Washington D.C., Jan 22, 2019 / 03:58 pm (CNA).- While chanting and playing ceremonial drums, a group of Native American rights activists reportedly led by Nathan Phillips attempted Jan. 19 to enter Washington, D.C.’s Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception during a Saturday evening Mass.
The group of 20 demonstrators was stopped by shrine security as it tried to enter the church during its 5:15 pm Vigil Mass, according to a shrine security guard on duty during the Mass.
“It was really upsetting,” the guard told CNA.
“There were about twenty people trying to get in, we had to lock the doors and everything.”
The guard said the incident was a disappointment during a busy and joyful weekend for the shrine.
“We had hundreds and hundreds of people from all over the country come here to celebrate life, to celebrate each other together. That a protest tried to come inside during Mass was really the worst.”
The guard told CNA the situation was “tense.”
“I’m just really grateful that nothing too bad happened, they were really angry.”
A source close to the shrine’s leadership corroborated the security guard’s account, telling CNA that during the Mass, Phillips and the group tried to enter the church while playing drums and chanting, and were prohibited from entering the building by security personnel, who locked the main basilica doors with the congregation still inside.
The shrine’s spokeswoman would not confirm or deny that the group attempted to enter the Mass. She told CNA that “a group did assemble on Saturday evening outside the the shrine” and that they “left without incident.”
Philips was the subject of national media attention on Saturday, after video went viral on social media depicting parts of a Jan. 18 incident involving him and several teenagers, some of whom were students from Covington Catholic High School in Kentucky. The incident has become the subject of intense national debate, and Phillips has been accused by some of instigating an encounter with the students, and subsequently altering his initial account of events.
Covington Catholic High School was closed Jan. 22, following threats against students and staff in the wake of media coverage of Friday’s incident.
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reported that about 60 people gathered outside the shrine in support of Phillips on Saturday night, though it did not mention reports that Phillips and some supporters attempted to disrupt the evening Mass.
Video footage showed one supporter saying that the group had gathered at the shrine to listen to Phillips, and to hold the Catholic Church “accountable” for the alleged actions of the Covington Catholic students and for the “colonial violence that the Catholic Church reproduces every day.”
A photograph attached to the post shows Phillips addressing the group outside the shrine.
The security guard told CNA that the incident was especially distressing given that Mass was underway.
“It’s a house of worship, a place of prayer where people come to celebrate. All this anger is so against what we are all about here.”
He told CNA that he’d never witnessed anything like it during his whole time of employment at the basilica.
“I don’t know the details of what happened on Friday [after the March for Life], I wish I did. All I know is it’s a shame, and it’s got nothing to do with why people were here.”
“And this all happened on our biggest event of the year. I hope we never see it again.”
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An Easter Vigil procession at St. Dominic Parish in San Francisco. / Credit: St. Dominic Parish/Lorelei Low
CNA Staff, Mar 15, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).
Five years ago this week, public health orders issued amid the uncertainty of the novel coronavirus turned Mass schedules across the country and the world upside down.
In those early days following the WHO’s March 11, 2020, declaration of COVID-19 as a pandemic, the bishops of every U.S. diocese issued some form of dispensation, suspending the obligation that Catholics must attend Sunday Mass in person.
Thousands of parishes and ministries scrambled to develop plans to offer livestreamed Masses, deliver the sacraments in a “socially distanced” manner, and live out the Church’s life as best they could under extraordinary circumstances. Public Masses at most parishes were suspended entirely for a time, and those that were able to reopen were subject, in many areas, to distancing requirements and numerical or percentage-based attendance caps.
As Catholics nationwide adapted to the changes — not knowing how long this new reality might last — observers feared that many Catholics, barred from their parishes for so long and now accustomed to attending from the comfort of home, might not return after the parish doors reopened.
A study from the Pew Research Center found that most Catholics continued participating in Mass throughout the pandemic — but many were only able to do so virtually. In November 2022, when the survey was done, only about 4 in 10 U.S. Catholics said they attended Mass in person as often as they did before the pandemic.
Indeed, from the start of the COVID pandemic lockdowns in the U.S. to the declared end of the pandemic in May 2023, in-person Mass attendance averaged just 15% — a dismal figure, but not markedly lower than the 24% it was before. (The Catholic Church teaches that Catholics are obligated to attend Mass in person every Sunday, except for a serious reason such as illness or if they’ve been dispensed from their obligation by their pastor or bishop.)
Some bishops lifted the dispensations they had issued as early as late 2020, while a few held out until 2022. In lifting the dispensations they issued amid the lockdowns, many U.S. bishops implored Catholics to return to Mass in person.
While Mass attendance today among Catholics in the U.S. remains much lower than among Catholics in other countries, recent data has suggested that U.S. in-person Mass attendance levels have quietly returned to where they were in 2019 after years of uncertainty over whether they would ever rebound.
For some thriving parishes in the U.S., the lockdowns — while challenging — presented an opportunity to continue sharing the faith in a creative manner and come out even stronger than they were before.
Father John Mosimann, pastor at St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception Parish in Fredericksburg, Virginia, told CNA that the parish has seen its numbers grow since the pandemic.
On a typical weekend, Mosimann and his four parochial vicars celebrate 11 total Masses in English, plus another in Spanish at a different parish where they are kick-starting a Spanish Mass ministry.
All told, roughly 3,800 people attended St. Mary’s weekend Masses on a typical week in 2019. According to headcounts, the parish had already exceeded its pre-pandemic levels by 2023, with around 4,300 attendees on average. The parish, which is about 55 miles south of Washington, D.C., has 6,700 registered families and nearly 100 active ministries.
Father John Mosimann poses with altar servers and Bishop Michael Burbidge of Arlington, Virginia. Credit: Photo courtesy of Father John Mosimann
During the pandemic, St. Mary’s added extra Masses — since for a time, Masses were limited to a smaller-than-usual number of attendees — and continued hosting adoration. Like so many other parishes, the parish had to quickly adapt to a livestreaming paradigm in order to stay connected with the community.
“I was in the office and I was looking at Facebook and I said, ‘What if I hit this button and go live, what would happen?’” Mosimann remembers thinking as the lockdowns began.
“And so I started streaming on Facebook Live and everybody started jumping in … ’What’s going on, Father? What’s going to happen?’ And I didn’t have answers, because I wasn’t that great a prophet. But we did immediately start streaming.”
He said parishioners were grateful for the effort the priests made to stay in touch, despite the occasional technical challenge — a problem far from unique to St. Mary’s.
“If you want perfect sound and you want a studio, go to EWTN. They’ve got professional equipment. If you want to see your priests, come talk to us,” Mosimann said he told his parishioners.
“We’re not going to be anxious over having studio quality, because what’s important is for us to be connected to you. People responded to that. People were very grateful for that. It was very frequently cited by parishioners, how grateful they were for our staying in touch with them during that difficult moment.”
Father John Mosimann baptizes a child at his parish, St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Credit: Ginny Foreman
The last of Virginia’s capacity-restricting public health orders on venues was lifted in late May 2021, and Bishop Michael Burbidge of the local Diocese of Arlington in the following month lifted the dispensation he had issued, inviting Catholics to return to Mass throughout the diocese. So far, as in most U.S. dioceses, Mass attendance overall in Arlington has risen significantly but has not quite returned to pre-pandemic levels.
Since the pandemic’s end, Mosimann said his focus has been on encouraging parishioners to use their time and talents generously to help rebuild and grow the parish community.
For Mosimann, the pandemic experience was proof that by remaining faithful even through troubling and difficult times, God can and does bring good out of bad situations through his grace.
“[We] did everything we could to provide the sacraments to God’s people and to make it available as much as possible with all the restrictions. That should be the goal of every parish, every day, whether there’s a pandemic or not,” Mosimann said.
‘We are proud to be who we are’
Father Michael Hurley, OP, pastor of St. Dominic Parish in San Francisco, said his parish, which offers what he believes is the largest young adult presence in the entire archdiocese, regularly sees attendance numbers today that are similar to pre-pandemic levels.
The parish was able to safely provide the sacraments to those in need during the pandemic and had, providentially, already set up livestreaming for Masses shortly before the start of the pandemic. To this day the parish maintains a healthy online base of Dominican laypeople who tune in for Masses and prayer.
Father Michael Hurley, OP, (left) and his fellow priests from St. Dominic Parish in San Francisco cross the street in a homage to “Abbey Road.” Credit: St. Dominic Parish/Ivi Fandino
Hurley said he personally never worried during lockdown about people not returning to Mass, instead trusting that Catholics would return when they could. He said his main concern was keeping the church building open safely during the pandemic — in a state with some of the strictest lockdown measures in the country — to maintain sacramental support.
California finally lifted all capacity restrictions on religious gatherings in April 2021 after previously implementing a near-total ban on indoor services that was contested all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The sanctuary of St. Dominic Parish in San Francisco. Credit: St. Dominic Parish/Alex Mizuno
Though the demographics of St. Dominic Parish has changed somewhat, in-person worshippers, many of whom work in the Bay Area’s high-tech sector, have returned in large numbers.
“The Lord is always searching for the strays, right? … All you have to do is open the doors and do what you’re doing, and people will come,” Hurley told CNA.
That said, Hurley said he believes St. Dominic’s beautiful church building, welcoming atmosphere, and a strong sense of identity — as a Dominican-led parish that aims to “radiate the joy of the Gospel in the heart of the city” — helps to make it an attractive place for Catholics, especially young adults. They also keep the church building open for personal prayer throughout the day, a rarity in a city that occasionally struggles with crime.
“We are proud to be who we are as Catholics, and for us as clergy, as Dominicans. And that makes a huge difference,” Hurley said.
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 2, 2020 / 08:00 am (CNA).- The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops recently urged the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to ensure that vaccines developed to combat coronavirus are not “morally compromised” by any connection to cell lines created from the remains of aborted babies.
Archbishop Joseph Naumann of Kansas City in Kansas, chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Pro-Life Activities, said in an interview Thursday that “there’s been a history in creating vaccines of—in some cases anyway—of using cell lines from aborted fetuses,” and that it remains important to highlight the complicated ethical concerns in vaccine research.
“So some of the vaccines that are used today have this ethical problem,” he said in an appearance on EWTN Pro-Life Weekly. “We as a Church, obviously, we see this as a moral issue, that we don’t want to do anything that—in some way gives support for the idea of abortion.”
“On the other hand,” the bishops said, “I think in some cases where there are no other ethical choices, or for public health reasons, Catholics may be forced to use these vaccines even though we object to the way they were developed, but the Church says we have an obligation to object to that, and to advocate for ethical vaccines to be developed.”
Naumann said that at a time when so many resources and so much public attention is being devoted to developing a vaccine for the coronavirus, “this is the moment for us to advocate.”
“There’s no need to really use cell lines from aborted fetuses, there are other cell lines that can be used to develop these vaccines, so that’s why we think it’s very important at this moment to let the voice not only of the Church but other concerned citizens to voice that we want to—we all want a vaccine, we realize that’s important for our public health, but we also want a vaccine that has no ethical problems in the way it’s developed,” he said.
Archbishop Naumann on protecting the vulnerable:
“I think it’s admirable that we as a culture are taking these steps to try to protect those that are most vulnerable to the virus. Hopefully that can translate into a similar concern for the lives of the unborn.” #prolife#COVID19pic.twitter.com/7ECGXABmUu
Naumann said he hopes the FDA will “create incentives for the pharmaceutical companies that are creating these vaccines to use cell lines that are not implicated with abortion” and to issue “strong guidance” to create a vaccine that is developed ethically.
“I think all we need really is for our pharmaceutical companies to realize that this is offensive to a large number of Americans and give them the encouragement, give our government the encouragement, to make sure these vaccines are not morally compromised in any way,” he said.
Naumann also said that the country’s response to the coronavirus pandemic has revealed a pro-life ethic in the public mind.
“It’s interesting because even some figures, public officials, that don’t support us on protecting the lives of the unborn, they’ve made statements in the midst of this crisis that every life is precious, every life is sacred,” he said.
“As a culture and society, we’re going to enormous lengths to try to protect the elderly and those that might be susceptible to the virus where it’s much more dangerous for them. So I think it’s admirable that we as a culture are taking these steps to try to protect those that are most vulnerable to the virus, and hopefully that can translate into a similar concern for the lives of the unborn as well.”
Mr. Phillips is very quick to demand that others respect him, but he shows no respect for others; just rudeness and bullying.
It is shameful behavior, and that such a man is allowed to torment those poor kids who did *NOTHING* wrong and give maudlin interviews to oh-so-sympathetic reporters is disgraceful. I do not hesitate to use the word “malevolent” about him.
These Native Americans are protesting something, what is it? I believe their protest is against White Nationalism Trump style. There are many who want to believe this is a white Nation. It is not! We are a Nation made of of immigrants, many different colors of skin. When the Natives shouted “You stole our land” why not listen to what they have to say? We cannot continue our denial of what we done to them. On another site I was blacklisted for upholding the perennial teachings of the Church. The truth caused me to be blacklisted. Will the Register do the same?
I think that could go back to ancient times to find something to be offended by, or to find an injustice against ourselves, perceived or otherwise. But to go back to Christopher Columbus and claim that is relevant to a person living today is a bit of a stretch.
Judging by the man who accompanied Mr. Phillips, they were protesting the presence of those of European ethnicity in the United States.
I do not understand how you can conclude credibly that wanting secure borders and not wanting illegal aliens to, among other things, drive up the unemployment and drive down the salaries of lower-income Americans, not a few of whom do not have “white skin,” constitutes “White Nationalism.”
“When the Natives shouted “You stole our land” why not listen to what they have to say? We cannot continue our denial of what we done to them. ”
In this particular instance, I’m not going to listen to anybody who bullies teenagers and lies about it.
And if I did listen to them, what do you propose – that all immigrants and those descended from immigrants leave the country? Then, to take one example, we should send all the people with Anglo-Saxon blood out of Britain and leave it to the Celts. Oh, but wait, the Celts drove out the Picts, didn’t they? And what about the Danes?
And back to the United States, to whom would we give “their” land? Indians were not one monolithic group. Many tribes waged bloody warfare over lands (in contradiction to the myth of the sweet, happy, unified people sitting around holding hands and singing Kumbaya). So – many of them were perfectly happy to *gain* land by conquest; they’re hardly in a position to claim that it’s unjust that they *lost* land the same way.
I’ve not received a degree in History or even close to it, but my understanding of the population of North and South America is that the one time “land bridge” with Asia permitted the development of land previously uninhabited. Everyone came from Adam and Eve…we are all immigrants beyond the Garden! If the argument is that the people from Europe who came by ship later, or up through Central America after landing by ship there, were unfair to those they met here, then maybe we can agree that searches for wealth and fame common to most is at the core of the dispute, not the color of skin. Immigrants from Europe who came legally and immigrants who are coming yet from Central and South America are equal and as deserving of a new home as all who came here before are, including those who identify as “natives”. All here are required by Natural law to try to make room for their “brothers”.
We are a Nation made of(sic) of immigrants, many different colors of skin.
Including every single tribe of American Indians whose ancestors migrated to North America across the Bering Strait land bridge from Siberia several millenia ago.
Your subjective opinion and defense of a character as flawed as Nathan Stanard/Phillips is extremely short on facts.
Because WE haven’t done anything to them. We are responsible for our own sins, not those of someone who lived centuries before we were born. Simple as that.
Why have I been blacklisted from this site also. On Lifesite News the moderator is a very sensitive man. I spoke in defense of the Church and it hurt his touchy feely sentiments. What hapenned to masculine Catholicism???
If you mean, “Why did my comment not post immediately,” it’s because *nobody’s* comments post immediately. See the yellow box under “Leave a Reply?” It says “All comments posted at Catholic World Report are moderated. Just wait, and your post will show up, unless it breaks the rules the editors have set – “comments containing obscene language or personal attacks—or those that are deemed by the editors to be needlessly combative or inflammatory—will not be published.”
I’m not an editor, just someone who read the statement.
Being banned at LifeSite is a badge of honor. Wear it proudly. Long before the election of Jorge Bergoglio, I was pointing out the culture of intrinsically disordered sexual deviants masquerading as Priests and their goal of destroying the Church. I was banned without explanation. With the revelations unleashed by grand jury reports, Archbishop Vigano’s testimonies, Wuerl’s behavior in Pennsylvania and DC and his getting caught lying about his knowledge of McCarrick, the none too secret rumors about McCarrick being confirmed, the behavior of Cupich, Tobin, Dolan, McElroy, et al, the behavior of the Peronist Pontiff, the behavior of the St. Gallen Mafia, the curia, Kasper, Marx, Danneels, et al, I’ve been vindicated. I’m still banned though and I’m proud of the fact that people like that don’t want to read opinions like mine. That doesn’t stop them from attempting to solicit donations from me to keep them afloat.
Mr. Phillips is very quick to demand that others respect him, but he shows no respect for others; just rudeness and bullying.
It is shameful behavior, and that such a man is allowed to torment those poor kids who did *NOTHING* wrong and give maudlin interviews to oh-so-sympathetic reporters is disgraceful. I do not hesitate to use the word “malevolent” about him.
These Native Americans are protesting something, what is it? I believe their protest is against White Nationalism Trump style. There are many who want to believe this is a white Nation. It is not! We are a Nation made of of immigrants, many different colors of skin. When the Natives shouted “You stole our land” why not listen to what they have to say? We cannot continue our denial of what we done to them. On another site I was blacklisted for upholding the perennial teachings of the Church. The truth caused me to be blacklisted. Will the Register do the same?
I think that could go back to ancient times to find something to be offended by, or to find an injustice against ourselves, perceived or otherwise. But to go back to Christopher Columbus and claim that is relevant to a person living today is a bit of a stretch.
To what Register are you referring?
Judging by the man who accompanied Mr. Phillips, they were protesting the presence of those of European ethnicity in the United States.
I do not understand how you can conclude credibly that wanting secure borders and not wanting illegal aliens to, among other things, drive up the unemployment and drive down the salaries of lower-income Americans, not a few of whom do not have “white skin,” constitutes “White Nationalism.”
“When the Natives shouted “You stole our land” why not listen to what they have to say? We cannot continue our denial of what we done to them. ”
In this particular instance, I’m not going to listen to anybody who bullies teenagers and lies about it.
And if I did listen to them, what do you propose – that all immigrants and those descended from immigrants leave the country? Then, to take one example, we should send all the people with Anglo-Saxon blood out of Britain and leave it to the Celts. Oh, but wait, the Celts drove out the Picts, didn’t they? And what about the Danes?
And back to the United States, to whom would we give “their” land? Indians were not one monolithic group. Many tribes waged bloody warfare over lands (in contradiction to the myth of the sweet, happy, unified people sitting around holding hands and singing Kumbaya). So – many of them were perfectly happy to *gain* land by conquest; they’re hardly in a position to claim that it’s unjust that they *lost* land the same way.
I’ve not received a degree in History or even close to it, but my understanding of the population of North and South America is that the one time “land bridge” with Asia permitted the development of land previously uninhabited. Everyone came from Adam and Eve…we are all immigrants beyond the Garden! If the argument is that the people from Europe who came by ship later, or up through Central America after landing by ship there, were unfair to those they met here, then maybe we can agree that searches for wealth and fame common to most is at the core of the dispute, not the color of skin. Immigrants from Europe who came legally and immigrants who are coming yet from Central and South America are equal and as deserving of a new home as all who came here before are, including those who identify as “natives”. All here are required by Natural law to try to make room for their “brothers”.
The truth or your opinion of the truth?
We are a Nation made of(sic) of immigrants, many different colors of skin.
Including every single tribe of American Indians whose ancestors migrated to North America across the Bering Strait land bridge from Siberia several millenia ago.
Your subjective opinion and defense of a character as flawed as Nathan Stanard/Phillips is extremely short on facts.
Because WE haven’t done anything to them. We are responsible for our own sins, not those of someone who lived centuries before we were born. Simple as that.
Why have I been blacklisted from this site also. On Lifesite News the moderator is a very sensitive man. I spoke in defense of the Church and it hurt his touchy feely sentiments. What hapenned to masculine Catholicism???
If you mean, “Why did my comment not post immediately,” it’s because *nobody’s* comments post immediately. See the yellow box under “Leave a Reply?” It says “All comments posted at Catholic World Report are moderated. Just wait, and your post will show up, unless it breaks the rules the editors have set – “comments containing obscene language or personal attacks—or those that are deemed by the editors to be needlessly combative or inflammatory—will not be published.”
I’m not an editor, just someone who read the statement.
Incidentally, PaxTecum77, are we to conclude that you are also IesuEt Maria, since you both write the same way?
Being banned at LifeSite is a badge of honor. Wear it proudly. Long before the election of Jorge Bergoglio, I was pointing out the culture of intrinsically disordered sexual deviants masquerading as Priests and their goal of destroying the Church. I was banned without explanation. With the revelations unleashed by grand jury reports, Archbishop Vigano’s testimonies, Wuerl’s behavior in Pennsylvania and DC and his getting caught lying about his knowledge of McCarrick, the none too secret rumors about McCarrick being confirmed, the behavior of Cupich, Tobin, Dolan, McElroy, et al, the behavior of the Peronist Pontiff, the behavior of the St. Gallen Mafia, the curia, Kasper, Marx, Danneels, et al, I’ve been vindicated. I’m still banned though and I’m proud of the fact that people like that don’t want to read opinions like mine. That doesn’t stop them from attempting to solicit donations from me to keep them afloat.
Mr. Phillips should harken to the Latino world on non boring rhythms….
https://youtu.be/2Wv89NBLinE
Even at church its also dangerous nowadays
Native(sic) American activist Nathan Phillips has violent criminal record and escaped from jail as teenager