Calling it “necessary and urgent” to return to public Masses as soon as anti-COVID 19 measures permit, the Vatican’s top official for liturgy has urged Catholic bishops around the world not to let religious worship be relegated to a priority level below “recreational activities” or treated as just another public gathering.
Minnesota’s Catholic bishops have informed the state’s governor that they will return to in-person Church services later this month in defiance of an executive order imposing strict limits on houses of worship.
The Archbishop of New York, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, will be holding a press conference at 11 a.m. today at Our Saviour Parish in Manhattan, regarding the reopening of churches in the archdiocese amid the coronavirus pandemic.
A blue-ribbon panel of Catholic doctors from some of the nation’s top research hospitals and universities said churches should be able to reopen “as safely as other essential services,” after being shut down for more than two months due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
While Catholics in Italy are enthusiastic about finally being able to attend Mass after a two months hiatus due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, there are several other areas of ecclesial life that are still on hold.
The chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Divine Worship has sent a memo to fellow bishops offering links to resources for parishes to review as they prepare to offer the public celebration of Mass and the sacraments.
Yesterday, my wife and I did something we, along with most people in Rome, haven’t been able to do since March 8: We went to Mass. (We also went out to lunch for the first time in two months and 10 days, enjoying a gorgeous Roman spring day and a fine meal, but that’s a story for another time.)
