In recent times the outbreak of COVID-19 has caused extreme measures to be taken both across America and the World. All non-essential travel was halted by most businesses in March. By April of the same year, 43 of 50 States in the United States of America had issued stay-at-home orders. Many Catholic dioceses have halted public masses, leaving parishioners unable to attend mass, or have difficulty receiving the sacraments or attending adoration.
The state of our nation and the world raises a few important questions. Has the Catholic Church ever had to close its doors to parishioners in the past? With all these changes, what is the Church still requiring of Catholics?
Past Closures
One would think that the Church would have been somewhat closed to parishioners during the time of the Bubonic Plague, but rather they largely remained open. Most members of the clergy continued to minister to the people even though it often caused their own death. Even during what is largely considered the worst pandemic in history, the Church did not close itself to its parishioners. However, there is one point in American History that some Churches were forcibly closed on account of disease.
In 1918, World War I was finally coming to a conclusion. Subsequently, countless troops returned home from the trenches, bringing something devastating home with them. The Spanish Flu is, to this day, considered the most deadly flu pandemic by a long shot, responsible for the death of three percent of the world’s population.
The City of St. Louis, Missouri was one of the least affected cities in the United States of America at the time, due in large part to a practice that we now know as “social distancing.” Dr. Max Starkloff, with the backing of Mayor Henry Kiel, dictated the closing of most businesses and public gathering places within the city. Including both libraries and most recreational areas. Gatherings of more than 20 people were forbidden for a time to help slow the spread of the virus, a measure that may seem familiar to modern Americans. Stakloff even issued the closure of churches.
Archbishop John Glenon of the Archdiocese of St. Louis protested the decisionat the time, unfortunately to no avail. The Archbishop gave the parishioners of St. Louis a dispensation from their obligation to Sunday Mass for the time that the churches were forcibly closed by the city. This level of general dispensation in response to a pandemic isha a president to it. Pope Clement VI gave a general dispensation for the forgiveness of sins for those who died of the Bubonic Plague.
Catholic Requirements
Practicing Catholics are required to follow the five precepts of the Church; including attendance of Mass on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation, Confession annually, receiving Communion at Easter Time, fasting and abstinence on the prescribed days, and contributing financially to the Church. While Catholics can still fulfill most of these precepts during the current restrictions, they are currently unable to participate in the Mass or receive Holy Communion this Easter season. Many of the bishops have dispensed with the Sunday obligation and are encouraging their parishioners to watch broadcasts of the Mass and make a Spiritual Communion. It is important to recall that watching mass in your living room is not actively participating in the mass in the same way as Catholics normally would. The Suggestion is made as a way for families to fulfill the Sabbath as prescribed in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Specifically the requirements of prayer held in paragraph 2183.
Though an additional requirement on the faithful is the instruction of children in the faith, with all the church closures many of the CCD programs have been put on hold. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has put out a resource for parents.
Matthew A. Shelton