PHILADELPHIA – Following a 16-month hiatus amid the coronavirus pandemic, Pennsylvania Catholics will be required to attend Mass in person again beginning next month.
“We have all felt the impact of COVID-19 as individuals and families. It has been a time of acute hardship and struggle, of separation and isolation. It has also had an impact on our lives of faith,” Philadelphia Archbishop Nelson Pérez said in a statement Thursday.
”As many aspects of life are now returning to normalcy, each Catholic Bishop in Pennsylvania will reinstate the obligation to attend Mass in person on Sundays and Holy Days” beginning Aug. 15, he said.
People who are seriously ill, have a health risk, or still have anxiety about being in large groups are exempt, Pérez said. Those who care for another person who cannot attend are also exempt. They are encouraged to tune in via an online broadcast, and engage in prayer and scripture reading independently.
“As Bishops, we welcome this moment of the reinstatement of the obligation for all Catholics in Pennsylvania. This is a moment to thank God anew for the great gift of the Mass and the Real Presence of Jesus to us in his Holy Body and Blood as well as the joy of gathering together as people of faith,” Pérez said.
The weekly obligation was dispensed and in-person services were suspended in March 2020 to help curb the spread of COVID-19. Parishes in Philadelphia and across the state hosted online livestream Masses and rosaries, though most Catholic churches stayed open for private prayer and small celebrations of penance, baptism, funerals, and weddings.
New Jersey and Delaware bishops lifted their dispensations last month.
In-person Mass resumed in Philadelphia last summer following the lifting of state coronavirus restrictions, but it was not required to attend.
Some parishes are worried their members won’t return after having spent so much time away, CatholicPhilly.com reported. Churches across the country have taken on new initiatives, like hosting events with food, to get parishioners back in the habit of attending Mass. In May, Pérez launched a campaign called “Nothing Compares to Being There” to implore Philly Catholics to return to in-person services.
