Santa Rosa bishop says some Sonoma County churches will defy health order

A small number of Catholic churches in Sonoma County plan to hold Mass this Sunday, defying county health orders that prohibit gatherings to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, Santa Rosa Diocese Bishop Robert F. Vasa said Wednesday.

Vasa said he will not forbid parish priests from reopening their churches for Mass this Sunday but also has advised them to comply with directives from Sonoma County Health Officer Dr. Sundari Mase.

“I’m not standing in the way of communities that have judged they can open responsibly and eliminate the risk of harm to the congregation,” Vasa said.

The “vast majority” of Catholic churches in Sonoma County will remain closed to in-person services on Sunday, Vasa said. But he is leaving the final decision to individual churches, he said, and “a couple” will open their doors to services on Pentecost Sunday. He declined to identify them.

“I would prefer not,” he said. “It might cause an increase in people attending. These are really by invitation to a small group.”

Mase was unavailable for comment late Wednesday.

Vasa had spent much of the previous 24 hours seeking clarification on religious services after receiving mixed messages from state and local officials.

On Tuesday, Gov. Gavin Newsom said he was allowing church, synagogue and mosque services to move indoors in counties, like Sonoma, that have been granted state variances within Stage 2 of California’s process of reopening from the coronavirus-triggered shutdown. But several hours later, Mase said the county would continue to prohibit indoor church gatherings, citing what she called “red flags” in local virus data.

That news did not sit well with Vasa, whose diocese covers six counties and 178,443 members in 41 parishes, according to the church website.

“I’m vested in supporting all of the safety elements, and I have been conscientious about that, urging my priests to follow the regulations,” he said. “But I feel I was handed something with one hand and had it immediately taken away by the other, when I had every right, in my mind, to expect to return to what we do.”

Vasa had been hoping Sonoma County would post a definitive update on its COVID-19 webpage Wednesday. But because nothing had changed in Mase’s guidance for churches, her May 1 public health order - the last to address indoor services - still applies, a spokeswoman for the county said.

“Houses of Worship are not physically open for congregational activities at this time,” that order reads. “Check with your church, synagogue or other house of worship to see if it has virtual streaming or similar technology.”

Vasa said he has obeyed the rules laid down by Newsom and Mase, but isn’t entirely clear on how to interpret what are now disparate guidelines on church services.

“I’d have to look at the May 1 statement and see,” he said. “See if it responded to the governor’s office and affirmed what the governor now says. If there is no new directive, it seems to me that it’s open to interpretation. I understand the mind of Dr. Mase, and I certainly respect that.”

Four of the six counties within the Diocese of Santa Rosa - Napa, Lake, Humboldt and Del Norte - followed Newsom’s lead in reopening worship services while limiting capacity to either 25 percent of normal or 100 total worshippers, whichever is less. Mendocino County expects to issue a revised directive this week, and the Catholic priest who has been working with county officials there told Vasa that Mendocino, too, will give the go-ahead for Sunday.

That leaves Sonoma County as the only jurisdiction in Vasa’s diocese still limiting churches to outdoor and online services.

Vasa made it clear he is not urging his pastors to bend the rules. “I have no intention of violating county regulations,” he said. “That does not serve me or my community.”

Most of the priests under him will comply, he said.

“Half have said they are ready to open,” Vasa noted. “It’s not matter of preparedness. They’re just saying, ‘It’s better for us not to open.’?”

Vasa emphasized that he is not encouraging parishioners to travel across county lines to attend Mass elsewhere in the region.

“I’ve not even hinted that,” he said. “Will people do it once they find out Sonoma County is closed and the other five are open? We can’t stop people.”

Vasa is convinced the churches and worshippers in Sonoma County are being punished for the mistakes made by others - specifically, by revelers who flooded some of the county’s recreational areas over the hot Memorial Day weekend.

“We’ll be masked, relatively quiet. We will not violate any of the rules,” he said of his parishes. “And yet we’re being singled out, not permitted to engage in what we do, specifically because people on the Russian River didn’t follow the guidelines. If that’s the case, then close them down and open us up.”

Vasa said that sentiment was shared by many of the approximately 60 faith leaders who participated in a Zoom video conference with Sonoma County supervisors Shirlee Zane and James Gore on Wednesday afternoon. Vasa reported there was “no contentiousness” in the conversation, but that many of his fellow pastors share his frustration with the varying directives, and with the county’s reluctance to grant local churches the freedom Newsom is offering.

Vasa hopes this issue won’t remain on the back burner for several more weeks. Yet, despite what he calls healthy communication from Sonoma County officials, he fears just that.

You can reach Phil Barber at 707-521-5263 or phil.barber@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @Skinny_Post.