Part 1 of 2 parts: Bishop Paprocki is withdrawing the general dispensation from the obligation to attend Mass on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation, effective, April10 & 11, 2021, while maintaining a particular dispensation in the following cases:
1. 1. Those 65 years of age or older;
2. 2. Those at risk for severe illness due to underlying medical conditions as described by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention;
3. 3. Those who care for the sick, homebound, or infirmed;
4. 4. Those women who are pregnant;
5. 5. Those who cannot be accommodated at Mass because the church was at safe distancing capacity.
6. The following persons do not need a dispensation, but are morally excused from attending Mass, and in fact are morally obliged not to attend Mass so as to avoid putting others at risk:
7. 1. Those who are currently ill; who have a fever/ exhibit flu-like symptoms;
8. Those w/ good reason to think they might be asymptomatic of a contagious
9. illness (e.g., those in recent contact with someone who tested positive.
10. In those cases where a person may not be dispensed or excused from the obligation to attend Mass in one of the above categories, but may have significant fear or anxiety of becoming ill by being at Mass, for example, those who for good reason have not received the COVID vaccine, such persons should speak to their parish priest, who may grant a dispensation
11. Those who are dispensed or excused from the obligation to attend Mass must still fulfill the divine command to keep holy the Lord’s Day and are encouraged to do so by participating in a livestream broadcast of the Sunday Mass, spending time in prayer, reading the Bible, praying the Rosary, and/ or meditating on the Lord’s passion, death and resurrection.