Archbishop Nelson Perez announced the decision Thursday.

“Effective immediately, and until further notice, in union with the Bishops of Pennsylvania, I have dispensed the faithful of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia from the obligation to attend Sunday Mass,” Perez said. “Despite the suspension of the obligation to attend Sunday Mass, all regularly scheduled masses will remain open to the public for those who wish to attend.”

As an example of the new norms to apply in places of worshipping, traditional heartwarming hugs and handshakes among the members must be avoided.

You can read: Coronavirus forces the Catholic Church to change rules during Mass

Pastor Bob Oliver from the New Covenant Church of Philadelphia said, “we take it very seriously and last week from the pulpit, I communicated that we should refrain from hugging, from handshaking.”

Oliver says that the intention is to protect its most vulnerable members like the elderly and those with vulnerable health conditions.

“We have people in our congregation who are elderly, who we love with our whole heart, we want to protect them,” Oliver said. “We have a team of physicians and nurses who I’m working with to develop information that we can post on our website, that we can communicate and make certain that people get information they need to stay healthy.”

The Catholic Church has implemented changes related to the Mass service across the nation including the suspension of the use of shared chalices during communion.

Many priests are also asking parishioners not to shake hands.

Currently, it is a priority to sanitize thoroughly the places of worship.

“We have Purell stations all around. We also have made certain that we have disinfected surfaces, every doorknob, every entryway,” Oliver said.

The church has also considered the possibility of live streaming sermons if the coronavirus outbreak continues to worsen.

“Keep the faith, resist the germs. Knowing that God is able to protect us from any and everything, but we also have to be responsible smart citizens,” Oliver said.

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The directives to parishes within the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, which are effective immediately, are the following:

• Hand washing with soap and water by priests, deacons and extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion before and after mass is mandatory.. Extraordinary ministers may also use a hand sanitizer in the pew before Holy Communion.

• It has been suspended the distribution of the Precious Blood from the Chalice to ministers and parishioners .

• The invitation to the Sign of Peace is optional and pastors should consult their community to determine the best way to observe it.

• In order to avoid any contamination, Holy water fonts must be drained and refreshed more frequently than normal.

• The Universal Prayer must include intentions for the prevention of the coronavirus and those impacted by it

You can read: Health officials get ready to face coronavirus in Philadelphia

The new rules for Mass from the Diocese of Trenton include the following:

• Priests, deacons and extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion should wash their hands with soap and water or hand sanitizers before and after Holy Communion.

• People are encouraged to not receive Holy Community on the tongue and receiving it by hand is preferred.

• Exchanging the Sign of Peace through physical contact such as handshakes, hugs or kisses has been suspended.
• Distributing the Precious Blood from the Chalice has been suspended.

• People who have flu-like symptoms or are feeling sick should not go to Mass or other Church gatherings.

The post Coronavirus forces the Catholic Church to change rules during Mass appeared first on El Sol News Media.

The Diocese of Paterson is facing a lawsuit accusing former priest Sean Rooney. According to the suit, Rooney abused the student at various locations including the Paterson school from 1973 to 1975 beginning when the victim was 13 years old. The victim lives currently in Florida.

The then-teenage student accused Rooney of “grooming him and giving him special treatment” soon after he enrolled at the school, according to the suit.

“Shortly after their first meeting, Father Rooney began sexually assaulting and abusing (him),” the suit states. “Plaintiff estimates that he was abused by Father Rooney in excess of 100 times.”

Rooney, a chemistry teacher at the school, exposed the student to pornography while giving him alcohol, the suit said. The sexual abuse occurred at the school, the suit said.

Not on the list

The former Don Bosco´s teacher is not on the list of 188 priests and deacons deemed “credibly accused” of sexual abuses involving children released last year jointly by New Jersey’s Catholic dioceses.

You can read: Vatican summit presents 21 rules manual against sexual abuse

Rooney´s case is included in the website bishop-accountability.org, a group that tracks allegations against priests. According to its data, he was accused in a 2013 lawsuit of a sexually abusing a 14-year-old seminary student at a retreat house in Massachusetts and at a seminary in New York.

One of the main criticisms levelled at the Catholic church has been its leaving hundred of names off its list of credibly accused priests.

This lawsuit filed by the former Don Bosco Technical High School student is another in the numerous allegations occured under a new law signed by Gov. Phil Murphy.

Who is Sean Rooney?

“The Official Catholic Directory” reference resource states that Rooney was ordained in 1959 and assigned to work in New Jersey on several occasions.

Rooney worked at Don Bosco Technical High School from 1971 to 1975, before he was transferred to Archbishop Shaw High School in New Orleans, where he worked until 1979. He was then transferred to work as a financial administrator and counselor at Salesian Junior Seminary in Goshen, New York.

In 1981, Rooney was transferred again to New Jersey, where he worked as a counselor for Don Bosco Preparatory High School in Ramsey. Rooney was transferred in 1983 to Alabama, where he remained for two decades. He returned to New York in 2003. In 2008, the Salesians of Don Bosco announced Rooney’s “laicization,” or removal from sacred orders as punishment for transgression.

You can read: Victims of Pennsylvania sexual abuse will go to the Vatican meeting in February

Robert Fazio, president of Don Bosco Prep in Ramsey, said Monday he had no knowledge of Rooney and could not comment on the lawsuit. The lawsuit does not make any allegations about Rooney’s short time at Don Bosco Prep in the early 1980s.

Fazio said that to investigate all allegations of sexual abuse is a priority for the school, Fazio said.

“Abuse on any level is unacceptable,” Fazio said, adding that the institution has embraced the policies and procedures of the “Protecting God’s Children Program.”

Salesians also accused

In addition to the Paterson Diocese, lawsuit names the Salesians Society and accuses the diocese and the Catholic Church of engaging in a conspiracy to conceal “credible allegations of child sexual abuse against priests.”

The lawsuit alleges officials with the Catholic church transferred Rooney and other priests accused of abusing children rather than report them to police.

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