Some parishes in the Archdiocese of Baltimore will offer public Masses May 30-31, the feast of Pentecost, for the first time since mid-March, as the state of Maryland slowly reopens in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
Parishes will be allowed to celebrate Mass at one-third of capacity only if the local jurisdiction is allowing religious services for more than 10 people and the parish has taken all the precautions necessary for sanitizing and maintaining social distance.
Parishes are not required to celebrate public Masses – even if the conditions are met – if the pastor determines the parish is not ready to do so.
Bishop Adam J. Parker, an auxiliary bishop who chairs the archdiocesan coronavirus task force, said many people are eager to return to church.
“I think it’s safe to say everybody misses the opportunity to receive the sacraments, especially the sacrament of the Eucharist,” he told the Catholic Review. “At the same time, we are hearing from a number of people who are urging us to exercise caution about reopening too soon.
“We’re trying to proceed with the health and safety of our people at the forefront. That’s got to be our top priority, that our people would be able to return to the sacraments, but only when it is safe for them to do so.”
In an interview with WMET Radio that aired May 25, Archbishop William E. Lori said returning to church will require “caring consideration on the part of everyone who is coming to Mass.”
Practicing charity for our neighbor includes wearing a mask and sitting in designated places in church. There will be special protocols for the reception of Communion to ensure that the communicant and the minister are safe.
The archdiocese is strongly encouraging people to receive Communion in the hand, due to viable medical advice that the virus can spread more quickly through saliva than through contact with the hand.
For those who prefer to receive Communion on the tongue, the archbishop said not doing so would be a sacrifice and “a great act of charity” for others.
“In any case, we’re going to ask the ministers of Communion to sanitize their hands if there is any contact with another person, whether on the hand or otherwise,” the archbishop said.
Bishop Parker said there are key milestones for the parish to be ready for public Masses.
- It must be located in a jurisdiction where they are no longer restricted from having a public Mass.
- The parish has the requisite cleaning supplies secured as well as the people to perform the sanitizing in between.
- The church has to be marked off and pews blocked so the physical space where worship takes place can allow appropriate social distancing.
- Ministers of hospitality have been trained to assist people coming to Mass to appropriately socially distance and to know what to expect when they actually enter the church.
- The pastor himself needs to be adequately prepared, “meaning that he needs to be comfortable in celebrating public Masses and he needs to be fully prepared that his own church and his parish has checked all the boxes on the list,” Bishop Parker said, referring to an extensive checklist by the archdiocese with the latest guidelines.
Even if his church is prepared, the bishop said, “If a pastor is vulnerable for any particular reason because of his age or because of his health, he may not feel comfortable in offering public Masses, he therefore might ask his associate pastor to celebrate the Masses, if he has one, or he may work with our director of clergy personnel to find another priest celebrant if he feels that he is not ready to do so.”
Archbishop Lori said in the radio interview that the new guidelines are the result of a broad consultation with co-workers at the Catholic Center, priests of the archdiocese, catechetical leaders, medical experts and other people on the ground.
“We tried to bring together all the guidance that leads into one place that we felt was appropriate so that we could open as soon as possible,” he said, “but also as safely as possible.”
Bishop Parker acknowledged that archdiocesan staff, parish staff and parishioners will all be learning as they go through this new process. “We’re asking for the patience of our people, knowing that we want to do this in the safest manner possible,” he said.
Vicars general from dioceses in the region have been meeting via conference call weekly to share plans and ideas, he said. Based on the experience of other dioceses, he doesn’t expect large numbers of people to turn out the first weekend.
“While we are certainly trying as best we can to manage the capacity restrictions that our parishes have, we’re also cognizant of the fact that at this point, many people will choose to wait until they return to public worship,” he said.
Parishes were asked to notify their regional vicars last week about their readiness and plans to open for the weekend of Pentecost. Although there are about 140 parish sites, under the archdiocesan planning process, they have been grouped into about 90 pastorates, in which parishes work together in ministry.
While not all of the pastorates have been formed or fully activated, Bishop Parker estimated about 15 or 20 of the 90 pastorates would go forward with Masses this weekend. It’s possible that not every parish site in those pastorates will be utilized, to concentrate the parish resources in one place.
“It’s a relatively small minority that would actually be starting this weekend,” the bishop said.
He also noted that some parishes are ready to open, but are in a county that is still restricted, citing Our Lady of the Fields in Millersville as an example.
“They’ve got their supplies. They’ve got their people trained. They’ve got the church marked off. They’re ready to go,” he said. “But they’re in a county that says no. So as of today, they’re not going forward this Saturday. But if that were to change in Anne Arundel County this week, they would be ready to do so.”
In addition to inside the church, Masses will be allowed outside and in auxiliary sites on the parish campus “as long as each site/space maintains the 6-foot physical distancing requirement and does not exceed 1/3 of the seating capacity of each facility,” according to the archdiocesan guidelines. Parishioners will be encouraged not to gather in groups before or after Mass, and celebrants will not greet Massgoers in the narthex before or after Mass.
The Phase II guidelines continue to allow baptisms, funerals and wedding Masses, as was allowed in Phase I, although Archbishop Lori noted that it may be hard for some couples to get marriage licenses with courts and public offices closed.
The archbishop has extended his dispensation of the faithful from the obligation to attend Sunday Mass through the entirety of Phase II, the guidelines said. “Parishes will continue to make Masses available to the faithful via livestreaming or recording, thereby ensuring that the faithful may maintain a spiritual connection with their local church.”
The archdiocese released a video, “What to Expect When You Return to Mass,” and a series of messages from the archbishop aimed at parishioners, liturgical ministers, hospitality ministers (ushers) and other targeted audiences.
Parishioners are also encouraged to download the myParish App, which will include a digital worship aid containing the prayers and readings for the Sunday Masses, so those in church will not share hymnals or other printed resources.
The archbishop said as much as the faithful are longing to attend Mass, the priests of the archdiocese miss their flocks. “I think that our pastors will welcome their people back heartily, warmly and joyfully,” he said. Despite the unusual conditions for public worship, “Everyone will know that, yes, these are extraordinary conditions, but it’s still the Mass, it’s still the Eucharist, it’s still the Lord.”
Also see:
- Reopening Our Parishes: A message from Archbishop Lori
- Phase One Guidelines for reopening parishes
- Phase Two Guidelines for reopening parishes
- Video: What to Expect at Mass when parishes reopen
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