The measure is absolutely unprecedented, but it is necessary after " State decisions " and "out of prudence ". Friday afternoon March 13, Archbishop Michel Aupetit, Archbishop of Paris, sent an internal message to the priests of the capital. Written in consultation with the bishops of Ile-de-France, it announces that from Saturday afternoon March 14, Sunday masses (including those of Saturday evening) are suspended until "new order" because of coronavirus .
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The Catholic faithful are therefore exempted from the “Sunday obligation” to go to mass. All gatherings of more than 100 people are also canceled, including activities concerning children and young people (catechism, patronage), more specific measures will be announced on this point later.
Week masses are maintained but within the limit of 100 people. However, people over 70 are asked not to go there. Same limit of a hundred worshipers for weddings, baptisms and funerals.
Churches remain open
The churches, insists the prelate, remain open for those who want to meditate or pray there. The faithful are invited to follow the masses on KTO in particular and to favor " other modes of family prayer ".
The priests will continue to celebrate, in private or together, "in spiritual communion" with the faithful whose "intentions" they will carry. They will also take care to visit sick people by bringing them communion "as far as the condition and age of the visitors allows" . Finally, they are recommended, for confessions, to "keep a sanitary distance of one meter from the penitent" .
In the provinces, the management of the coronavirus crisis is less drastic since the assemblies of the faithful are less numerous, apart from the big cities, of course. In the diocese of Lyon, for example, Archbishop Michel Dubost, apostolic administrator, maintains Sunday Mass for the time being while giving very precise recommendations. Respecting the "threshold of 100 people" by celebration "by adding masses" , with "1 person every 2 chairs" without "hand tightening" and "hand cleaning with soap and water or hydro gel alcoholic before and after the distribution of communion to the faithful ” . Finally, he suggests that "people over the age of 70 should be exempt from Sunday celebrations" .
This corresponds to the instructions issued on March 13 by the Conference of Bishops of France.
Hygiene guidelines
For his part, Mgr Pierre-Antoine Bozo, bishop of Limoges, a rather rural diocese, wrote to the faithful of the diocese a letter in which he recalled these hygienic instructions but where he warned: "Protecting ourselves does not mean 'saving our skin' 'by caulking at home, without worrying about others. Let us be attentive, be inventive, take initiatives and if necessary risks for that. We can organize ourselves at the level of parishes, relays, movements, to ensure that no one is forgotten. We have to think of the elderly, the sick, but also of the parents who will have to keep the children at home because of the closure of the schools: now is the time for generous mutual aid! ”
The Archbishop of Paris, Mgr Aupetit, also wrote a long letter to the Catholics to explain the spirit of the decisions he had to make: "In these troubled times, it is good to recall the indispensable fraternity who alone founds an authentic nation. To the temptation of the save-who-can and the generalized suspicion, Christians must remember that over the centuries they have had at heart to accept the request of the good Samaritan: "Take care of him" (Lk 10, 35). In the great pandemics of the past, they have been on the front lines. ”
As for the measures taken - an "extremely painful decision because the Eucharist is indeed the source and the summit of Christian life" , the prelate affirms: "It was out of concern for the faithful that I had to make decisions about elementary prevention for our churches. We have to transmit divine grace, not viruses that do not come from the gifts of God but from the fragility of the human condition (...). The fact of reducing the meetings to less than 100 people does not allow us to maintain the Sunday masses in Paris. Even if we increase the number of celebrations, this would lead us in some places to select people at the entrance based on their age or their state of health, which is neither feasible nor fair. ”
Fasting every Wednesday
Archbishop Aupetit therefore proposes to live this by “Christian oblation which means the offering of oneself to God. It is not always possible to commune but it always remains possible to live this oblation of oneself in communion with Christ, united to his Body which is the Church (...). The times to come are thus given to us so that by withdrawing into the desert and in this unforeseen and painful fast, we can let the taste of this love grow in us. ”
The archbishop concludes with this specifically Parisian note: "Since this year our diocese celebrates the 1600 years of the birth of its patron saint, I invite all Christians and men of good will to recite each day and until the end of the pandemic prayer to Sainte Geneviève. She knew, by her consecration, her courage and her prayer, to save Parisians from the gravest plagues. Beyond our city, we will ask it so that the Lord will ward off evil from us, welcome the dead, protect the sick and watch over those who care for them. Until Easter, I also invite the faithful to live a day of fasting every Wednesday. ”