In his September 13 homily on the Cathedral Plaza, Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone of San Francisco invited the faithful to participate in a public call for reopening churches for worship at a level consistent with other activities in San Francisco and with stringent health and safety protocols in place: “I invite you all to participate in this public witness of our faith, and to invite your friends and fellow Catholics to join as well.”
On the morning of September 20, Eucharistic processions will begin at three parishes in San Francisco, meeting at UN Plaza by City Hall. From UN Plaza, the group will walk in Eucharistic procession up to the Cathedral and celebrate multiple Masses outdoors (with masks, and proper social distancing).
“I fear for our city, I fear for our nation. But we must not be ruled by fear. We walk by faith, not by sight. And so we must unite, pull together in a common witness of our faith and of the primacy of God. Plans are currently underway to make this happen,” the archbishop said in his homily. “Currently, faithful here in the Archdiocese have begun organizing public demonstrations of our faith for next Sunday, which will be expressed in the form of processions here to the Cathedral for our multiple Masses at 11:00. Yes, next week, our multiple simultaneous Masses on the Plaza will take place at 11:00, not 9:00. The public demonstrations will manifest the rich ethnic diversity of our people united in one Catholic faith. Many of the faithful will be Spanishspeaking, especially those coming from the Mission District, and so some Masses will be offered in Spanish, and others in English.