sacraments

Diocesan officials learned from the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith that the baptisms were invalid because of the form used during the ritual.

“Who are we becoming? Let us receive the gift of God himself. Let us become what we receive.”

As the coronavirus pandemic upended normal activities and routines across the United States, Catholic parishes, schools and organizations had to quickly, and continuously, find ways to adapt.

St. Cloud Bishop Donald Kettler called it an “important breakthrough” in a May 23 letter to the people of the diocese. “This breakthrough is consistent with our need to protect public health as we take significant precautions in how we come together and pray,” he said.

“We understand that these are difficult decisions for our civic leaders and that they have many factors to consider in the reopening of life in Minnesota,” Bishop Kettler says in his latest video message.”The bishops of Minnesota also have difficult decisions to make as we determine when to allow public worship with more than 10 people.”

The announcement was accompanied by a list of strict guidelines that pastors and parishes must follow. These include limiting the number of people in the church at any one time to 10 or less, following current social distancing guidelines, and cleaning and sanitizing pews daily.

“While mitigation efforts to date have helped, the coronavirus continues to pose a serious health threat, particularly to the elderly and those with underlying illnesses.”

I have made the difficult decision to suspend all public weekday and weekend Masses in the Diocese of Saint Cloud, effective immediately through Easter Monday, April 13. All Catholics in the diocese remain dispensed from the obligation to attend Sunday Mass during this time.