Palmerston North parishioners have given a variety of reasons as to why they have not returned to Sunday Mass when they started again under alert level 2.
In a “From the Pastor’s Desk” column posted to the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit website in November, cathedral parish priest Fr Joseph Grayland said that he had received feedback from many local people as to why they have either attended or not attended Mass recently.
In alert level 2, faith services can have a maximum of 100 people attending plus staff, which includes clergy. Attendees have to check in using the NZ Covid Tracer App, or otherwise record their contact details. At the start of the current lockdown in August, New Zealand’s Catholic bishops dispensed people from the obligation to attend Sunday Mass.
In a previous newsletter, Fr Grayland noted that, for the Palmerston North parishes of which he is pastor, Mass attendance numbers had steadily grown since public liturgies started being celebrated again, but many were still staying away. He asked people to contact him to discuss this and many people did so, he wrote.
“I have heard from many people [as to] why they are not attending Masses,” Fr Grayland wrote.
“These parishioners cover the range of ages, medical situations, family arrangements, and more. Some mentioned how much the children are missing out on serving and their liturgy. Parents mentioned their children’s vulnerability as non-vaccinated members of the community. Others are tired of the masks, signing-in, and the lack of lay ministry. Others said they didn’t come as a family because they didn’t want to take up seats from others they thought really needed to be present.”
Fr Grayland wrote that he acknowledged all these reasons.
He went on to write about crisis, change and opportunities.
“The crisis for our Church is evident in the inability to keep the established Church structures of priesthood, parish, and school afloat,” he stated.
“These structures were strong throughout the 20th Century, but are struggling in the 21st Century.
“We all know that the structures of the parishes are no longer sustainable. We have had no New Zealand-born seminarians for decades in our diocese, and our last New Zealand-born priest was ordained 20 years ago. Now we are totally reliant on international priests. We know that our borders are closed, and priests are not essential workers or on the visa priority list.”
Fr Grayland continued: “We know that fewer baptised children are entering our schools, and that we have to change the preference criteria to widen the opportunity.
“We know that generations of people don’t attend parish as we currently do parish.
“We know that most of our aid agencies and parish ministries are staffed and held afloat by people in their 60s and older.”
“Knowing all this is not the solution,” he wrote, “and wanting more of the same isn’t either.”
“How do we live parish, Church and school in the 21st Century?” he asked.
“Are these even the suitable structures to enable us to be the leaven of evangelisation, mission, hope, truth and freedom in the cultural mix of New Zealand?”
Fr Grayland acknowledged that these may or may not be the right questions to ask, and that people could be the judge of that.
He invited people to be part of the synod process, where they could “discern how we can bring the life of the Gospel to the people of our day, and cultures”.
Reader Interactions