By Florida Catholic staff - Florida Catholic

MIAMI | Beginning this Palm Sunday, April 10, 2022, Catholics in the Archdiocese of Miami once again will be obligated to attend Mass in person.

Archbishop Thomas Wenski announced the lifting of the COVID-induced dispensation in a letter emailed to pastors March 15, 2022. He had issued the dispensation March 13, 2020 “because of the extraordinary circumstances surrounding the coronavirus pandemic.”

But effective Palm Sunday, “the obligation to participate in the Eucharist in person on Sundays and other holy days of obligation is restored. Unless excused for a serious reason (illness, care of infants or elderly, etc.) those who deliberately fail in this obligation commit a grave sin.”

“The Palm Sunday date was chosen to give pastors adequate time to prepare their parishioners and perhaps readjust Mass schedules,” the archbishop wrote. “As already published, mask requirements as well as requirements for social distancing have been lifted.”

In a separate email, the archbishop told archdiocesan pastors that they “may still continue to livestream services as these services have attracted many people who had not been regularly attending Mass.”

He also noted that the archdiocese continues to offer televised Masses for shut-ins and others unable to participate at Mass.

Read and download the archbishop’s letter here.