Resuming public celebration of Mass and the Sacraments

As local, state and federal agencies continue to monitor the coronavirus (COVID-19) closely, our parish family’s health and safety, including our staff and volunteers, remain of the utmost importance.
 
We expect our public celebration of Mass and other sacraments will begin sometime after Monday, June 1.  The pastoral council is meeting weekly to assess the situation.  We will remain attentive to local health officials’ recommendations and daily statistics, as well as the safe mingling of the three county communities that make up the parish family of St. Boniface and St. Meinrad, before resuming in-person attendance.  Since St. Boniface Parish and St. Meinrad Parish in Spencer County will not have public celebration of Mass until sometime after Monday, June 1, Archbishop Thompson stressed that in our efforts to slow the spread of the virus all parishioners attend Mass only in their home parish (St. Boniface Parish and St. Meinrad Parish in Spencer County) through June 15.  The faithful are asked not to attend neighboring churches.
 
St. Boniface Parish and St. Meinrad Parish and their entities located in Harrison Township in Spencer County, along with the Catholic Church of central and southern Indiana (the 39 counties that comprise the Archdiocese of Indianapolis), continue to explore and adopt extraordinary steps in health and safety.  These efforts should help minimize the spread of this novel virus as our parish family prepares to apply the three-part archdiocesan plan for the Reopening of Churches and Resuming the Celebration of Public Sunday and Weekday Masses and the other Sacraments.
 
At this time, Part I and Part II of the Plan for Reopening of Churches and Resuming the Celebration of Public Sunday and Weekday Masses and the other Sacraments in the Archdiocese of Indianapolis  have been reviewed to develop safe and practical ways to move toward and adopt the three phases of Part III of the plan for St. Boniface Parish and St. Meinrad Parish.
 
As of Friday, May 15, Archbishop Thompson and his staff were continuing to explore and evaluate all the possible ways the public celebration of Mass may resume in the many different parts of the archdiocese.  The archbishop has asked that attendance at indoor Masses be limited to 20% to 30% of each church’s capacity.  For our parishes, the capacity would be: St. Boniface (320 souls at 25% = 80 souls) and St. Meinrad (400 souls at 25% = 100 souls).

Because conditions and restrictions vary in different parts of the archdiocese and the complexity of navigating all the requirements for resuming weekend Masses and the other sacraments, we will follow the state guidelines for social distancing at this time.
We also will keep in mind these state and local guidelines:

• Age and unique demographics of our parishes

• Hoosiers 65 and older and those with known high-risk medical conditions should limit exposure at work and in their communities

• Continue working remotely when possible

• Those attending Mass will be asked to wear face coverings

• Public gatherings in Indiana are limited to 100 people or less until June 14

 
Please note: Archbishop Thompson has extended the dispensation from the obligation to participate in Mass on Sundays to all the faithful until August 15.
 
In the meantime, much work is under way to prepare for in-person Masses, such as:

• Installing sanitation stations at each entrance to the churches, office and parish centers;

• Purchasing a mist cleaning system and identifying and training volunteers to sanitize the church before and after each Mass;

• Removing all missalettes from the churches and making plans to create and distribute one-time-use worship aids that can be collected for recycling after each Mass;

• Reaching out to parish members who are 65 and older to explain the archbishop’s dispensation;

• Exploring ways to provide the Eucharist to homebound and infirm parishioners with help from family members who are willing to be trained;

• Making plans to limit the use of liturgical ministers to only those necessary; for example, archdiocesan guidelines say only one cantor and one musician are allowed, and they must remain at least six feet apart.

 
As a reminder, all people 65 or older and those who are sick or who have medical conditions that make them especially vulnerable to the coronavirus should remain at home.
 
Livestream Mass continues to be available at the usual Mass times.  On a recent weekend, more than 250 households viewed Mass this way.  You can find the Mass at this link: https://sbcatholic.church/live | https://smcatholic.church/live.  Thanks to those liturgical ministers who are assisting at livestream Masses; for now, family members are often used to limit interactions with others that could spread the virus.
 
Thank you for your understanding, and I ask for your continued patience as we serve you in the coming days.  Please know that the health and safety of our parishioners remains our most important goal.