Coronavirus Update: Citing Spread Of COVID-19, Catholic Diocese Of Sacramento Suspends Mass
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) - Bishop Jaime Soto of the Sacramento Catholic Diocese has announced that all Sunday and weekday masses held in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sacramento will be suspended until further notice, due to the coronavirus.
Soto said he made the decision Tuesday "with a heavy heart." The suspension of the diocese's "public celebrations" comes after public guidelines recommended groups of 10 or more be canceled or postponed to slow the spread of coronavirus, according to a statement from the diocese.
Despite not having in-person mass, the diocese will live stream mass at www.facebook.com/diocesesacramento in English every Sunday at 9:30 a.m. Other parishes offering live streaming can be found on the diocesan website at www.scd.org/coronavirus.
Parish churches will remain open during regular hours for private prayer.
"The Lord God has awakened us to conversion during this Lenten Season as we more closely unite ourselves with our neighbors in California and around the world responding to the alarming pandemic of the Coronavirus, COVID-19," said Bishop Soto
On March 11, Soto announced that Catholics over the age of 60 and those with vulnerable health conditions would excused from attending Sunday Mass. Less than a week later, local Catholic schools closed on in-class instruction.