Inside this issue
• Gov. Newsom Delivers State of the State Address
• USCCB Issues Pastoral Message on Anniversary of COVID-19 Pandemic
• Catholics Schools Successfully Navigate COVID-19 While Open
• Vulnerable but Essential Farmworkers' Vaccine Clinics Taking Place
• USCCB Response to American Rescue Act
• Carmel Mission to be Restored with $1.8M Grant
Gov. Newsom Delivers State of the State Address
In a break from tradition, Governor Newsom delivered his State of the State address this week from an empty Dodger Stadium, where he noted that the 56,000 - seat capacity of the facility reflected the approximate number of Californians who have died of COVID-19 over the last year.
The Governor also recognized essential workers as he focused on the State's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, spoke about education and bridging student learning and achievement gaps from this school year, connected the state's wildfires with climate change, which he holds responsible for last year's record wildfire season.
Newsom touted parts of California's COVID-19 response, including being the first state to issue stay-at-home orders, building the most comprehensive testing system in the nation, establishing the first-of-its-kind state-run testing lab, and being the first to launch federally sponsored mass vaccination sites, which is now a model now for the other 49 states. He also highlighted the 11 million vaccines the state has already administered, more than any other state.
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USCCB Issues Pastoral Message on Anniversary of COVID-19 Pandemic
As we embark on the one-year mark of COVID-19 altering life as we knew it, the CCC asks for prayer for those souls who have been lost, their grieving family and friends, for essential workers, and for those who have suffered loss and hardship as a result of the pandemic.
The USCCB issued a statement marking one-year of "sickness, death, mourning, a lack of food, unstable housing, loss of work and income, struggles with education, separation, abuse, isolation, depression, and anxiety. We witnessed racial injustices, the diminishment of the poor and the elderly, and painful divisions in our political life. Yet we know, as the Psalms remind us, that we find comfort in God's promise that gives us life (Ps 119:50)."
Read the Statement at USCCB.org
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Catholics Schools Successfully Navigate COVID-19 While Open
While much of the public school system has remained in remote learning platforms this school year, Catholic schools have provided a model for successfully navigating the challenges that the COVID-19 pandemic has presented.
In this L.A. Times article, Jesuit High School in Sacramento is profiled for its ability to remain open with in-person learning without a significant COVID outbreak, while the number of infections climbed to record numbers this past fall and winter.
Congratulations to our Catholic schools for paving the way, and please pray for their continued success.
Read on LATimes.com
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Vulnerable but Essential Farmworkers' Vaccine Clinics Taking Place
Governor Newsom promised this week that 40% of vaccines would go to high-risk populations in the state. Out of care for yourself, your neighbor, and the community-at-large, and with the permission of your healthcare provider, please plan to vaccinate at your earliest convenience.
Several vaccine clinics are taking place throughout the Central Valley and Central Coast for farmworkers, who have remained essential throughout the pandemic but are suffering from COVID-19 infection rates disproportionately higher than other populations.
Thousands of farmers in the Central Valley are set to be vaccinated at the 'Forty Acres' property near Delano over six weekends in March and April. Similar events will be held in Gilroy and Salinas along the Central Coast.
The Forty Acres site was the first headquarters of the United Farm Workers (UFW) and is closely related to César Chávez. It now houses a museum as part of the National Park Service.
Click here to read statements from the Vatican, USCCB and the California Catholic Conference on the COVID-19 vaccines.
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USCCB Response to American Rescue Act
The USCCB released a statement on Wednesday following the passage of the American Rescue Plan Act expressing support for the provisions in the bill that would provide relief to help those in need during the ongoing COVID pandemic, but that is also critical of the bill's lack of protection for the unborn.
"There are provisions in this bill that will save people from extremely desperate situations and will likely save lives," the statement reads. "However, it is unconscionable that Congress has passed the bill without critical protections needed to ensure that billions of taxpayer dollars are used for life-affirming health care and not for abortion."
Read the statement here.
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Carmel Mission to be Restored with $1.8M Grant
A Catholic group has received a large grant to restore one of the oldest California missions and to provide a place for tourists to examine the state's religious and cultural history.
In February, Carmel Mission Foundation received a $1,800,000 grant for the Downie Museum and Basilica Forecourt Restoration, which seeks to rejuvenate the Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo located in Carmel, CA., about five miles south of Monterey.
The project is scheduled to be completed by the fall in time to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the mission's establishment. The grant was issued by the Hind Foundation, which provides non-profit organizations with the resources and tools to help restore monumental structures.
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March 12, 2021
Vol. 14 No. 10
California Catholic Conference
En Español
"#Lent is a journey that involves our whole life, our entire being. It is a time to reconsider the path we are taking, to find the route that leads us home and to rediscover our profound relationship with God, on whom everything depends."
@Pontifex
BISHOPS' STATEMENT ON COVID-19 VACCINES
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