The Archdiocese of Detroit announced Tuesday that public Masses in metro Detroit will resume starting May 19. This comes after churches stopped services due to the coronavirus pandemic in early March.The guidelines for celebration issued by the archdiocese are here. Generally, they're what we've come to expect and similar to those issued by the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. They require face masks of all attendees except the priest and require "social distancing", but leave many specifics up to the individual pastor. There are some guidelines that limit, but don't prohibit, singing or choirs.The May 19 date is at the pastors' discretion, while all churches will resume public Masses by May 29.
There is an overall attendance limit of 25% of church capacity.
We must certainly hope these measures are temporary. It occurs to me that if some attendees are more squeamish than others on a longer-term basis, a parish could hold masses with different "social distancing" criteria, leaving such matters up to individual judgment. We'll have to see what shakes out.
Meanwhile, California does not define religious services as "essential", and it appears that public masses won't happen until July at the earliest, with "blue" counties probably allowing them even more slowly, unless the courts intervene.
