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Brennan: Public masses can resume if directives are followed

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Wheeling-Charleston Diocese Bishop Mark Brennan has released a set of directives on how public masses are to resume in the Catholic church.

Bishop Mark Brennan

Brennan said public Sunday masses can resume beginning May 23-24 if the individual’s parish’s plan is approved by Brennan himself.

The directives include:

1. Public Sunday Masses are scheduled to begin with the Masses of May 23-24, 2020, if the parish plan submitted by the pastor in accordance with these directives is approved by the
Bishop.

2. The dispensation from the obligation to attend Mass remains in effect until further notice.Sick persons and those more susceptible to infection – the elderly, those already in frail
health – are urged to remain at home and participate in televised or online Masses. Anyone who fears being infected by attending Mass should stay home.

3. Social distancing will be required at Mass. Those who live in the same household may sit together; otherwise, there must be six feet of separation between persons. Every effort will be made to accommodate the faithful who come but once the reduced seating capacity of a church is reached, no others may enter the church. Some parishes will be able to arrange for audio/visual participation in Mass from a hall or gymnasium.

4. The faithful are to wear masks during Mass, except in the moment of receiving Holy Communion. If at all possible, they should bring their own masks, which may be made at
home.

5. Some common though optional practices of a Catholic Mass will be omitted: the use of hymnals, holding hands at the Our Father, the Sign of Peace, the offering of the Precious
Blood of Christ to the faithful.

6. In churches with multiple Masses, the church (and hall or gym, if used) will have to be sanitized between Masses, as well as before the first Mass and after the last.

The directives were formulated by a group of clergy and lay leaders.

“When the COVID-19 pandemic arrived we entered a Phase I, suspending the public celebration of Masses and closing our churches to protect the health and safety of our people,” Brennan said in a news release. “This new Phase II is a transitional phase, requiring the full cooperation of clergy and laity so that public Masses may be celebrated in the safest manner possible, until we can enter Phase III, the return to normal practice in our liturgical life.”

Brennan is scheduled to be a guest Saturday on a special edition of MetroNews “Talkline.”

 





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