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MADISON — This week marks nine months that we as the local Church have been struggling, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, to continue to proclaim the Gospel and the good news of salvation, only made possible through Our Lord’s crucifixion and resurrection.
While so much of our daily life has been altered, the need for the Church and Our Lord’s graces through the sacraments made available through Her have only become more crucial. Even in a pandemic, we are still called to Go Make Disciples and grow in our holiness.
Specific to keeping the Sunday Mass obligation
As the number of cases, hospitalizations, and sadly, the number of deaths due to COVID-19 continue to increase, Bishop Donald J. Hying of Madison reminded us last week in one of his daily videos that those vulnerable or at risk, and those who work or live with those at risk, should “take advantage of the generous dispensations that are written into Canon Law.”
You are likely already dispensed from your Sunday obligation, if you are older, immuno-compromised, live or work with someone who is, or are subject to other COVID-related situations.If you have questions, talk to your pastor. He has the ability to dispense or commute the obligation in specific cases.
Status in the Diocese of Madison
Some questions may remain in the minds of the faithful. How and why are our 134 churches open? How have we in the Diocese of Madison continued to adhere to the mission given to us by Christ, while also addressing real public health concerns? How do we go forward?
In mid-March, like the rest of Wisconsin, the U.S., and much of the world, we hit the pause button. Our churches remained open for private prayer and the Sacrament of Confession, and our priests remained available to visit and anoint the sick. Like everyone else, however, we transitioned as quickly as possible to virtual meetings and virtual school, and we postponed Confirmations and First Communions.
The obligation to attend Sunday Mass was suspended, and through to the end of the Easter season, our parishes offered the viewing of Mass only virtually via livestream.
The Church made this sacrifice for the common good, knowing that Catholics do not “attend” Mass via livestream and children learn best in-person rather than virtually.
The looming question became how and when do we safely get back to Church and our children back to school. As early as last March, many throughout the diocese began the conversations regarding the planning for safe reopening of our parishes and schools.
Mass for us as Catholics
When it comes to worship, we as Catholics cannot assist at the Holy Mass as variably as other Christians attend prayer services. Catholics can’t integrally participate in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass “virtually”.
We can pray virtually, we can read Sacred Scripture virtually, and we can join with others virtually, but it is not the same as attending and thereby offering the Holy Mass at the altar of sacrifice — i.e., to be present at Calvary’s sacrifice.
Of course, for some, through no fault of their own, online or televised Mass has been and continues to be their only option even without a pandemic, and they remain excused from the Sunday obligation to attend Mass. They heroically and virtuously watch Mass to the best of their ability.
As Catholics, we use all five senses in our sacrifice of Our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father at Mass. The graces offered to us by Christ are conferred through His very real and tangible sacraments.
While a remote, spiritual communion is good, and perhaps the best that many of us can do for health reasons, it is not a substitution for us offering the Sacrifice of the Mass and then worthily receiving the Eucharist — Christ’s body, blood, soul, and divinity offered for us at Mass.
The Sunday Mass is literally and essentially who we are and what we do as Catholics. Accordingly, we opened our churches, and we need to keep them open.
To make this possible, and while continually monitoring and adhering to changes in public health requirements, the diocese adopted a very thorough, prudent, and realistic set of guidelines for the resumption of public Masses in our 102 parishes, beginning in late spring.
These guidelines have been frequently updated and communicated to the priests of our diocese and posted on the diocesan website since June.
While civil orders and restrictions vary in the 11 counties comprising the Diocese of Madison, diocesan guidelines adopt the most conservative of these, recognizing all state and county mandates.
Also in late spring, every one of our Catholic schools started planning for in-person instruction for the fall 2020 academic year, given the best information offered by CDC, state, and county recommendations.
In every case, (in our churches, schools, and other apostolates) we instituted frequent sanitizing of facilities, social distancing for non-household members, wearing of masks for those able to wear them, and encouraging hand sanitization for participants.
Our priests and parishes have worked tirelessly to adapt spaces (e.g., cordoning off pews) and practices wherever possible to keep our churches open, while at the same time making Mass available online or on television for the more vulnerable — which through the Apostolate for Persons with Disabilities has been available since 1967.
Presently, almost 40 of our parishes offer a livestream or recorded Mass for those dispensed from attending in person.
Since early June, all churches and oratories in the Diocese of Madison have been able to celebrate Mass with up to 50 percent capacity while maintaining physical distancing based on diocesan guidelines.
Along with our priests and parish staffs, our principals and teachers have done incredible work in planning for and getting our schools open this fall. Children are sanitizing their hands frequently, wearing masks (taking the needed breaks), staying in their pods or cohorts, and physically distancing. A virtual option is offered in many of our schools. All of our schools are prepared to pivot to virtual learning as needed based on pandemic severity.
When an individual or member of a family has tested COVID-19 positive, all are asked to quarantine immediately to contain the virus.
We have worked cooperatively with local public health officials, including contact tracing whenever possible, and thanks be to God, at present, none of our 134 worship sites or 40-plus schools have been the source of a known communal spread.
What about going forward?
While the normal in-person parish Mass schedule remains, yet while recognizing the recent increase in COVID cases, Confirmation Masses, which resumed for a couple of months after the spring pause, as well as other larger, special liturgical gatherings, have again been postponed. Nearly all other church conferences continue to be virtual or postponed until the future.
The specific practices and procedures of all the parishes, schools, and apostolates in the eleven-county Diocese of Madison may vary slightly, based on the population served, location, and other local variables.
If you have specific questions about how your parish continues the most important work of the Gospel, or how COVID-19 precautions are being implemented, contact your parish, principal, or apostolate director.
As we continue to proclaim the Gospel and make disciples in every corner of the Diocese of Madison, while doing so safely and prudently amid coronavirus, let us pray daily for all those who have died or been affected by COVID-19, for an end to the pandemic, and for the future of our local Church.