Local News

Even as President Trump declared May 22 that governors must reopen churches and other places of worship shut down by the coronavirus pandemic, Minnesota Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm said at a news conference on the outbreak that discussions in Minnesota are continuing with faith leaders.

In his second livestreamed “Quarantine with Cozzens” conversation with young adults May 21, Bishop Andrew Cozzens of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis said Minnesota bishops offering parishes the opportunity to broaden Mass attendance during the coronavirus pandemic does not amount to civil disobedience.

People visiting a Catholic Cemeteries site in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis will find that much has changed because of COVID-19, but much remains the same. Memorial Day Masses May 25 are canceled because of the pandemic. At burials, only 10 people at a time are allowed at a grave site, and everyone must maintain a social distance of 6 feet apart to help prevent spread of the virus.

Several people in homeless shelters run by Catholic Charities of St. Paul and Minneapolis have tested positive for COVID-19 and are being cared for in isolation centers set up for that purpose by Hennepin and Ramsey counties, the nonprofit agency said.

"It’s purely a pastoral decision that we have the responsibility, a weighty responsibility as pastors, of feeding our flocks. And so we have to decide how best to do that. And as we look at the situation now, we think the best way to do that is by allowing people to choose to come back to the Eucharist.”

A priest at St. Ignatius in Annandale recently tested positive for COVID-19 and two other priests at the parish are experiencing symptoms that may be related to the virus, said the pastor, Father John Meyer, who is also pastor of St. Timothy in Maple Lake.

The Catholic Spirit invited Catholics in various leadership positions throughout the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis to share advice for the class of 2020. The following is a selection of those responses.

To honor graduating high school seniors in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, The Catholic Spirit asked three Catholic high schools — Academy of Holy Angels in Richfield, DeLaSalle High School in Minneapolis and Providence Academy in Plymouth — to nominate students for the following profiles.