Catholic churches prepare to reopen
Parishioners can expect changes
Catholic churches across the state will reopen the week of May 18 for public Mass, leaders of the faith group said Wednesday.
Oklahoma City Archbishop Paul S. Coakley and Tulsa Bishop David Konderla said the first weekend Masses will be May 23 and 24.
The two religious leaders made the announcement in a joint statement that the Catholic faith community had been promised on April 29.
Churches in the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City haven't gathered f or public Mass since March 17 when Coakley directed all parish es in the archdiocese to suspend public Mass and other in-person gathering sin response to the coronavirus pandemic. Konderla made t he same announcement on March 18 for the Diocese of Tulsa.
The Arch diocese of Oklahoma City is comprised of 107 parishes encompassing two-thirds of the state. The Tulsa Diocese is made up of parish es in eastern Oklahoma.
“Because of the unprecedented nature of these challenges, we will proceed with caution. The dispensation for attending Mass and the practice of live-streaming Mass will remain in place for anyone who wishes to wait longer before returning to public worship,” the bishops said Wednesday in a letter to the faithful.
“We are dealing with an invisible threat to people's lives, a virus that our brightest doctors and scientists are still figuring out. The everpresent temptation in our American culture is to want solutions immediately and to act quickly, because we want what we want, and we want it now. As a Church, we must proceed more deliberatively.”
Perhaps the most significantp re caution that parishioners may expect is the continued modification of how the Eucharist, also known as Holy Communion, is distributed.
Parishes will refrain from using the “common cup” to receive the “Blood of Christ” during t he Eucharist and parishioners will only be permitted to receive the “Body of Christ” by hand instead of a priest placing it on their tongue. Catholics believe the Communion wafer, when consecrated by a priest, is transformed into the body of Christ, just as the wine distributed to parishioners through the common cup is considered the blood of Christ.
C oakley and K on der la addressed this issue and other modifications on Wednesday in their detailed list of procedures and precautions.
The bishops said they would continue to allow people not too attend public Sunday Mass. Attendance at Sunday Mass is an obligation for Catholics but the leaders said people with health vulnerabilities are not required to attend Mass and people who are sick must not attend the service.
Other precautionary measures will include pews roped of for marked to ensure six feet in all directions between household groups or individuals; people will be encouraged to bring their own mask sand sanitizer although churches will try to provide some sanitizer; hymnals will be removed from pews and parish es are encouraged to select well-known hymns. People like healthcare workers, hair stylists, food services and others who come in frequent or close contact with others are encouraged to take extreme precautions to remain physically distant from other parishioners.
Also, the sign of peace between parishioners will be omitted; no refreshments will be served; receptions will not be allowed on church property; choirs, priests, deacons and servers will be required to maintain the social distancing requirements from each other and churches will temporarily limit the number of people who may attend Mass during scheduled times.
The latter change may be the one that will affect most parishioners as they return to their churches.
The Rev. Stephen Hamilton, pastor of St. Monica Catholic Church in Edmond, said social distancing requirements will mean that not all of his parishioners will be able to participate in in-person Mass. He has plans to open his church's parish hall and will continue to live stream and broadcast Mass using radio technology as he did for his “Drive-up Mass,” so that people may listen to the service in the parking lot.
“While we're joyful about returning and moving in the direction of normalcy, this is not going to be like turning on a light switch,” the priest said. “We're still under precautions that are required by health care officials and civil authorities. It' s going to require patience.”
Meanwhile, Catholic leaders' letter to parishes, a “`Timeline and Procedures f or Resumption of Public Mass and Sacramental Life'” a nd a “Frequently Asked Questions” section may be found online at archokc.org/ mass.