Read Mayor Lori Lightfoot's Open Letter To Faith Leaders

CHICAGO — Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Friday called on religious leaders hoping to persuade them to abide by stay-at-home restrictions and find new ways to worship during the coronavirus crisis.

Lightfoot said her administration has been in contact with a handful of churches that have advertised plans to hold weekend services in protest of the statewide stay-at-home order. She has sought to have a "conversation rather than a conflict" in the hope of avoiding the need to take action to enforce the law regulating public gatherings.

"But if we have to take enforcement action, we will," the mayor said.

Earlier this week, the Archdiocese of Chicago issued its plan to gradually reopen churches.

The archdiocese's plan will unfold in three phases. Pastors and bishops, however, will continue to offer Mass in private each day and to livestream and broadcast Masses from parishes and the archdiocese. In the meantime, the cardinal is encouraging civil compliance with Gov. J.B. Pritzker's executive order to stay home and practice social distancing "as this virus preys on the most vulnerable in our midst."

Read Lightfoot's letter below: