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Detroit archbishop extends exemption from attending Sunday Mass amid pandemic

Catholics reminded to 'keep holy the Lord's Day' even without attending Sunday Mass

Parishioners attend Spanish-language Mass at Saint Bartholomew Roman Catholic Church, Monday, July 6, 2020, in the Queens borough of New York. (AP Photo/John Minchillo) (John Minchillo, Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

DETROIT – The Detroit archbishop has extended the “dispensation,” or exemption, from the obligation to attend Mass on Sundays and holy days of obligation for Catholics in the Archdiocese of Detroit until Monday, Nov. 23, 2020.

This includes all travelers during their time within the territory of the Archdiocese of Detroit, Archbishop Allen Vigneron announced Friday.

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“While the dispensation from the grave obligation to attend Sunday Mass is in effect, all baptized Catholics are reminded of the grave necessity they have to keep holy the Lord’s Day,” reads a statement from Vigneron. “Prayer and time for God, time for family, and works of charity should be central to a Catholic’s Sunday.”

Catholic leaders have been issuing waivers on Mass attendance since the coronavirus pandemic swept the world earlier this year.

Read more: Across faiths, religious rules bent as virus alters worship