"Parishes will work diligently to observe the new norms to ensure people can attend Mass safely," said Archbishop Diarmuid Martin.
“We have been buried for three months in the reality of closed churches. Over the next days, the stone will be rolled back. As with Jesus, it will be to a new way of being alive and being the Body of Christ,” said Bishop Donal McKeown, Diocese of Derry.
... there is much talk of getting back to ‘normal’. That all assumes that our earlier ways of running society and Church were the best that they could be – Bishop McKeown.
“What the guidelines fail to take into account is the fact that you could have a small chapel on the side of a mountain in rural Ireland that can barely hold 50 people, and you could have a cathedral in a city that can contain thousands” – Peadar Tóibín TD.
“I am excited. I said Mass this morning again on the webcam looking down at all the empty benches, and I’m getting tired of it. From next week there will be people there. It will be great.”
"We will now be in the dreadful position of having to turn some people away from Mass once 50 people are already present,” said Fr Tim Hazelwood of the Association of Catholic Priests.
“It may be a different experience when coming to Mass again, but it will have Christ at its centre, and the people of God gathered around the altar. That in itself is worth more than any challenge or inconvenience we face in the days ahead.”
"There is no doubt that the greatest cross has been carried by those who have lost loved ones, as they have been unable to observe the rites and rituals associated with mourning," says Bishop Noel Treanor.
I welcome this news and like other priests in Ireland I am greatly looking forward to celebrating public Mass and the sacraments soon with our congregations – Archbishop Eamon Martin, Primate of All Ireland.
This Saturday, in preparation for Pentecost, the Sacrament of Reconciliation will be available across the Waterford and Lismore diocese in open-air venues. For the list of confession times and venues, see the diocesan website – Bishop Cullinan.
Churches can now open for private and personal prayer, provided the necessary precautions are in line with the guidelines.
“To not be able to receive communion at this most difficult time is very hard on people," says Fr Kevin McNamara, PP of Moyvane, Co. Kerry.
Every Thursday at 7 o’clock, a bishop will celebrate Mass in one of the cathedrals for the care workers. We will begin here in Westminster Cathedral – Cardinal Nichols.
“Thanks to this digital technology many of us have been helped to remain in ‘spiritual communion’ with Christ and with one another,” said Archbishop Eamon Martin.
The daily broadcast by RTÉ is facilitating a spiritual communion of worshippers who, while not physically present within the church, are digitally united in faith – Bishop Alan McGuckian.
"Jesus Christ, come to our aid now, in the midst of the global spread of the coronavirus, that we may experience your healing love," says prayer of Bishop of Ferns
It has been a time to discover the value of quiet time of prayer in the home and prayer as a family, "the Domestic Church" – Catholic bishops of Munster.
We want people of all faiths to know that RTÉ is with them in spirit – RTÉ’s Head of Religious Content, Roger Childs.
Jesus calls on us, his followers, to serve the common good by taking responsibility for each other and to prioritise the most vulnerable in our community ahead of our own individual wants and aspirations – Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference.
The bishops are determined to go to Gaza to help remind the small Christian community that they are not forgotten as Christians.
“The next homeless person we meet, we might treat them with a little more sympathy and kindness. For whatever we do to the least of our sisters and brothers, we do it to Jesus” – Fr Howard.
Crosscare will give unwanted items to people living with very little, as well as the homeless.
Last weekend about 175 women attended the Shine Retreat, and – unsurprisingly – there are only 20 tickets left for the 2-day retreat Blessed Is She.
These groupings will permit our individual parishes to become stronger, more alive, and be in a position to offer an even greater level of service in their communities – Bishop Farrell.
Pope Francis admits it is not always easy to discern our vocation and to steer our life in the right direction and, for this reason, he calls on Church personnel to provide young people with opportunities for listening and discernment.
“If Mass can be celebrated in Irish on St Patrick’s Day, it can be celebrated in Irish every Sunday.”
“The Light Up a Memory Mass is a lovely way to remember loved ones who are always in our thoughts.”
A sung Mass has the potential to reach many people outside the circle of concert music – but it is not entertainment because the Mass itself is not.
"Lord, sustain and increase this state of shame and repentance and give us the strength to commit ourselves so that these things never happen again and justice may be done.”
Pope Francis to visit Knock and the Phoenix Park in Dublin on Sunday 26 August.
