Democrat leadership in California has gone so far in overreaching its "authority" on pandemic restrictions, churches are forced to crusade to get their rights back, leading to a "throw the bums out" mentality, according to San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Joseph Cordileone.
"So we're asking our city to allow us our right to worship without any sort of impediment," Archbishop Cordileone told Sunday's "Fox & Friends."
Cordileone pointed viewers to the #FreetheMass petition to fight back against San Francisco's government overreach.
"The government really has no authority to tell us whether or not we can worship," he said. "They have no authority to tell us whether or not we're essential. They have no authority to tell us what forms of worship are essential and which are not.
"They have the authority to tell us what we need to do to keep people safe when we worship. But those restrictions can't be so severe as to effective ban worship, and that's what's been going on here in San Francisco.
"It is a fundamental right. Religious freedom is a fundamental right; it's protected by the First Amendment of the Constitution. It's not given by the First Amendment; it's protected by the First Amendment."
San Francisco is not respecting the rights of its constituents, and is "absolutely targeting" people of faith, he added.
"We need to have this right respected in a way that is responsible, with reasonable safety precautions that we have developed and that have proven to be effective," he continued, adding "people of faith need to be connected with their community" for mental and spiritual well-being.
"There is no rationale. Nobody has given me a rationale – other than discrimination. They are discriminating against us. This is clearly targeted against us."
People of faith need to rise up against the Democrat leaders doing it, he concluded.
"I sense that people are getting really fed up; I sense they're getting more and more of impatience and this kind of 'throw the bums out' kind of mentality."
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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