Services halted after 3 priests test positive for COVID at San Francisco church
FILE -- St. Peter & Paul Church services will be streamed live until further notice after three priests tested positive for the virus.
SAN FRANCISCO - A church in San Francisco has closed down after three priests and two caregivers tested positive for COVID-19.
St. Peter & Paul Church in North Beach is shuttered until further notice and services will be available online, according to the church’s website.
"We are deeply touched and grateful for the prayers and support so many of you have sent for Fr. Al, Fr. Armand, and Fr. Bob (and two of Fr. Armand’s caregivers) who tested positive for Covid last week," the notice read. "We certainly will not be able to have public Mass the weekend of February 13-14, but may be able to open the church for private prayer next week."
The church has in the past defied county health orders and held indoor services. City Attorney Dennis Herrera wrote a June 29 cease-and-desist letter to the San Francisco Archdiocese and pointed to examples of churches violating health orders, including complaints that St. Peter & Paul held public Mass indoors six times.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom revised guidelines for indoor church services following a Supreme Court ruling Friday that lifted the state’s ban on indoor worship during the pandemic.
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The Golden State can’t ban indoor church services but it can limit attendance to 25 % and restrict singing indoors, justices said. Indoor church services were prohibited in the state’s most restrictive purple tier, prior to the ruling.
St. Peter & Paul Church said in their thank-you notice to supporters that they may open for private prayer next week.
A request for comment was sent to the church but one was not immediately provided.
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