Strictly complying with all directives of the Central and State governments, the churches under the Bangalore Diocese are all set to open on Saturday (June 13, 2020). Receiving Communion on the tongue is suspended for the time being, however the Holy Communion will be given on hand.
In a circular by Bangalore Archdiocese, the Archbishop of Bangalore Most Rev (Dr.) Peter Machado has issued pastoral guidelines on the resumption of public masses and has urged the faithful will follow these guidelines strictly as the COVID-19 pandemic is not yet completely contained.
All the churches are to strictly comply with all the directives that the Central and State governments may notify from time to time.
Pastoral Guidelines
The Daily and the Sunday Services will resume from Saturday, 13th June 2020, and the following guidelines are to be attentively taken note of and strictly adhered to. Besides, the necessary precautionary measures are to be taken and sufficient instructions are to be given to the faithful.
At every service, the number of the participants cannot exceed more than 30% of the normal congregational strength.
Sanitization:
Churches should be well ventilated and seats cleansed and disinfected regularly, with a disinfected carpet at the church entrance, if need be. Adequate amount of Ethanol (70%) based sanitizers is made available at all entrances to the church. The use of holy water at the church entrance should be suspended. 2. The rest rooms at the Church should be fumigated and the commode and its cover should be sanitized. In order to minimize transfer of the virus, reduce or avoid using the western commode. In the case, its use is absolutely required, sanitize it after every use.
During the Service
- Time for celebrating Sunday Mass starts from Saturday, 13th June, 2020 (evening Mass Mass) as mentioned above. To start with, there could be public Masses on Sundays. As regards the Daily Mass, please see that the prescribed minimum number does not exceed. Mass on week days if the number of people is big.
- Encourage parishioners to cover coughs and sneezes with a tissue or use the inside of their elbow. Used tissues should be thrown in the trash and hands washed.
- There can be multiplication of Masses in a Church, if need be. This could be done zone-wise at the Church or at convenient places in different zones. Masses can also be celebrated in all chapels.
- The pews or the places of seating are to be marked keeping in mind the instruction to maintain social (physical) distancing – A minimum of 6 feet distance is a must.
- In order that more people can participate in the service, LCD’s can be installed in the open area around the church or in the halls available next to the church.
- The use of liturgical booklets and hymnals should be suspended. The LCD projectors may be used instead, for hymns and other recitals.
- Holy Communion should be received strictly on hand. Receiving Communion on the tongue is suspended for the time being. The priest may use sanitized gloves while distributing Communion and the faithful will receive on their sanitized hands.
- The collections should be made after the service, with one or several donation boxes placed at some noticeable places.
- The ‘Sign of Peace’ should be expressed by bowing heads with folded hands only, not with handshakes.
- Only Eucharistic Service may be allowed to be celebrated publicly in churches and chapels; and not the other acts of worship, such as Rosary, Novena Prayers, Adoration of Blessed Sacraments, Charismatic Meetings etc., until the time the pandemic is contained.
- The same instructions, given above, are to be followed for the Celebrations of Sacraments of Baptism, Reconciliation (Confessions), First Holy Communion, Confirmation, Marriage etc., and also for the Parish Feast Celebrations.
- The Government Directives are also to be strictly followed for Weddings and Funerals.
Participation
1. All those who come to the church will undergo the thermal checking for fever with contactless thermometer. Faithful with temperature above the prescribed limit or with allied symptoms may be turned back and/or advised to undergo further medical check-up.
2. All those who participate in the Services have to wear face masks compulsorily, at the premises and inside the Church.
3. People should be in the church well before time to participate in the Mass. They should enter the church few minutes before the Mass and disperse soon thereafter.
4. The faithful should leave the Church premises as soon as the Mass ends and avoid socializing before or after the Service at the premises in groups.
5. Children below the age of 10 and adults above 65 years are advised not to participate in the Services held at the Church. Sick Persons are strictly advised not to attend the Services for their own good and also for the safety of others.
6. People living in the ‘containment area declared by the Government’ will not participate in the Church Services, until such restrictions are cleared by the Government. Also churches / Chapels, in those areas, will not have public services during this Public Health Emergency.
7. Members of the Faithful, who are sick, pregnant women, as well as those who have someone undergoing “self-quarantine” at home, should not go to church on Sundays; instead, they may continue to participate in our Online Masses from their homes.
Live streaming of Mass
1. The Masses could be live streamed for those who cannot attend due to various reasons mentioned above. Instead of the actual reception of Holy Communion, they have to receive only Spiritual Communion with due preparation.
2. Communion can be made available at the church to those who have participated in the online service on other days by adopting a simplified rite to be provided by the Diocesan Liturgy Commission, provided the distancing procedures and other precautions are followed.
Personnel
1. Volunteers can stand at the door of the church, pouring one or two drops of the sanitizer liquid on each entrant’s palm. Parish Priests can bless the sanitizer bottles, so that they can also act as Holy Water.
2. Priests and Others, who distribute Holy Communion, also should use sanitizer. 3. Display these Directives at a prominent place (at the entrance) in the Church so that all can read. You may also circulate them among the faithful through WhatsApp or other Social Media Net Works in the parish.
4. Ushers should ensure that social distancing is kept between persons inside the church.
5. The Diocesan and the Religious Priests, working in parishes and in institutions, should make themselves available to celebrate Masses, and to distribute Holy Communion, and to take Communion to the Sick, as a few more Masses will be introduced/ scheduled as the number of participants at each Mass is restricted.
- The Parish Priest is responsible to ensure that these guidelines are strictly adhered to.
- Every Parish Priest, before commencing of the Masses, from 13th June onwards shall convene a meeting of few members of the Parish (PPC Members, Zonal leaders, SCC Animators etc.) to work out the details of the schedules of masses, zonal attendance, volunteers, ushers etc. for liturgical services in the Parish.
- Every Parish should, prior to opening the Parish Church for the Public, form ‘A Covid 19 Safety Committee’ to implement and monitor the SOP that contains in this Document, and also it can add other precautionary guidelines as deemed fit to ensure safe and health of its members.
- The above restrictions will be lifted once the pandemic is fully contained.