ROVIDENCE — Following a year like no other in recent history, the gravity of the COVID-19 pandemic was still hanging in the air like the incense smoke used to bless the sacramental oils at this year’s Chrism Mass.
“The very first thing I want to say to you this morning is welcome back. Welcome home,” Bishop Thomas J. Tobin said during Mass for the Solemnity of Pentecost at the Cathedral of SS. Peter and Paul, Providence, on Sunday, May 31. His welcoming message was shared to those gathered as public Mass resumed in the Diocese of Providence. In early March, the bishop dispensed the faithful from the obligation to attend Sunday Mass and Holy Days of obligation due to the COVID-10 pandemic.
PROVIDENCE — Following several weeks of careful consultations between the Diocese of Providence and the Governor’s Office and the Rhode Island Department of Health, public worship will resume in Catholic Churches on May 30, the Vigil of the Solemnity of Pentecost, following a set of guidelines released Wednesday by the diocese.
Bishop Tobin will join the Bishops of the United States and Canada in renewing the consecration of the Diocese of Providence to the care of our Blessed Mother on Friday, May 1, 2020.