Resurgence of Covid-19 Virus (Omicron) and What This Means for Church Liturgies and Gatherings（No.11）

In spite of the pro­gress made in vac­ci­na­tions, the out­break of the corona muta­tion has not been halted, and clus­ters of the dis­ease have emerged in var­ious parts of Hokkaido. At the request of the gov­ernor of Hokkaido, a meeting of the gov­ern­ment task force was held on January 25, and as a result, Hokkaido has been placed under the pri­ority mea­sures policy from January 27 to February 20 to pre­vent the spread of the dis­ease.

At this time, there have been no reports of clus­ters within the Church, but indi­vidual cases have begun to appear, espe­cially in Catholic edu­ca­tional insti­tu­tions, and reports of clus­ters have con­tinued.

The Sapporo Diocesan Priests’ Advisory Council has advised me that the sit­u­a­tion is even more severe, falling under Stage 4 of the Bishops’ Conference guide­lines, 「Refrain from public Masses in parishes」. In light of this I have decided to sus­pend public Masses and meet­ings at parishes in the Diocese of Sapporo until the dec­la­ra­tion is com­pleted. If the procla­ma­tion is post­poned, we ask that it be con­tinued for that period of time. (For now, this will cover the Lord’s Day from January 30 to February 2 0.)

However, in light of regional dif­fer­ences and parish con­di­tions, public Masses may be offered at the dis­cre­tion of the pastor if the fol­lowing mea­sures are taken:

(1) A greater social dis­tance (2 meters or more) than in the past.

(2) No con­ver­sa­tion before or after Mass (including out­side the Cathedral).

I ask for your under­standing and con­tinued patience until the day the dec­la­ra­tion is lifted.
In addi­tion, if you are going to enter or leave the church due to an emer­gency if you return please repeat the infec­tion con­trol mea­sures.
(1) Disinfect hands, (2) Wear masks, (3) Social dis­tancing, (4) Take your tem­per­a­ture, (5) Avoid pro­longed con­ver­sa­tions, (6) Disinfect the place of use, (7)

Avoid using common items such as pam­phlets that another has used.

For everyone’s good health I ask for your coop­er­a­tion in this matter.

For funerals, wed­dings, etc., please take appro­priate mea­sures to pre­vent infec­tions.

I encourage you to pray and receive spir­i­tual com­mu­nion in your homes on the Lord’s Day.

For those who live alone, please keep in touch with friends and stay con­nected.

Please know that I, along with the priests of the dio­cese, in a spe­cial way offer our prayers asking God’s Mercy and strength for all our brothers and sis­ters of the dio­cese, and for all living here in Hokkaido.