Bishop Michael G. Duca held a press conference May 25 at the Catholic Life Center in Baton Rouge to discuss his decision to lift the dispensation of the obligation to attend Sunday Mass and relaxing the use of masks.
The Diocese of Baton Rouge recently announced the updating of these two COVID-19-related protocols in a letter dated May 21.
The dispensations from attending Mass and also wearing of masks was in direct response to the pandemic from the very beginning, said Bishop Duca. He emphasized the mask mandate was necessary.
“We had to do it and allowed us to come back to Mass quicker than in some other parts of the country, and by accommodating that we kept down the spread of the virus and none of our churches became hotspots. It was a success. The masks really work but in the end, everyone was tired of the masks, Bishop Duca said.
He said cancelation of the mask mandate has been welcomed by the people by “a very large degree.”
During the Rite of Ordination Mass on May 22, when three new priests were ordained, attendees were not required to wear masks
“And it felt like coming alive again,” stated the bishop.
He added the diocese has reached a point where it can cancel the protocols.
“And we can begin to move to a more normal way of coming together in church and in other ways throughout our daily lives,” said the bishop.
He emphasized that if anyone still feels afraid to gather, or they're particularly vulnerable because of personal illnesses or susceptibility to the disease, or it's more dangerous for them, they should still feel free to be dispensed from attending Mass.
The bishop said it’s normal during cases of sickness to remain at home “when we're not required to come, when it's dangerous to us.”
However, the bishop encouraged people to return to church in person “because we are meant not just to celebrate Mass by ourselves in a room but to come together as the people of God.”
The bishop said he will continue to celebrate the daily Mass on Catholic Life Television and St. Joseph Cathedral will continue televising Sunday Masses through Catholic Life Television. Church parishes may also continue livestreaming or televising their local Masses on local channels as well.
The bishop said he has received comments that the online Masses have reached people in the nursing home, the homebound and others.
“We’re reaching a whole group of people doing those Masses,” commented the bishop.
He believes it makes a difference to be able to see other peoples’ faces and “just the feeling of being free of being afraid of the disease.
“Obviously smiles, words singing all those things. Then the depth of communion in our prayer”.
People have obligations when they belong to a group, according to the bishop.
“In fact, we commit ourselves to be obliged that they have a claim on us as a member, and our obligation should be active,” said the bishop. “A love and desire to come together in order to worship God.”
Returning to normal operations will take place in different degrees depending on the church parishes.
“Some parishes are more cautious because it had more disease in their neighborhoods or their area, and so some will wear masks more than others for a while, but pastors now have the ability to move people forward.”
However, the bishop assumed that by July most of the parishes will have “gone on their own way” to normal operations.
“We’re going back into more normal on gatherings as we did before the COVID actions and guidelines came into being,” said the bishop.
The implementation of the obligation to attending Mass comes on the feast of Corpus Christi, June 6, which is when the church celebrates the body of Christ.
“We celebrate our coming together to share the altar of the Lord. And so it's particularly poignant to me,” said Bishop Duca. “I think that on the day we celebrate this, this important gathering of coming together in unity with Christ, that once again, we activate our obligation, our sense of urgency, we come to the altar. You can receive the bread of life and to nurture our spiritual lives together.”