May 26, 2020

My Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,   We are all anxious to gather as a family of faith in our individual parish communities. We know that the process of reopening must be a gradual one. The most important things that we can do right now are to pray and to carefully plan for reopening.   In recent days, we were given the strong assurance that the Governor was going to announce this week that houses of worship could reopen with more than ten people, probably a percentage of the allowed seating capacity. Based on that information, we forwarded to all our parishes and institutions Guidelines for reopening churches so that everyone would be prepared.   We are still awaiting the Governor's announcement. We do have the benefit now of being well prepared to open our doors on very short notice. This readiness is thanks to the efforts of our clergy, religious, and lay volunteers.   Our churches are to remain closed until the date the Governor gives us public safety approval for gatherings of more than ten people in our churches.

Sincerely yours in Christ, Most Reverend Arthur J. Serratelli, S.T.D., S.S.L., D.D. Apostolic Administrator