As jurisdictions that are part of The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington expire their COVID-19 masking mandates, masks will no longer be required in churches in those jurisdictions.
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington includes the District of Columbia and five Maryland counties: Montgomery, Prince George’s, Charles, Calvert and St. Mary’s. Each jurisdiction has its own masking mandates as follows:
District of Columbia: Earlier this month, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said the District will ease masking requirements beginning March 1. On that date, masks will not be required at churches, grocery stores, restaurants and bars and sports and entertainment venues. Masks, however, will still be required at schools, libraries, healthcare facilities and on public transportation.
Prince George's County: The mask mandate currently in place for indoor public spaces is set to expire March 9.
Montgomery County: The mask mandate currently in place for indoor public spaces is set to expire on Feb. 21.
“Given the high COVID vaccination rates, and with case numbers and hospital utilization plummeting, the mask requirements in Montgomery County and Prince George's County are not expected to be extended,” Father Daniel B. Carson, the archdiocesan Vicar General and Moderator of the Curia, wrote in a Feb. 17 letter to all priests of the archdiocese
Calvert, Charles and St. Mary’s Counties: Masks are not required indoors at Mass and most parish settings.
In his letter, Father Carson noted that the use of masks by ordinary and extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion will be “optional and no longer required during the distribution when the mask mandate expires in the jurisdictions” that make up the archdiocese.
However, Father Carson urged pastors that as they make their decisions on whether or not to use masks during the distribution of the Eucharist, they should “be sensitive to the needs of the parishioners, deacons, and other ministers to understand that some recipients of Holy Communion may feel more comfortable if ministers wear a mask during distribution.”
Father Carson said the decision to make the use of masks optional was made “due to the plummeting caseloads as well as the high vaccination rates” in this area.
Nationwide, new cases of the coronavirus have declined by more than 80 percent since an Omicron variant peak of the virus in January.
Over the past two weeks, the daily average number of COVID-19 cases in Maryland has dropped by 65 percent, and the number of hospitalizations due to the virus has decreased by 49 percent. In the District, average daily COVID-19 cases dropped by 46 percent, and hospitalizations due to the virus has dropped by 41 percent.
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