Many states have passed explicit protections for houses of worship, ensuring either that they will not be forced to shutter again amid a future health emergency.
After hitting their lowest recorded levels since the start of the pandemic in early summer, COVID-19 cases have begun to increase again, raising the specter of new mask mandates and recalling the early days of the pandemic, when fears of COVID outbreaks led much of society to shutter — including, controversially, many churches around the country.
Yet legal protections afforded to churches have evolved considerably since the start of the pandemic. Many states have passed explicit protections for houses of worship, ensuring either that they will not be forced to shutter again amid a future health emergency or that they will not be treated more harshly than other “essential services” allowed to remain open.
The CNA has collected information on which states now consider the cult “essential” and which do not. Explore the map below and see where its prestige lies.
All U. S. dioceses The U. S. government reduced public Mass in 2020 at the start of the pandemic, mostly in reaction to state or local laws, whose harshness toward devotees varied widely.
Data from earlier in the year shows that in-person Mass attendance among Catholics has yet to return to pre-pandemic levels, with only about four in 10 American Catholics reporting attending Mass in person as they did before the pandemic. Catholics now say they spend lessArray
There is now legal precedent at the federal level suggesting that states can never endorse closed places of worship and can restrict indoor capacity of places of worship to, at most, 25% of normal.
The Supreme Court ruled in late November 2020 that New York State’s restrictions, which included restrictions on the number of participants in religious services, the coronavirus pandemic, were due to First Amendment coverage of religious free exercise.
Data from The New York Times shows that COVID-related hospitalizations among people 70 and older have doubled, from about 2,000 per day in the U. S. It was growing in the U. S. in July to 4,300 per day in mid-September this year. The number of weekly deaths attributed to COVID remains at its lowest level despite a slight increase in recent weeks.
The CDC issued new recommendations on September 12 advising anyone 6 months of age or older to receive the existing COVID-19 vaccine to oppose “the potentially serious consequences of COVID-19 disease this fall and winter. “
Daniel Payne contributed to this report.
ANALYSIS: The latest official figures suggest that this country, long considered one of the bastions of resistance to dechristianization in the Old Continent, is following the same path as its neighbors, although for a few years the others.
I pray that we will never again allow our civil liberties to be so easily confiscated and trampled underfoot.
All military personnel will be required to receive the COVID-19 vaccine recently, according to an August 2021 policy established by U. S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.
Lincoln Snyder, president and CEO of the National Catholic Education Association (NCEA), said he was very proud of the functionality of Catholic schools during the pandemic.
Here are some things Pope Francis said about synodality in his papacy.
Doctor of the Church spiritually supports the families of young people with Down syndrome, through the apostolate.
After reciting the Angelus in Latin to the crowd, Pope Francis said he would travel to Marseille, France, on Friday to attend an assembly of bishops from the Mediterranean region.
Excavations have unearthed the marble steps leading to the aedicule and a deposit of coins, which were last minted during the reign of Emperor Valens (364-378).
WRITING
Meditations on the Seven Sorrows of Mary
Excerpt from “Mary, May I Be Your Daughter”
For thousands of years, the historic address has transported pilgrims and travelers to the center of the Holy Land.
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