Dear All

As you will have seen, the First Minister announced yesterday that social distancing indoors will end from Monday 9^th August. This means that after this date there will be no obligation to keep 1m distance between household groups and so churches and halls can return to their normal capacity. I’m sure we will all be glad to get back to the normal use of our churches.

Although there will no longer be this obligation, some people might still be wary about being too close and it might be a good ideat to keep some social distancing in some parts of the churches for those who are more worried.

There is no change to the requirement to wear masks or to retain track and trace details (but see below). These need to continue as before, as does the careful cleaning of churches and sanitising of hands. The Bishops’ experts also highlight the importance of ventilation: if possible, open all windows whilst the church is in use and, if you can, open doors too before and after Mass – the more fresh air the better.

There are some changes to self-isolation: “Adults identified as close contacts of someone who has tested positive for Covid-19 will also no longer be automatically required to self-isolate for 10 days from 9 August. Anyone who is double-vaccinated with at least two weeks passed since their second dose and who has no symptoms will be able to end self-isolation if they return a negative PCR test.” This means that even if a priest is a close contact he might not have to isolate and so wouldn’t have to cancel Masses etc – of course each individual should follow the particular advice they receive if they are contacted by the NHS.

There are also some updates from the Bishops’ Experts:

Use of holy water fonts There is still a risk that the virus can be transmitted through the use of holy water fonts. The use of fonts is not advised until further notice.

Distribution of hymn books for Mass and newsletters is now allowed as normal.

Use of confessionals The use of enclosed confessionals should continue to be avoided.

Test and Protect We need to continue the Test and Protect regime by the collection and temporary retention of parishioner information. However, if this is unduly burdensome parishes may collect information for just one person per family group. Or alternatively, parishes may invite people to register for their usual Mass as a one-off and ask them to inform the parish if they are not going to attend. Most congregations tend to be fairly stable, especially as we now have greater numbers attending Mass.

If there are any further updates I will, of course, pass them on.

With best wishes

Canon Paul Gargaro

Diocesan Coordinator