How dioceses are tackling 2019 Novel Coronavirus (Covid-19)

  • Thread starter Thread starter JohnLilburne
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
Some collection baskets have long handles, so only the collectors would need to touch them. There are also “long handle offering bags”.
 
1Lord1Faith said:
40.png
gracepoole:
She said they don’t want to panic anyone.
Click to expand...
IDK why so many people are freaking out about this virus. It doesn’t even compare to a regular seasonal flu.
Click to expand...
There’s a lot we still don’t know about the novel coronavirus. According to the New York Times:
The coronavirus seems to be more deadly than the flu — so far.

On average, seasonal flu strains kill about 0.1 percent of people who become infected. The 1918 flu had an unusually high fatality rate, around 2 percent. Because it was so contagious, that flu killed tens of millions of people.

Early estimates of the coronavirus death rate from Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the outbreak, have been around 2 percent. But a new report on 1,099 cases from many parts of China, published on Friday in The New England Journal of Medicine, finds a lower rate: 1.4 percent…

But even a disease with a relatively low death rate can take a huge toll if enormous numbers of people catch it. As of Sunday, there were about 87,000 coronavirus cases and 3,000 deaths. This week, for the first time, the number of new cases outside China exceeded the number within the country.

So far, the new coronavirus seems to be more contagious than most strains of the flu, and roughly as contagious as strains that appear in pandemic flu seasons.

Each person with the coronavirus appears to infect 2.2 other people, on average…By comparison, the figure for the seasonal flu is roughly 1.3
Click to expand...
 
I don’t do CITH, so if it comes to it, I just won’t receive, and will content myself with a spiritual communion. Except for making one’s Easter duty, no one, except for the priest, ever has to receive communion.
 
Business as usual in my diocese.

On the other hand, my Protestant synod (pastor on her way to Rome here) told us to implement some measures beginning last Sunday:
  • no shaking of hands or sign of peace
  • use of hand disinfectant before celebrating the Lord’s Supper
  • communion still under two species, but intinction only for everyone, celebrant and communicants (separate cups for everybody accepted, but most parishes simply don’t have them).
If the coronavirus expands around here, the next measures will probably be celebrating with a mask, and then cancelling services.
 
In all dioceses in Korea, there are no Masses held. No meetings either. So unfortunately I didn’t even get to go to the Ash Wednesday mass.
 
Currently, not too extreme here in the Diocese of Plymouth (England). Hand sanitiser has been ordered (apparently in short supply) and people with cold or flu like symptoms are asked not to recieve from the chalice or on the tongue.
 
1ke said:
In our diocese we are having communion only under the species of bread, and we are not shaking hands at the peace. And it’s being emphasized that if you are sick, you’re excused from mass and please stay home. But honestly we put this in the bulletin every year during flu season.

I was in Atlanta this weekend, not my home diocese, and the instructions were the same as above with the addition of people being asked to reconsider communion on the tongue (not required to receive in the hand).
Click to expand...
The letter from our Bishop - Diocese of Corner Brook and Labrador - said pretty much the same thing except no mention of Communion on the tongue. I guess it’s not a widespread practice in our diocese. Only two people in our parish receive that way.
 
Last edited:
pulchraesamicamea said:
In all dioceses in Korea, there are no Masses held. No meetings either. So unfortunately I didn’t even get to go to the Ash Wednesday mass.
Click to expand...
In areas where the coronavirus is bad enough, cancelling public Masses is just common sense. I have seen elsewhere (not on CAF) that the Church should go ahead and celebrate public Masses, because they will “ward off” the virus, or there is the implication that some kind of miracle will prevent contagion, but that is a medieval mentality from the time before people understood germs, viruses, and bacteria. (Yes, I know that covid is not bacterial.) We are not expected to check our common sense at the door in the name of piety or holiness.

What people lose sight of, is that the graces of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass continue to flow whether the priest celebrates alone with one altar server — or even without one — or whether five thousand people are there. Contemporary Catholics are so enamored with the concept of “community” and “assembly” that they do not understand the concept of a priest celebrating alone or with only one other person. (I realize that the Eastern Catholic Divine Liturgy cannot be celebrated alone. I refer only to the Latin Rite, which can be celebrated sine populo if need be.)
 
Last edited:
Irishmom2 said:
Business as usual at our parish, and haven’t heard about any change from the archdiocese. Handshaking allowed, and communion offered in both species.
Click to expand...
Ditto in North Alabama. I’m sure that CoViD-2019 is getting some attention in the Bishop’s office, but there has been no mention in the parish, except during the Prayers of the Faithful. Business as usual.

D
 
That is SOP at our parish anyway (and believe me, those fonts get nasty in a week).
 
Some statistics I just got from COVID Live Update: 189,291,064 Cases and 4,076,711 Deaths from the Coronavirus - Worldometer :

Deaths: 0. Active Cases: 32. New Cases: 2. Population: 6 M. Singapore.

Deaths: 6. Active Cases: 93. New Cases: 8. Population: 331 M. USA.

Deaths: 1. Active Cases: 23. New Cases: 6. Population: 25 M. Australia.

Deaths: 4. Active Cases:188. New Cases:13. Population: 65 M. France.

The archdiocese response in Singapore has been enormous. In Australia and USA it is almost nothing – the laity are not drink the Precious Blood from the chalice.

At the website lacatholics.org it has a big picture of people holding hands, I guess during the Our Father. One of the menus is “Safe Environments” but it has nothing about Covid-19. Part of what it has is:

“ March 14-15 || Be aware of poison dangers in the home
More than 90% of all poisonings happen in homes.”
 
Last edited:
I haven’t seen anything this year drastically different from previous years. Often, if it’s a particularly bad flu year, the bishop will recommend (not require) that we forgo the chalice, the sign of peace, and receiving on the tongue.

I know the sign of peace is not my pastor’s favorite part of Mass, so he’s generally happy to do this. 😜 When he does this, I switch to receiving in the hand instead of on the tongue. Even if it’s just a recommendation, I look at it as a small act of obedience and sacrifice from what I’d rather be doing.

I think we end up bringing all the practices back for Easter, usually.
 
And just say “Good Morning” to Father on the way out. No handshaking.
 
Word just came down from our bishop (Diocese of Birmingham AL) – the Cup is suspended until further notice, and the Sign of Peace is either to be suspended or to be done without physical contact.

D
 
In our diocese archdiocese of Detroit. No Holy Water. Omitting the sign of peace. No cup.
 

This is a South Korean priest offering Mass sine populo every day since the coronavirus hit South Korea. The video talks about a newly consecrated priest who is offering Mass every day after the archdiocese closed down all Masses.
 
The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference have a 4 March 2020 document National advice on liturgical implications in light of coronavirus (COVID-19) which includes:

"
  • Holy Water should be temporarily removed from stoups at the doors of churches to reduce the possibility of transmission of the virus. Holy Water should continue to be available for people to take home.
  • Parishes and other settings where liturgies are celebrated should make alcohol-based gels or rubs (or like products) available near entrances. Similar provisions should be considered for settings used for the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
  • When exchanging the Sign of Peace, individuals should avoid shaking hands but say “Peace be with you” and offer a smile, wave, nod or bow."
From https://www.catholic.org.au/acbc-me...iturgical-advice-on-coronavirus-covid-19/file ](https://www.catholic.org.au/acbc-me...iturgical-advice-on-coronavirus-covid-19/file)
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top