Amid calls for Archbishop Bernard Hebda to lift the temporary suspension on public Masses he put into place last month, he remains “convinced that the restrictions that have been placed on public Masses and the administration of some sacraments are consistent with our faith,” he said in an April 17 letter.

“The Gospel calls us to respect and defend the lives of our families, neighbors, and especially the most vulnerable. This sometimes requires sacrificing our own desires for their good,” he said. “‘There is no greater love, than to lay down your lives for your friends,’ Jesus said the night before he died. How could we as his disciples receive the sacraments without thought or care for the safety of others? The Eucharist is re-presentation of Jesus’ own sacrifice, and he commands us to follow his example by making sacrifices in how we live out our faith and enter into the Church’s sacramental life.”

In a letter to Catholics addressed “Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ” and posted to the archdiocese’s website, Archbishop Hebda expressed gratitude for the way Catholics have supported their parishes and schools during the COVID-19 pandemic and Gov. Tim Walz’s stay-at-home orders.

Archbishop Hebda suspended public Masses March 18, the day before Walz announced a peacetime state of emergency in Minnesota to help fight the virus. He later issued a statewide two-week stay-at-home order beginning March 27, and then extended that to at least May 4 to slow the spread of the virus and give health care experts and institutions more time to prepare for the projected peak numbers of patients statewide.

In the weeks since Archbishop Hebda suspended public Masses, he has heard from some Catholics asking for liturgies to resume, and from others who implore him to curtail the limited public ministry currently allowed.

“I am grateful that so many have felt free to express their emotions with me during the pandemic: support, sadness, confusion, anger,” the archbishop wrote in the letter. “Some think our restrictions have gone too far, others not far enough. There are many questions: Why aren’t churches ‘essential services’? Why can people go to a liquor store, but holy Communion is unavailable? How we can live our faith under these circumstances? These questions reflect that we are suffering. Please know that I sympathize with your hurt and am inspired by your love for the sacraments, your parish, and the Church.”

Still, he said, “As reflected in the recent extension of the stay-at-home order in our state, the crisis requires that the temporary measures that we adopted are still needed to protect the public good. For that reason, Archdiocesan directives currently in force (including the dispensation of the Sunday Mass obligation) will remain at least until May 4.”

Catholics’ sacrifice of not participating as usual in public Masses “seem to be benefiting our community,” he said, noting “Minnesota’s hospitals and health-care providers have so far been able to keep up with the number of people needing life-saving medical care.”

But, he said, “public health officials say the precautions being taken must continue for the immediate future. Our archdiocese stands in solidarity with our brothers and sisters all over our country and around the world as we together strive to overcome this public health crisis. We are hoping and praying that the actions we have taken here will mitigate the pandemic and help us return to familiar public interactions, even if it may be some time before we return to ‘normal’ life in society.”

In the letter, Archbishop Hebda reiterated that confirmations at the Cathedral of St. Paul in
St. Paul and Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis will not take place in May or June, and pastors of affected parishes have been permitted to celebrate the sacrament at their own parish or reschedule for later in the year at the Cathedral or Basilica.

He closed the letter with prayers for the intercession of Our Lady of Perpetual Help.

“Please find comfort in the fact that priests continue to celebrate Mass on behalf of the Church and for your intentions every day,” he wrote. “I am delighted to hear that via technology, many of you, though not physically present, have been uniting yourselves with the Eucharistic sacrifice being offered and making a spiritual communion. I am hopeful that we will continue to find new and creative ways of living our faith while doing our part to stem the pandemic, always mindful of the best advice of public health experts.”

EASTER DUTY?

One of the traditional precepts of the Church establishes that Catholics should “humbly receive [their] creator in Holy Communion at least during the Easter season.” As explained in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, No. 2042, the precept “guarantees as a minimum the reception of the Lord’s Body and Blood in connection with the Paschal feasts, the origin and center of the Christian liturgy.” The timing of the obligation, however, is qualified in Canon 920 of the Code of Canon Law, which specifies, “This precept must be fulfilled during the Easter season unless it is fulfilled for a just cause at another time during the year.”

Father Tom Margevicius, archdiocesan director of worship, and Susan Mulheron, archdiocesan chancellor for canonical affairs, clarified that the current pandemic — and especially the resulting suspension of public Masses until at least May 4 — qualifies as a just cause for fulfilling this obligation at another time this year. Father Margevicius pointed to a line from the archbishop’s April 17 letter: “How could we as his disciples receive the sacraments without thought or care for the safety of others?”