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'Mass will look different,' Dioceses plan for resuming public worship

The Diocese of Kalamazoo announced Thursday that it will reopen for public services on May 27.

After nearly two months of Mass via Facebook livestreams, Catholic leaders are beginning to make plans to welcome the public back into the Church. 

"The last few months have been a great sacrifice for both our faithful and our clergy," said Annalise Laumeyer, the Diocese of Grand Rapids' director of communications. 

Grand Rapids Bishop David J. Walkowiak canceled public Masses at the diocese's 80 parishes in mid-March, when there were less than 15 confirmed coronavirus cases in the state. As of Thursday, Michigan's coronavirus case count is approaching 50,000 and over 4,700 people have died, according to data from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. 

The once rapidly increasing numbers are leveling off and the governor is beginning to reopen low-risk sectors of the economy. But, places of worship, unlike most, are exempt from executive orders, leaving their leaders to decide when it's safe to gather. 

Walkowiak has extended the cancellation of in-person Mass through May 28, which is the date the current stay-home order expires.

"Working together, we can incrementally return to our beloved practice of the Catholic religion. However, if we skirt the regulations, we risk taking steps backward," Grand Rapids Bishop David J. Walkowiak wrote in a letter.

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The Diocese of Kalamazoo announced Thursday that it will allow public Mass to occur at its 59 parishes starting Wednesday, May 27. The mid-week start date allows for parishes to work out logistics in anticipation of the Feast of Pentecost on Sunday, May 31, said Victoria Cessna. Parishes are advised to operate at 25% capacity. 

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"We'll probably need to make some adjustments," Cessna said. "It's going to be difficult to adjust to the changes where you know you might not get to go to your same mass you go to, or you might sit in a different seat." 

Cessna, the diocese's director of communications, says protocols for reopening parishes will be solidified in the next few days, but she said the use of sanitizers and face coverings will be part of their plan. 

In Grand Rapids, the diocese has released a series of guidelines to prepare parishioners for the ever-changing situation. 

"We do know that mass will look different," Laumeyer said. 

Grand Rapids has said it too will be limiting capacity within churches to ensure social distancing and also requiring face masks. In addition, there will be no greeters at the door and there will be no Blood served at Holy Communion. Collection baskets will also not be passed during services, which is the primary way most parishes bring in money. 

"Without the weekly offertory that we would expect if public Masses were taking place, our parishes and our pastors have had to make a lot of hard decisions that has meant maybe furloughing staff or cutting some programs or ministries that may not be able to take place in their usual capacity right now," Laumeyer said. 

However, she says people have continued to give despite the economic blow many have experienced in the last few months. And in Kalamazoo, Cessna says some parishes are actually seeing donations surpass their usual collections. 

"I've heard of some that have surpassed even what they get at Christmas," Cessna said. "I think there's just a lot of very generous, giving people out there."

The Diocese of Kalamazoo set up a parish fund online to allow people to donate in the same place where they are currently experiencing Mass. More than half of Kalamazoo's parishes are providing live-streamed services on Sundays offered in four different languages. 

"We are extremely proud and inspired by all the parishes that have offered live streams of their Mass with technology we weren't really using very much, if at all before this," Cessna said. "And others that have done tremendous work in reaching out to their communities."

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