Mayor Lori Lightfoot Prepared To Take Action If Churches Defy Stay-At-Home Order On Sunday; 'These Measures Are Not Arbitrary'

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Two days after at least two Chicago churches held Sunday services in defiance of the statewide stay-at-home order barring gatherings of more than 10 people, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said she is prepared to take action to enforce the rules, if necessary, should the churches do so again this weekend.

The mayor said she will be in regular communication with the churches this week to educate them about the risks of holding large gatherings while the city is still at the peak of the COVID-19 outbreak, but she stopped short of saying what specific enforcement the city might use should the churches move forward with plans to continue Sunday services.

"If necessary, we are going to take action to make sure there is compliance with the stay-at-home orders," she said at an unrelated event on Tuesday.

On Sunday, about 50 people attended services at Metro Praise International Church in Belmont Cragin. The church said no masks were required, six feet of social distancing was optional, and hugs or any other physical touch were allowed.

Pastor Joseph Wyrostek said he was taking a defiant stance against the state's stay-at-home rules, which prohibit gatherings of more than 10 people, and require face coverings in public when people can't stay at least six feet away from others.

"That's a part of our freedom of religion, we believe," Wyrostek said.

Hand sanitizer and wipes were available at the door, but the Christian congregation believes in the healing power of touch – even amid a months-long pandemic.

"I will take the risk to hug you because I believe it's good for you if you're willing to take that risk at this point and you say you need it," Wryostek said, "and the church should be there."

According to published reports, Elim Romanian Pentecostal Church in Albany Park also held services on Sunday, with dozens of parishioners attending.

"I don't think it's smart," Lightfoot said of the decision by some churches to defy the stay-at-home order to hold such large religious gatherings. "Part of the reason that we have put these measures in place is to save people's lives, and we know that congregate settings, particularly congregate settings where we have people who are gathering who have underlying medical conditions, who are over 60 years of age, those are exactly the kind of conditions where this virus spreads rapidly, and unfortunately has led to death."

Elim Romanian has filed a federal lawsuit against Gov. JB Pritzker, arguing the restrictions of the stay-at-home order are unconstitutional.

The mayor said, before and just after the stay-at-home order first went into effect in March, there were instances of religious leaders and church members getting infected with COVID-19, and in some cases, dying of the disease.

"These measures are not arbitrary, they're put into place for a reason," she said. "We hope that leaders of the faith community are going to be smart and sensible, and recognize obviously people are following them, and hope that they lead their congregations and their flocks in a way that is consistent with the public health guidelines. And we're going to be communicating over and over again over the course of this week. I understand that people are getting anxious, but defying common sense and public health guidance only puts their congregations at physical risk."

Lightfoot said religious leaders can still provide opportunities for their members to worship without holding large in-person services. The governor's order encourages religious institutions to hold drive-in services or online services to avoid potentially spreading the virus. The order allows for small religious gatherings of up to 10 people.

"We don't want to see a cluster break out because faith leaders believe that they have only one way of showing their reverence to the god that they worship," the mayor said. "There's lots of ways in which we show our devotion to our faith that don't include physically putting people at risk."

The mayor also said she wants to educate young people about the dangers of the virus, fearing many "still really don't understand how difficult, and complicated, and life-altering this disease is."

"So that tells me that we've got to continue to think of creative ways in which we can educate them about the risks and the dangers," she said.

Lightfoot said public officials need to find "surrogates who really have resonance among the different sectors of young people" to help get the message across.

"When they go out, and they're in these settings where the disease is present, you're bringing that back home. You're bringing it home to your family, to people in your household that you love and care about, people who may have underlying conditions. Something like asthma, or upper respiratory disease, or heart disease, or diabetes," she said. "This disease is ruthless in attacking people of all ages that have those underlying conditions. So while you may feel like you're invincible, you may feel like you're doing fine physically, you're bringing that back home to your household to people that you love, and you've got to stop and think about that."