{"id":62260,"date":"2020-06-15T15:05:54","date_gmt":"2020-06-15T19:05:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mileniostadium.com\/?p=62260"},"modified":"2020-06-15T15:05:54","modified_gmt":"2020-06-15T19:05:54","slug":"pandemic-has-been-spiritually-painful-archbishop-says-as-churches-reopen-gradually","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mileniostadium.com\/local\/gta\/pandemic-has-been-spiritually-painful-archbishop-says-as-churches-reopen-gradually\/","title":{"rendered":"Pandemic has been ‘spiritually painful,’ archbishop says, as churches reopen gradually"},"content":{"rendered":"
Toronto’s archbishop says the past three months have\u00a0been “spiritually painful” for Catholics because churches have been closed during the pandemic but they are reopening\u00a0gradually “in a careful way” with safety measures in place.<\/p>\n
Cardinal Thomas Collins, in a virtual news conference\u00a0on Sunday, says the Archdiocese\u00a0of Toronto has prepared a gradual reopening plan that balances the need for Catholics to come together to worship with the need for health and safety amid COVID-19. Medical experts have reviewed the phased reopening plan, which has been shared with the province, he said.<\/p>\n “First of all, I would like to thank the faithful of the archdiocese for their patience during these challenging days. I am grateful to Catholics throughout the archdiocese for their understanding as we have worked together to minimize the potential spread of COVID-19 over the past several months,” Collins said.<\/p>\n “I also am keenly aware that closing our more than 200 Catholic churches in this Archdiocese of Toronto has been a very spiritually painful and difficult period for all of us.”<\/p>\n Collins said he is delighted that the 225 Catholic churches can reopen in Toronto. “I am just overjoyed that we will once more be able to open our churches. This is such an important reality. Understandably, this will be done in a very careful way,” he said.<\/p>\n “We have an extremely\u00a0thorough, very well-thought\u00a0plan for doing this. But we are ready.”<\/p>\n According to the provincial government, as of last Friday\u00a0at 12:01 a.m., all places of worship in Ontario were\u00a0permitted to open with physical distancing in place and attendance limited to no more than 30 per cent of the building capacity to ensure the safety of worshippers.<\/p>\n But under the reopening plan with a timeline drawn up by the archdiocese, Catholic churches in the city\u00a0may open their doors only for private prayer and adoration starting this Sunday to Tuesday, June 16.<\/p>\n Churches may begin offering daily public mass from Wednesday, June 17 to Saturday, June 20 this week. And on the weekend of June 20 and 21, the parishes may once again offer weekend masses.<\/p>\nProvince permitted places of worship to open Friday<\/h2>\n