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Archdiocese of Detroit to resume public Masses on May 29; obligation lifted until Sept. 6

Public Masses will resume for all parishes in the Archdiocese of Detroit on Friday, May 29, but individual pastors may, at their discretion, begin celebrating Mass publicly as early as Tuesday, May 19, according to new directives issued by Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron.

However, despite the reopening, “the Mass you may attend in the weeks ahead will look and feel quite different from the Mass you remember from two months ago” due to the need to continue practicing social distancing and rigorous sanitation, Archbishop Vigneron cautioned the faithful.

In particular, all of the faithful will be required to wear face coverings to Mass, keep at least six feet apart, and capacity inside churches may not exceed 25 percent, according to the directives issued May 12.

Importantly, the archbishop noted that the Sunday obligation — the moral and canonical precept that requires weekly Mass attendance — would continue to be suspended for all of the faithful until at least Sunday, Sept. 6. Parishes are also highly encouraged to continue offering livestream Masses online.

The gradual reopening of Masses comes two months after the archdiocese suspended public liturgies in order to stem the rapidly spreading COVID-19 virus, which has sickened more than 47,000 people and killed at least 4,500 in Michigan. Worldwide, more than 4 million people have contracted the novel coronavirus, resulting in more than 282,000 deaths.

Read more at Archdiocese of Detroit

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