News: Some rural parishes allowed to publicly celebrate Mass

May 18, 2020

Woman praying with mask on

Bishop William Joensen is allowing parishes in 15 of our 23 counties to begin to publicly celebrate Mass beginning Thursday, and another county will open on Monday, May 25. The bishop did this after consultation with a task force with both lay and clergy representation from around the diocese, discussions with infectious disease clinicians from both UnityPoint and MercyOne ;medical staffs, who track all data from the Iowa Department of Public Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Read this May 17 letter to the faithful in English or Spanish, see liturgical guidelines that parishes must follow in order to re-open to publicly celebrated Mass, and posters with helpful information including a self-discernment piece asking "Should I go to Mass?"