Editor's Note: The message below is sent to all Diocesan sites on behalf of the Office of the Bishop. Please see the attached list at the bottom of this email with a list of online Masses being held across the Diocese of Orange. 

In light of the GOVERNOR'S ORDER FOR ALL CALIF. RESIDENTS TO REMAIN AT HOME, EXCEPT ESSENTIAL SERVICES INDIVIDUALS, we want to provide further clarifications and reminders about public and private gatherings.

What does this mean for our Parishes, Schools, Pastoral Center and Cathedral Campus?

• AS PUBLIC PLACES, OUR CHURCHES, SCHOOLS AND CAMPUS WILL NEED TO CLOSE TO PUBLIC ENTRY UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE PER THE GOVERNOR'S ORDER. THIS WILL ALSO INCLUDE CONDUCTING BAPTISMS (unless in an emergency), WEDDINGS, RECEPTIONS, EVENTS, GROUPS, SOCIETIES, DEVOTIONS, CHOIRS, FUNERAL VIGILS, ROSARIES, AND ANYTHING THAT CAUSES PEOPLE TO GATHER IN ONE PLACE. THE ANOINTING OF THE SICK WITH PROPER PRECAUTIONS IS TO BE CONTINUED.

• ALL NON-ESSENTIAL Parish Staff, School Staff, Pastoral Center Staff, and Campus Staff will need to work from home effective as of midnight on 03-19-20, per the Order, until further notice.

• However, essential staff could include Security, Maintenance (if absolutely necessary), Priests, Business Managers, Communications, (telephone receptionists if absolutely necessary), IT, Principals, Teachers for Distance Learning, and Human Resources staff. WE NEED TO USE COMMON SENSE AND ERR ON THE SIDE OF CAUTION AND SAFETY. Moreover, decisions will need to be made about implementing furlough options as outlined in the Human Resources Memo from 03-18-20. Further discernment will need to be undertaken in the next two weeks. NOTE: We continue to try to follow the principle of subsidiarity, recognizing that the circumstances in a parish like St. Columban may be very different from that at St. Mary’s by the Sea. Bishop Vann trusts your good judgment.

• Food Distribution Ministries (with all CDC safeguards) may continue at the discretion of the pastor. No one over 65 and/or with an underlying health condition should participate as volunteers – also it is recommended that a drive-through be created to limit contact.

• Parishes should plan to provide ‘Livestream Masses’ daily and plan to do so for Easter Services, with an option for Online Giving or the parish can offer parishioners the option of watching the Daily and Sunday Mass’s listed below. If your parish is not listed and you would like to add your parish’s livestreaming of Mass to our list for future communications, please send that information to the RCBO Communications Department.

• Funerals should be postponed if at all possible and if conducted there should be no more than 10 people in attendance and with health precautions as already noted by the CDC and Health Officials and only with immediate family members. Cemeteries and cemeteries workers are considered essential and will be reporting to work.

• ALL Sacramental Preparation is to be conducted through digital or online tools, avoiding in-person meetings, gatherings and/or classes. Practical suggestions and recommendations will be forthcoming, should you need specific assistance, please email the appropriate director.

• Daily Confessions are suspended at this time. Further clarification will be provided to you as soon as possible regarding both Confessions and Holy Week Services. 

• Anointing of the Sick should continue, again, respecting the suggestions of civil authority and the regulations imposed by hospitals or convalescent homes. We point you to canon 1000 §2, which while acknowledging that normally a priest would use his hand to anoint, permits “the use of an instrument” if a grave reason exists. In this regard, a priest may use a Q-Tip or cotton swab, placing it on the oil stock only once. Once used, these would be placed in a Ziploc type bag, sealed, and disposed of properly (burned or buried). A priest using his hand likewise should put his thumb or finger into the oil stock only one time per person he anoints, properly sanitizing his hand afterwards.

• Please continue to offer spiritual support to your people through personal calls, your website, videos, etc. Now is the time to be creative, use social media to its fullest and inspire the people who might be stuck in their homes or apartments. In addition to feeding the people spiritually, such actions will show the faithful that we are dedicated to their spiritual well-being. As such, they might be more inclined to be generous to the church through donations.

SCHOOLS:

• Schools will be providing on-line, at home (aka ‘distance’) learning for our students, therefore, those who facilitate ‘distance’ learning as an essential function are exempt.

Be assured that together in prayer, inspired by the Holy Spirit, we can overcome any obstacles and by providing spiritual support and hope to our Parish and School communities. Thank you for your stewardship, support, diligence and prayers as we journey together. Please pray for all those effected by these trying times.

These are times which are calling us to live our Faith with great courage and love. Yesterday we celebrated the Solemnity of St. Joseph, and we heard in St. Matthew’s Gospel where the Angel said “Do Not Be afraid." We also know that Joseph, although without speaking did the right thing in very challenging circumstances in his life and salvation history. Let us ask St. Joseph, as the earthly father of Jesus, and the patron of the Universal Church to intercede for us and to guide us. Thanks to all of you for your care and faithful witness to the Lord in challenging times. Most of us never expected these times, but here we are now, in God’s providence, to not only witness and live the Gospel but to pray and to support one another as well.

List of Mass broadcast and livestreams