The Roman Catholic Diocese of Las Cruces is re-opening for public mass, under strict precautions.
In the image above from the Diocese, Bishop Peter Baldacchino distributes Holy Communion during a parking lot Holy Mass service.
“We are maintaining all current health precautions set forth by the state and federal government,” Christopher Velasquez, the communication director for the diocese said.
Velasquez in an interview, said this decision mostly stemmed from them hearing about pandemic induced anxiety, increase in divorces, drug use and alcohol abuse.
“These type of things create a lot of anxiety and we wanted to make sure that we were still able to offer the essential hope,” Velasquez said.
The diocese said they will be sure to abide by the governors social distancing orders.
“This is for those that feel an inherent spiritual need to go to the mass and that are not showing any symptoms and that are not in the at risk category,” Velasquez said.
Here’s how it will work:
The opportunity to attend mass will be on a first come first serve basis.
If you want to attend, you must contact your church beforehand to be put on a list.
Only five people, who will be placed 6 feet apart, will be allowed inside the church at a time, including the priest.
“If you call and your like the 20th person in line, they would fit you in to the rotation but going based on how you called in,” Velasquez said. “You’ll be contacted when you have the ability to attend in person.”
When the celebration is over, Velasquez says the entire church will be deeply cleaned and sanitized.
Churches will still be live streaming mass for you to watch from home.
Another option churches have is to do mass outside, with people staying in their cars. Velasquez says all vehicles will have a parking space between them and there will be security to make sure it doesn’t get over crowded.
Edited from Fox14
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