Reopening post pandemic

As people emerge from the pandemic, it's time to evaluate how the last 16 months may have changed what it means to be "church."

The diocese is challenging Cuomo's order on religious freedom grounds. COVID-19 cases have surged nationwide in November, leading to new restrictions on businesses.

Commentary: Will the people return to in-person Mass? What can be done to make community worship more appealing? Here are nine suggestions to encourage a rethink of how we come together.

Alarming COVID-19 reports are coming from colleges across the country— including, just eight days after classes began, from the University of Notre Dame, which had been on the vanguard of promising in-person education.

Americans, by a 4-to-1 margin, said houses of worship should be subject to the same social-distancing rules as other organizations. The ratio backing this view was 3-to-1 for Christians, 4-to-1 for Jews, and 9-to-1 for those who are religiously unaffiliated.

While state orders have forced some Catholic dioceses to abandon their more assertive approach to reopening schools, other dioceses are using the divergence from online public schools as a marketing point.

In deciding whether to go back to in-person classes, Catholic schools should be leading the way in modeling pro-life values that put people's health, safety and lives first.

Catholic schools in Los Angeles county must now resume the fall year using distance learning, delaying previous plans to reopen their doors for in-person classes.

While Los Angeles public schools will remain online this fall, Catholic schools in the county still plan to reopen their doors for in-person classes.

"It's good to be back": During opening weekend, Fr. Duy Le, pastor of San Francisco Solano Church, shared his gratitude at welcoming those members of the community who could attend Mass.

The community in Kankakee, Illinois, drew on a culture of activity and social media presence during lockdown. "The buildings were closed, but the church was always alive," the pastor says.

At the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception June 14 was the first in-person Mass in 12 Sundays. Not only that, but they had their first in-person funeral, and their first in-person baptism.

Holy Name closed its doors in late March when the Los Angeles archbishop suspended gatherings to slow the spread of the coronavirus, but as of June 14 it became the first Black Catholic parish in the city to reopen.

In January, St. Mary Magdalene was born from the merger of three parishes. In March, COVID-19 put the new community in lockdown. Now that reopening is underway, "we have a lot of work to do to bring us all closer together."

Catholic pastors in West Virginia tell NCR about pandemic hardships, including the cancellation of a service trip that was vital for the area, and now, living the reality of the rigors of reopening.

President Jair Bolsonaro's administration has never imposed a nationwide quarantine, and coronavirus cases have continued to grow. But for Brazil's churchgoers, Catholic bishops are keeping precautionary measures in place.

A divided Supreme Court May 29 chose not to intervene in an emergency appeal by a church in Southern California to lift COVID-19 restrictions that limit congregation sizes.

Regulations for the reopening of religious institutions developed by a Maryland county that seemed to disallow the distribution of holy Communion were withdrawn after church leaders voiced opposition.

Distinctly Catholic: Religious exercise in Minnesota is not threatened by a Democratic governor but by a nonpartisan virus. And the bishops there need a reminder about what the church actually teaches about religious liberty.

After being closed for more than two months due to the COVID-19 pandemic, churches in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles can begin to open to the public the first week of June if they implement certain safety guidelines, Archbishop Jose H. Gomez told priests and parish staff late May 26.

The bishops of the state of Washington said suspension of the public celebration of Mass because of the coronavirus pandemic was undertaken "not out of fear, but out of our deepest respect for human life and health."

A new executive order from Gov. Tim Walz permits faith-based gatherings at 25% church capacity, with a total limit of 250 people, beginning May 27. The Minnesota governor announced the new order May 23.

Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York and other church officials announced a multistep plan to reopen the 288 parish churches of the archdiocese as the coronavirus pandemic eases.

The anticipated release of new federal guidance on in-person religious services comes at a precarious point in the national balancing act that pits the call of worship against the risk of coronavirus.

Just Catholic: We cannot have any expectation of ordinary pre-pandemic Masses soon, but the tease of guidelines and statements raises a false hope. And the minimal input of women to reopening plans is obvious.

Minnesota's bishops are moving ahead with plans to resume Masses at one-third church capacity May 26, a plan that defies current state directives limiting faith-based gatherings to 10 or fewer people.

The U.S. Department of Justice is challenging the "unequal treatment of faith communities" in California's coronavirus reopening plan, warning that continued restrictions on worship services threaten believers' civil rights to practice their religion.

Catholic dioceses around the United States and Canada are issuing guidelines and other protocols or otherwise planning for the gradual reopening of churches as various governments allow more movement by public by revising stay-at-home orders first issued when the coronavirus was declared a pandemic.

The chairman of the U.S. bishops' Committee on Divine Worship has sent a memo to fellow bishops offering links to resources for parishes to review as they prepare to offer the public celebration of Mass and the sacraments.

U.S. health officials on May 14 released some of their long-delayed guidance that schools, businesses and other organizations can use as states reopen from coronavirus shutdowns.

Days after the U.S. bishops' conference forwarded a set of suggestions for how Catholic prelates might restart the public celebration of the Mass during the coronavirus pandemic, the national organization of diocesan liturgical officials has published its own separate set of recommendations.

While millions of people took advantage of easing coronavirus lockdowns to enjoy the outdoors, some of the world's most populous countries reported worrisome new peaks in infections May 3, including India, which saw its biggest single-day jump yet.

The U.S. bishops' conference has forwarded a set of recommendations to Catholic prelates across the country, proposing various paths forward for how they might restart the public celebration of the Mass in their dioceses despite the continued fear of the spread of the coronavirus.

With classes moved online and dorm rooms emptied out, the COVID-19 pandemic has left Catholic colleges across the country strapped for cash, trying to figure out how to support their students and staff — or stay alive at all.

The CDC has offered recommendations in new federal plans designed to help restaurants, schools, churches and businesses safely reopen as states look to gradually lift their coronavirus restrictions.

The Italian bishops' conference accused the government of adopting plans to ease the country's COVID-19 lockdown rules in a way that "arbitrarily excludes the possibility of celebrating Mass with the people."

With its cathedral parking lot Masses, the Las Cruces Diocese is one of the outliers. Even in states where governors have loosened restrictions, many Catholic dioceses are holding back on large-scale gatherings.

A conservative law firm launched a "ReOpen Church Sunday" initiative this week, calling on churches to begin gathering in person again despite reports of the deadly novel coronavirus being spread during worship services.

As the Italian government makes plans for a gradual return to normality after the COVID-19 pandemic, representatives of the country's bishops' conference are meeting with the Ministry of Internal Affairs to discuss a resumption of public Masses and, especially, of funerals.

A Roman Catholic diocese in New Mexico announced April 15 it will reopen churches and allow a small number of people to attend public celebrations of Mass in what could be the first move to alter a diocese-declared ban on public services in the U.S.

Leading Republicans say the coronavirus shutdown cannot go on. Car-honking activists swarmed a statehouse April 15 to protest stay-home restrictions. Capitol Hill staff are quietly drafting bills to undo the just-passed rescue aid and push Americans back to work.