December 2, 2020
Dear Father,
Worshipsafe has helped us to celebrate the Holy Eucharist throughout the Diocese safely and in compliance with the Public Health Office of PEI. Attendance at Mass has been slowly increasing and in some churches to a capacity of 150. And now a vaccine is on the horizon and offers us some hope of relief.
Please know how very grateful I am to you and to all the priests who have been making the Sacred Liturgy as available as possible to our people. To my knowledge there has not been a case of the virus reported from any of our 49 churches. Thank you for doing your best to follow the Diocesan protocol, Worshipsafe.
The emergence of volunteers in our parish communities has been a real blessing; they greet people; they register the members of the Assembly and they also sanitize the Church after every Mass. I do hope people recognize that not all the angels in our Churches are made of plaster! Please extend my heartfelt thanks to all them for making Sunday and daily Masses possible and for providing such good care and service to the faithful.
Please offer my gratitude also to all your parishioners for their compliance with the recent mandate to wear masks at Mass. I must acknowledge that it is not easy to wear a mask. Besides being annoying, I find that it fogs my glasses. Nevertheless it is a small sacrifice to make for the health and safety of our brothers and sisters who are assembled in the Church. Sometimes it is the small sacrifices we make, that make the big difference in our community. The good news about wearing masks at Mass: everyone can SING again!!
When I sent the directive in November declaring masks mandatory at all Liturgies I noted that some may be unable to comply because of respiratory concerns. I want to bring to your attention that the Public Health Office has been much more explicit. The Public Health Office states that masks are mandatory unless a person is “unable” to wear one. Those “unable” according to Public Health regulations are:
- Children under 2
- Children between the ages of 2 and 5 who can’t be persuaded to wear one.
- Anyone who cannot remove a mask without assistance
- Individuals with a valid medical reason (most people with underlying medical conditions can indeed wear a mask safely)
- Individuals during the consumption of food or drink.
Fathers please make this information available to your volunteers, greeters and registrars. The italicized portion above is quoted form the Public Health PEI website and is intended is to clarify the concern about who is “unable’ to wear a mask.
May the Advent blessing of hope and peace be with you to enrich you and your priestly ministry.
Sincerely yours in Christ
+Richard Grecco