The Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments issues a note to bishops and episcopal conferences on the celebration of Holy Week 2021 with worship and health security in mind.
By the editor of Vatican News
The Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments issued a Note to bishops and episcopal conferences on the celebration of Holy Week in 2021. The text offers basic guidelines to assist bishops in their task of providing for the spiritual well-being of pastors and faithful in living this great week of the liturgical year of the Church. The Covid-19 pandemic presents the main challenge once again this year, celebrating these liturgies normally. The Note calls for “prudent decisions so that the liturgy can be celebrated fruitfully for the people of God … with respect for the protection of health and for what has been prescribed by the authorities responsible for the common good”.
The Congregation refers to a Decree that it issued on March 25, 2020 and notes that the guidelines offered for the celebration of Holy Week in that document can also be followed this year. Situations vary from country to country, where some have strict blocking conditions that make it impossible for the faithful to meet in the Church, while others have returned to a more normal pattern of worship.
The note highlights how the use of social networks has helped the local Church “by offering support and proximity to their communities during the pandemic”. It suggests that this media reach continues and encourages the faithful who are unable to attend their own church to follow diocesan celebrations as a sign of unity.
The text also recalls the importance of returning to a normal experience of Christian life through the physical presence of the faithful at Mass, where circumstances permit, as noted in an August letter last year that the Congregation addressed to the Presidents of the Episcopal Conferences in around the world entitled “Let us return to the Eucharist with joy!”
Finally, the Note says that the Chrism Mass can be moved to another, more appropriate day, if necessary, and that adequate help for family and personal prayer is encouraged.