Mike Jacobsen, pastor of the Pentecostal Palermo Bible Family Church, during a virtual mass, May 17, 2020. – Palermo Bible Family Churc
In the name of the father, the son and the Covid-19. When the Council of State ordered the government to lift the “general and absolute” ban on meeting in places of worship on Monday, this is a warning. In California, 180 parishioners who participated in an illegal mass on May 10 were placed in home quarantine on Friday after one of them tested positive for coronavirus the day after the service, authorities said. Butte county, a rural county in the north of the state.
Mike Jacobsen, pastor of the Pentecostal Palermo Bible Family Church, defied the authorities’ ban on Mother’s Day (the second Sunday in May in the United States). On Facebook Live, he explained that he made this decision because the county had only 22 cases of coronavirus, and after two months of confinement, his parishioners were “like children deprived of their mother’s arms”. “I never intended to endanger people,” the pastor assured the L.A. Times this Monday.
A deconfinement in four stages
In California, the deconfinement is still in its infancy. Certain counties, like that of Butte, are in the second phase out of the four established by Governor Gavin Newsom. Some non-essential businesses have been able to reopen (florists, clothing stores) for take-out, as well as parks and beaches for physical activity. But gatherings, public or private, are prohibited, with the exception of the family nucleus.
LIVE NOW: Governor @GavinNewsom provides an update on the state’s response to # COVID19. #YourActionsSaveLives https://t.co/EfWFwvVyZD
– Office of the Governor of California (@CAgovernor) May 18, 2020
It is only in the third phase that hairdressers, sports halls, cinemas and places of worship can reopen with social distancing. According to Gavin Newsom, this should be possible by June in parts of California. In the meantime, we must be content with virtual masses. Amen!
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