CNA Staff, Jul 11, 2020 / 11:00 am
When the government permitted churches in England to resume public Masses July 4, Fr. Rick McGrath faced a difficult dilemma.
The pastor of St. Wilfrid's, Burgess Hill, in the county of West Sussex, realized that in order to comply with social distancing requirements, numbers at weekend Masses would be severely limited. He decided that rather than turn people away, he would only offer public Masses on weekdays.
"It was just a judgment call because I couldn't bear the idea of shutting the doors in the face of people," he told CNA July 9.
McGrath, a native of Minnesota, explained that normally more than 400 people attend Mass on a Saturday evening and Sunday at St. Wilfrid's, one of four locations where Mass is celebrated within the parish. But under the strict new regulations to prevent the spread of coronavirus, only 50-60 people would be permitted to attend each of the weekend Masses.