SF threatens enforcement against Catholic archdiocese for violating health order on gatherings

The San Francisco city attorney’s office told the archdiocese of San Francisco this week to stop holding “multiple indoor large gatherings at its facilities,” in violation of the city’s health order prohibiting such assemblies during the COVID-19 pandemic.
After multiple rounds of correspondence between the city and the archdiocese over the gatherings, City Attorney Dennis Herrera sent a cease-and-desist letter on Monday, ordering the archdiocese to discontinue the indoor religious services it has held in recent weeks or risk a temporary restraining order from the city.
With COVID-19 cases erupting nationally, officials were concerned about the archdiocese’s “alarming failure to follow common-sense safety protocols” meant to limit the spread of the coronavirus, Herrera said in the letter.
The church responded on Tuesday, saying it would “continue to work cooperatively with the city as it has done for the past three months by complying with the health orders currently in effect” and …