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STEUBENVILLE -- Public Masses are resuming in the Diocese of Steubenville the weekend of May 30-31, but steps are being taken to safeguard the health of participants -- including limiting church attendance to 50 percent of occupancy.
Guidelines released by Bishop Jeffrey Monforton said social distancing will be practiced in all church spaces, including in the nave, the sanctuary, sacristy and entrances to restrooms, as well as during the processional and recessional. Those in attendance are expected to stay 6 feet away from others, unless they live in the same household.
Facilities will be disinfected after each liturgy, including highly touched items such as pews, door knobs and rails.
Monforton said face masks are "strongly encouraged," though they can temporarily be removed for communion. Priests and deacons will not wear masks during the liturgy. No social gatherings will be allowed after Mass, and parishioners are encouraged to avoid congregating outside the church.
Monforton also said Mass "should not be unnecessarily prolonged so as to avoid people being in a social setting for too long and to allow sufficient time for cleaning" the church between Masses. That could mean shorter homilies and less music, "but the integrity of the liturgy is to be strictly respected and no required parts of the Mass may be omitted."
Social distancing also will be practiced during distribution of communion, which Monforton said can involve a communion procession distributing communion at the alter rail or taking communion to congregants in their pews, provided mass-goers were seated in alternate rows.
Monforton said his dispensation from the obligation to participate in Mass remains in effect, and those who are most at risk, who care for people in at-risk groups and those who are sick are "strongly encouraged" to stay home.