these loans although some banks are reportedly prioritising larger customers.
Los Angeles Archbishop Jose Gomez, president of the US bishops’ conference, invited all Catholics to join him in praying the Litany of the Sacred Heart on Good Friday. The service will be livestreamed from the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels.
A statement by several bishops’ conference committee chairmen also praised the efforts of Catholic medical associations to articulate the ethical principles that should govern the rationing of medical supplies and treatments, which is likely to become necessary as the pandemic reaches its apex.
The bishops also praised the Office of Civil Rights at the Department of Health and Human Services “for issuing a reminder that in a time of crisis we must not discriminate against persons solely on the basis of disability or age by denying them medical care. Good and just stewardship of resources cannot include ignoring those on the periphery of society, but must serve the common good of all, without categorically excluding people based on ability, financial resources, age, immigration status, or race.”
In Florida and Texas, the governors explicitly did not include churches among the gatherings and businesses ordered closed. In Florida, after Governor Ron DeSantis did not forbid church services, Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski banned the celebration of any public liturgies, and also forbade drive-by confessions and the distribution of palms outside churches on Palm Sunday. “It is not prudent for parishes to plan any activity that would encourage people to leave their homes,” Wenski wrote in a statement sent to all priests.
Meanwhile a group of conservative Catholics began a petition drive calling on the US bishops “to do everything you can to make the sacraments more available to us during this crisis.” One of the organisers of the petition drive, Janet Smith, a retired professor of moral theology at Sacred Heart Seminary in Detroit, Michigan, appeared on EWTN to urge the bishops to reopen churches for Easter. Civil authorities in all but a handful of states have barred gatherings of more than a few people and there was no indication that any US bishop would respond affirmatively to the petition.
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