Priest dies a week after coronavirus outbreak at Catholic church in California

  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.
Summer Lin
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

A priest has died after a San Francisco Catholic church was forced to close due to a coronavirus outbreak.

The Rev. Bob Stein died on Tuesday, about a week after he and other members of Saints Peter and Paul Church tested positive for COVID-19, the church said on its website. The church closed and had been anticipating opening for private prayer this week.

“We are deeply touched and grateful for the prayers and support so many of you have sent for those of us (clergy and staff) who tested positive for COVID,” the church wrote. “We are sorry to say that Fr. Bob Stein passed away early on the morning of February 16. Please pray for the repose of his soul. We certainly will not be able to open the Church before February 23 at the earliest.”

Saints Peter and Paul Church has previously been accused of defying health orders and in June, City Attorney of San Francisco Dennis Herrera issued a cease-and-desist to the Archdiocese of San Francisco to stop holding indoor services.

Herrera wrote that the church conducted “both indoor and outdoor gatherings over the past three weekends that violate the Health Order and jeopardize the health and safety of San Franciscans.” Herrera also wrote that the church posted a sign stating that no Sunday mass would be held but its website said that “it will continue to celebrate public Masses twice a day Monday through Saturday.”

Days after Herrera sent the cease-and-desist order, the church held a wedding in early July that resulted in at least 10 attendees testing positive for COVID-19, including the newlyweds, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

The indoor wedding was shut down after Herrera’s office sent an attorney, who ordered the the participants to move the ceremony outdoors, according to the publication. Nearly 100 people were invited to the event but most watched the ceremony over video.

More than 27 million people in the U.S. have tested positive for the coronavirus as of Feb. 18 and more than 490,000 people have died, according to Johns Hopkins University. California has the highest number of COVID-19 cases out of any U.S. state.

Latest Stories

  • Trump Goes After Mitch McConnell, Calls The Republican Leader A 'Political Hack'

    The former president called the Senate minority leader “third rate” and “one of the most unpopular politicians in the United States.”

  • Texan pleads for help on social media as his family is left with one piece of firewood to keep warm

    Chester Jones shares a video of his kids huddled together in one room as he uses their last piece of firewood to stay warm

  • As A Young Black Girl, I Loved My Grandfather. Then I Found Out He'd Been A KKK Member.

    "I had no idea the Klan had such a powerful hold in Colorado until I found confirmation about my grandfather and began researching."

  • Naked hotel guests in South Korea shocked to discover mirrored glass in sauna was actually see-through

    A newlywed South Korean couple say they are undergoing counselling after being told that the windows in the luxurious spa of their five-star resort hotel were of one-way glass – only to discover on the final day of their stay that they had been walking around naked in full view of other guests. The husband posted a complaint online about the Grand Josun Jeju Hotel, on the island of Jeju off the southern tip of the Korean Peninsula. He claimed that his wife had used the sauna on several occasions during their stay and had not bothered to use a towel to cover up because they had been told that the windows of the second-floor sauna were mirrored. “While taking a walk around the hotel on the last day of our stay, we discovered the interior was visible from the outside”, the Korea Times quoted the man as saying. “We could even see the writing on a thermometer inside the sauna. “There were a number of other guests using the facilities, including minors”. The guests, who have not been named, added that windows onto the showers and toilet facilities were also not protected by one-way glass. “My wife and I are currently undergoing psychotherapy as we were so shocked after realising that we had taken a shower and used toilets that were visible from the outside”, the man said. Staff at the £520-a-night hotel compounded the problem, the man said, by claiming that blinds in the sauna had been rolled up “by mistake” and calling the police when they complained, accusing them of obstructing the property’s business. In response to criticism online, the operator of the hotel admitted to making “mistakes during operations”. In a message on the hotel’s website, Josun Hotels & Resorts said: “We deeply apologise for causing inconvenience to customers due to the omission of glass barrier coatings … in some areas of the women’s sauna”. The sauna has been closed until the situation can be remedied, it added.

  • 36 Clever-Approved Coffee Tables to Tie Together Your Space

    These coffee tables are worth every pennyOriginally Appeared on Architectural Digest

  • Georgia's prime minister resigns, opposition calls for early election

    Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia announced his resignation on Thursday, prompting celebrations from the opposition, which called for an early election. Gakharia, who had held the post since 2019, said he was stepping down because of a disagreement with his own team over the detention of Nika Melia, a prominent opposition politician. Gakharia had said that Melia's detention was unacceptable if it threatened to fuel political divisions in the South Caucasus country of 3.7 million people.

  • Ted Cruz is seemingly returning to Texas after 11 hours in Cancun

    Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is seemingly already returning from a very short — and very inconsiderate — family vacation. Millions of Cruz's constituents lost power earlier this week thanks to a massive winter storm that struck the state. Hundreds of thousands of households still didn't have electricity as of Thursday morning, while many more Texans were dealing with burst pipes and other consequences of the deep freeze. But on Wednesday night, Cruz was seen boarding a plane with his family headed to Cancun amid a storm that had already killed several Texans — as well as a pandemic that had killed thousands. Democrats spent a good 11 hours ridiculing Cruz's terribly timed travel before, on Thursday morning, a person who appeared to be Rafael "Ted" Cruz was spotted on the upgrade list for a Cancun-to-Houston flight. Here’s the upgrade list for this afternoon’s flight from Cancun to Houston. Looks like ⁦@tedcruz⁩ is on his way back, ⁦@danpfeiffer⁩. He’s just narrowly missing the upgrade list That’s assuming that “cru, r” is him. And I do. pic.twitter.com/CqfKa5rJfG — Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) February 18, 2021 Texas Democrats have already been demanding Cruz's resignation with the craftily named "FledCruz.com." After all, Cruz himself had called out "hypocritical" Democrats and other officials who'd urged constituents to stay home during the pandemic — while out of the country themselves. As of Thursday at 11:30 a.m. ET, Cruz and his team have not commented on the trip. More stories from theweek.comThe parts of Texas not on its ERCOT power grid appear to have weathered the freeze with few outagesTrump comes out of hidingTexas governor walks back Fox News comments on Green New Deal, says gas, coal failed in Texas freeze

  • Texans shelter in furniture store during brutal winter storm, as no end is in sight for days-long power outages

    The governor is launching an investigation into the company managing the state’s power grid

  • Judge keeps mother, son in Capitol riot jailed pending trial

    A Washington, D.C., judge on Wednesday ordered that a Georgia woman and her Tennessee son remain jailed pending trial on charges for their involvement in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. Lisa Eisenhart is accused of breaking into the Capitol with her son, Eric Munchel, who was photographed carrying flexible plastic handcuffs in the Senate chamber. U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth ruled that “no condition or combination of conditions of release will reasonably assure the safety of the community" if the two are released pending trial.

  • CNN says Chris Cuomo banned from covering brother, despite early pandemic exception

    A CNN spokesperson told the Washington Post that a rule prohibiting anchor Chris Cuomo from interviewing or covering his brother, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, "remains in place today."Why it matters: Chris Cuomo hosted his brother for numerous segments of "Cuomo Prime Time" to discuss the coronavirus last year, when New York was at the epicenter of the pandemic and the governor was winning plaudits for his crisis management. Gov. Cuomo is now facing a federal probe and calls to resign over his handling of COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes.Stay on top of the latest market trends and economic insights with Axios Markets. Subscribe for freeChris Cuomo's show has not covered the controversy surrounding Gov. Cuomo — who was accused on Wednesday of threatening a Democratic state lawmaker over the alleged nursing home cover-up — despite other CNN programs reporting on the issue, according to the New York Post.It raises questions about whether the governor should have ever appeared on "Cuomo Prime Time," given the conflict of interest.What they're saying: "The early months of the pandemic crisis were an extraordinary time," a CNN spokesperson told the Washington Post. "We felt that Chris speaking with his brother about the challenges of what millions of American families were struggling with was of significant human interest." "As a result, we made an exception to a rule that we have had in place since 2013 which prevents Chris from interviewing and covering his brother, and that rule remains in place today. CNN has covered the news surrounding Governor Cuomo extensively."Go deeper: Cuomo allegedly threatened a state lawmaker over nursing home scandalLike this article? Get more from Axios and subscribe to Axios Markets for free.

  • The parts of Texas not on its ERCOT power grid appear to have weathered the freeze with few outages

    Texas is nearing the end of what Gov. Greg Abbott (R) called "a once-in-every-120-year cold front," but that doesn't entirely explain why more than a million households still had no electricity early Thursday, after three full days of below-freezing temperatures. Plenty of places in the world keep their power on in prolonged arctic weather, and so did parts of Texas. Those edges of Texas, including El Paso, "are primarily in areas outside of those supported by ERCOT, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which manages the electric grid for 90 percent of the state and operates separately from federal oversight and regulation," KHOU 11 Houston reported Wednesday night. After the 2011 winter freeze, El Paso Electric, on the Western Interconnect grid, spent heavily to "winterize our equipment and facilities so they could stand minus-10 degree weather for a sustained period of time," Eddie Gutierrez, an El Paso Electric spokesman, told KHOU. So this year, "we had about three thousand people that were out during this period, a thousand of them had outages that were less than five minutes." On the other side of Texas, near the Louisiana border, the city of Beaumont also appears to have weather the storm without massive outages. Entergy, which powers Beaumont on the Eastern Interconnect grid, told KHOU it also winterized its infrastructure after the 2011 storm. Weatherizing power generation and extraction equipment is voluntary in Texas, though the state legislature will probably revisit that strategy when it dissects ERCOT this year. More stories from theweek.comTed Cruz is seemingly returning to Texas after 11 hours in CancunTrump comes out of hidingTexas governor walks back Fox News comments on Green New Deal, says gas, coal failed in Texas freeze

  • ‘My stomach dropped’: Diver spots tiger shark caught in rope ‘noose’ that had cut into its body

    Shark’s predicament ‘a reminder of how our carelessness and disregard for proper trash disposal can lead to suffering or death to our marine life’, diver says

  • Store Owner Shot 4 Times, May Never Walk Again After Violent Robbery in Vallejo

    A store owner is now recovering from gunshot wounds after a violent robbery in Vallejo on Tuesday evening. Marc Quidit, 49, was shot four times in the legs by armed robbers who entered their store, the Dollar Plus and Party Supply at around 7:20 p.m., reports SF Chronicle.

  • Report: Cuomo under investigation by FBI and U.S. attorney over New York nursing home deaths

    New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's administration is under investigation by the FBI and U.S. attorney's office in Brooklyn over its handling of COVID-19 nursing home deaths, the Albany Times-Union first reported Wednesday.Why it matters: The news comes as N.Y. state lawmakers begin efforts to repeal the Democratic governor's pandemic emergency powers after it was revealed his administration delayed releasing data of COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes, prompting allegations of a cover-up.Stay on top of the latest market trends and economic insights with Axios Markets. Subscribe for freeThe big picture: The New York Post obtained audio of a Cuomo aide saying a request for the nursing homes data was rejected because it could "be used against us" by federal investigators encouraged by then-President Trump. Cuomo was widely praised for his coronavirus response early in the pandemic, but now the New York State Senate is expected to vote on stripping Cuomo of his emergency powers as early as next week, per the New York Times.New York's Democratic Attorney General Letitia James released a report last month accusing his administration of undercounting COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes by up to 50%.Of note: New York State Assemblyman Ron Kim (D) alleged earlier Wednesday that Cuomo threatened to "destroy" him over comments he made about the nursing home deaths scandal.What saying: When asked about the investigation, Richard Azzopardi, senior adviser to Cuomo, told Axios: "As we publicly said, the DOJ has been looking into this for months. We have been cooperating with them and we will continue to."Cuomo said last Monday that he took responsibility for his administration's delay in releasing data of COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes, But he added: "There’s nothing to investigate here."The FBI and Department of Justice did not immediately respond to Axios' requests for comment. More from Axios: Sign up to get the latest market trends with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free

  • Ex-Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan to resign seat

    Michael Madigan, a Chicago Democrat who virtually set Illinois' political agenda as House speaker for four decades before his ouster last month, announced Thursday that he is resigning his seat in the Legislature. Madigan, the longest-serving legislative leader in U.S. history, was tarnished by a federal investigation of Statehouse bribery announced last summer that implicated him. In a statement Thursday, Madigan, 78, said he was resigning as state representative at the end of the month.

  • After blizzard of criticism, vacationing Senator Ted Cruz to fly back to frozen Texas

    U.S. Senator Ted Cruz flew into a storm of criticism on Thursday after leaving his home state of Texas, grappling with a deadly deep freeze, for a holiday jaunt to the Mexican resort city of Cancun. The 50-year-old Republican lawmaker cut his trip short after his travels were reported, stopping briefly in Cancun airport to speak to media on his way out of Mexico. "With school canceled for the week, our girls asked to take a trip with friends," Cruz said.

  • At the WH press briefing, deputy national security advisor gives an update on the SolarWinds hack

    During the White House press briefing on Wednesday deputy national security advisor for cyber and emerging technology Anne Neuberger gave an update on the investigation into the SolarWinds hack, which officials say compromised government and private industry computer systems and was backed by Russia.

  • Trump on Hannity reveals he only befriended Rush Limbaugh ‘when I got word he was with us all the way’

    Former president says he went on to play a lot of golf with the late radio host. ‘When he hit the ball, he hit it a long way’

  • Ex French minister found guilty of rape after office 'foot massages'

    A former French minister was sentenced and imprisoned for gang rape and sexual assault on an employee for the first time in modern French history, as a new wave of sexual abuse scandals rocks France. Two former employees of Georges Tron, a mayor of the small Paris suburb of Draveil and former secretary of state, accused him of multiple assaults and rapes perpetrated with the help of his deputy at the time. On Wednesday, he was sentenced to five years in prison, including a two-year suspended sentence. He spent his first night in jail on Wednesday evening – the first time a former French minister has sentenced and jailed for rape since France's Fifth Republic was founded in 1958. His deputy, Brigitte Gruel, was given a two-year suspended prison sentence. "I still can't believe it. When I heard that all the facts had been accepted as true it was a relief because that's what I've been asking for ten years, to be heard," said Virginie Ettel, one of the accusers. The verdict was delivered following a ten-year fight for justice as a wave of sexual abuse scandals rocks France, including several investigations implicating politicians as high-up as the current interior minister. "In 2011 all the elements that could have led to the sentencing of Georges Tron were already there. But the MeToo movement was not a reality yet," Vincent Ollivier, a lawyer for Ms Ettel, told the Telegraph. Tron, who has been mayor of Draveil for 25 years, frequently gave employees foot massages which they did not feel comfortable refusing, and which in one instance led to the sexual assault of Ms Ettel, according to court documents obtained by the Telegraph. Tron and Gruel contributed to creating a "hypersexualised environment" at Draveil's town hall, the documents said. The charges had been dropped in 2018 when a court decided there was insufficient evidence the women had not consented to the sexual acts, but the jury at the appeal trial this week upheld the accusations from Ms Ettel. Tron was cleared of accusations by Eva Loubrieu, another employee. The past few months have seen a wave of allegations of sexual abuse and re-awakened an initially sluggish #MeToo movement in France. In October 2017, in the wake of the fall of Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, women in France used the hashtag, and its French equivalent #BalanceTonPorc ("call out your pig"), to share their stories of sexual harassment and abuse. But few powerful men who were accused lost their jobs, while many in France pushed back against the movement. Significantly, 100 prominent women including actress Catherine Deneuve wrote an open letter defending the "right to bother women." "Rape is a crime. But insistent or clumsy flirting is not a crime, nor is gallantry a macho aggression," the letter read in early 2019. Now the movement against sexual abuse is undergoing a revival. The past few months have seen the emergence of #MeTooInceste and #MeTooGay, under which survivors told their stories of abuse as children and gay people, respectively. A host of allegations were triggered by the publication of a book last month, La Familia Grande, in which author Camille Kouchner accused a top political expert and commentator, Olivier Duhamel, of sexually abusing a relative when he was a minor. The head of prestigious French university Sciences Po, Frédéric Mion, resigned over criticism of his handling of the scandal after it emerged he had been informed of the accusations against Mr Duhamel, a former head of the organisation that runs the university, in 2018. An investigation into rape accusations against interior minister Gerald Darmanin has also been reopened. Ms Ettel, who brought the rape charges against Draveil's mayor, praised the #MeToo movement for allowing survivors to talk about their experiences. "We talk about #MeToo, now there is more freedom to speak out and that is very good. But ten years ago there was not all that and it was very difficult to manage," she said.

  • Austin man rescues dozens of drivers left stranded by winter storm

    Using his chains, ropes, and four-wheel drive, over the course of two days Ryan Sivley helped rescue about 150 people stranded by the side of the road in Austin, Texas. A brutal winter storm is battering Texas, and Sivley told KVUE after thinking about what it would be like to be stuck in the freezing temperatures, he knew he had to do something. "I've been helping anybody I find on the side of the road," Sivley said. "I do a lot of off-roading with different groups in Austin, so I had recovery straps and chains and I have two trucks that are four-wheel drive." In addition to pulling cars to freedom, Sivley has also helped get stranded nurses to work and driven patients home from the hospital. Last March, Sivley was in a bad car accident, which nearly took his life. He shattered his pelvic bone, and today he can only walk for about two hours a day, but driving is no problem. His rescue service is free, but many of the grateful people he helps have been giving Sivley a few dollars for gas. "Everybody is really happy," he said. More stories from theweek.comThe parts of Texas not on its ERCOT power grid appear to have weathered the freeze with few outagesTed Cruz is seemingly returning to Texas after 11 hours in CancunTrump comes out of hiding