In pandemic, Catholic churches turned to technology, creativity, faith | Angelus News

As the coronavirus pandemic disrupts normal activities and routines in the United States, Catholic parishes, schools and organizations have to quickly and continuously find ways to adapt.

For beginners, this mainly involves technology: live broadcast of the masses on the Mass platform and conduct teaching and conferences, but at the same time it also triggered outdoor worship, driving confession experience, and with the development of the year: back to The society keeps not far from the masses and Catholic church schools and universities, and the crowd decreases.

When the pandemic broke out across the country and resulted in the closure of the diocese, churches and bishops issued the assignment of "Sunday masses" obligations, and the diocese (with varying degrees of technical knowledge) established the diocese YouTube channel for the first time or used their Facebook pages to dust off For online streaming.

Mauricio Castro monitors cameras during Mass in the Catholic Church of San Gabriel in Washington on July 11, 2020. Masses are being broadcast live in churches across the United States so that Catholics can worship within social distance without being exposed to the coronavirus. (CNS photo/Taylor Olsborn)

After the Archdiocese of Washington announced that there would be no public gatherings as of March 14, the priest Ken Gill of the Parish of Our Lady of Solomons, Maryland, met with his diocese staff and asked: "What should we do keep in touch?

They believed that as long as they had the right equipment, the parish could start broadcasting Masses, so the priest bought a laptop, microphone and camera, and a parish priest helped him establish a daily live broadcast connection with Masses four days later.

By next week, he will broadcast a sacred moment at noon, praying with the audience for Angelos, Rosary, Petite and Benedictine, and plans to broadcast the station of the cross on the parish Facebook page.

He said: "We are using this opportunity to incite and build stronger community connections."

This situation has happened in parishes across the country. Due to the limited number of people, the situation has continued after the church slowly reopened.

Mary DeTurris Poust, the director of communications for the Diocese of Albany, New York, said in late March that she was inspired by what the diocese was doing, saying they were aware that the residents of the diocese "wanted for spiritual connection." , And provided the basis for the ceremony. Very critical and chaotic time."

The closure of the parish also means that functions such as religious education courses and conferences must be converted to an online format, which has made many people familiar with Zoom, an online platform they may have never heard of a year ago.

Sister Susan François, assistant president of the Sisters of Peace of Saint Joseph, told the Catholic News Agency: "The Internet is a blessing of all blessings." She has already held a Zoom video conference with team members across the country and other parts of the world.

Several alumni and current school choir members of the Bishop Vero Catholic High School in Fort Myers, Florida, sang to celebrate Christ at the Zoom meeting on April 23, 2020. During the pandemic, Catholics provide virtual companionship to friends and family in various ways, including online gatherings to pray, encouragement through Zoom calls, and direct messages on social media or checking over the phone. (CNS photo/screen shot)

But Zoom fatigue has also attracted people's attention. Bishop Barry C. Knestout of Richmond, Virginia, used the platform extensively last year in meetings, conferences and parish functions (including the parish Eucharist in early November). After attending the virtual autumn meeting of American bishops in mid-November, he admitted that "looking at the computer screen is very water intensive."

He said: “Technology is a blessing because it enables people to do more things, but it also has its limitations.” He pointed out that people are for face-to-face communication. He said that this is the meaning of sacrament, of grace. Is coming.

Due to fewer restrictions on the number of outdoor congregations, many dioceses try to hold mass outdoor gatherings in the parking lot of the church when possible, such as mass gatherings, their cars are full of pollutants, and they listen to the radio .

In May, the parishioners of Stella Maris in Egg Harbor, Wisconsin, Larry (Larry) and Diane Kahlscheuer (Diane Kahlscheuer) asked their pastor if they could provide communion services in their homes. In June, when the Diocese of Green Bay announced the resumption of public mass activities with a 25% church occupancy rate, the pastor obtained permission from his bishop to limit their social distance to celebrate the outdoor Sunday mass activities in their couple’s yard.

In an interview with the parish newspaper Compass, Larry said: “People present will bring their own lawn chairs or blankets to sit on the grass.” “Part of the parish canon is a rise in temperature and a spray of hand sanitizer. In Saint During the meal, the priest was washed and he distributed the sacrament. All of this was done through the strictest guidance. The social distance of people, except for families, is on our front lawn."

The couple said that the pandemic posed a challenge to their community, but it also helped them understand the importance of faith to them.

Wyndham, Maine, permanently helped Father Lou Phillips, the pastor of the Parish Church of Our Lady, to hold the sacrament on April 19, 2020. (CNS photo/Courtesy of Portland Parish)

Larry said: "During the entire church closure, throughout the COVID-19 situation, I realized what the Eucharist means to me, and what the Holy Communion means to my life of faith." Become stronger during this time. Despite the overall situation, the journey has been quite good."

Several American bishops said in a discussion held on November 17th at a virtual conference this fall that their demand for the Eucharist is unwavering and talked about the many special measures that people have taken before the Blessed Sacrament .

Bishop Daniel E. Flores of Brownsville, Texas, said he saw people kneeling outside the church, praying for a chance to receive the sacrament. Similarly, the bishop of Orange, California, Kevin W. Vann, said he saw people kneeling in the rain early in the morning, waiting for the city’s cathedral to open.

Several bishops stated that this yearning for the Eucharist provides an opportunity for the church to start a new journey as the public celebrations gradually expand and church leaders determine how to best encourage people to re-engage in the life of the parish. Evangelism and mission work.

At this virtual conference of bishops, and in a survey conducted by the Georgetown University Apostolate Center for Applied Research this summer, the bishops were concerned about people returning to Sunday Mass after the pandemic, and pointed out that if they did not return, The financial prospects of the church entities-parishes and schools-are grim.

Catholic schools have witnessed this phenomenon first-hand, closing 100 schools this year, many of which were exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic due to funding constraints.

But this fall, many Catholic schools-enrollment rates are usually lower than public schools-were able to reopen for face-to-face education, and many health and safety regulations were enacted, and they were equipped with sneeze guards and plenty of hand sanitizer, disinfectant wipes, masks and gloves.

For younger students, the break time is also different because students cannot use equipment to play or engage in contact sports. School lunch is either delivered to the classroom or eaten casually. Students can eat at the desk or outside.

The same creativity and compliance with safety guidelines have been practiced in Catholic schools and universities, which reopened this fall after being mostly virtual in the spring semester.

Jodi Barber and Patrick Moran, the vice principal of Gibbons High School, Bishop of Notre Dame Cathedral in Schenectady, New York, and her valedictorian son Connor Barber on May 6, 2020 Group photo of Connor Barber. On May 6, 2020, teachers and staff drove to each student’s residence, delivered graduation marks across five different counties and congratulated them on achieving this milestone. (CNS picture/Communicator Cindy Schultz, communicator)

On campus, crowded lecture halls, sports events and dining rooms are no longer the norm, and classrooms are either mainly online or with smaller seats and separate plexiglass barriers. The capacity of the dormitory is reduced, mainly single rooms.

The educational background is also different. Most colleges started early, eliminated the fall vacation, and ended face-to-face learning through the Thanksgiving holiday a few weeks before the beginning of December or through online exams before the end of the virtual semester.

During the reopening period, Paris has also been complying with restrictions. This summer, in the Diocese of Portland, Maine, even efforts to reopen the church in a limited manner have prompted creativity among clergy and parish staff. The number of participants in the event must not exceed 50, and masks must be worn, and temporary seating arrangements can ensure compliance with social guidance guidelines. In addition, a reservation is required to ensure that the capacity is not exceeded.

Since parishes and schools have taken steps to slowly reopen and the coronavirus pandemic shows signs of deterioration before it improves, church and school leaders insist that the key to all this is flexibility. They emphasized that the reopening requires strict compliance with the new agreement and flexible switching of gears when necessary.

The auxiliary bishop of Baltimore, Adam J. Parker, emphasized this view a few months ago, when the pandemic that broke out in the United States was still new.

"We are very grateful to our faithful parishioners, parish leaders and pastors for their patience throughout the pandemic," he said. "We ask to continue to do this because it is a very complicated matter and there is no precedent. In the past five to six weeks, we have actually rewritten the entire archdiocese policy manual. Now, in a sense, we will write it again."

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Carol Zimmermann (Carol Zimmermann) for

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