The bishops of the province of Baltimore and the Archdiocese of Washington announced June 2 they would be lifting the dispensation of the Sunday and holy day Mass obligation that was granted at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic in March 2020.
Attorney General Karl A. Racine of the District of Columbia Dec. 22 announced the settlement of a lawsuit filed Dec. 11 by the Archdiocese of Washington regarding the District's previous cap on attendance at houses of worship during this stage of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Archdiocese of Washington has petitioned the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to lift the 50-person cap on indoor religious gatherings in D.C.
The Archdiocese of Washington's Catholic Schools Office hailed an Aug. 7 announcement by a Montgomery County health officer that he has rescinded his previous directives forbidding private and religious schools from opening to in-person instruction at the start of the school year.
The Archdiocese of Washington and its Catholic Schools Office hailed the Aug. 3 emergency order by Maryland's governor to override a Montgomery County Health Department blanket directive that would have kept nonpublic schools from reopening for in-person instruction through at least Oct. 1.
The Archdiocese of Washington expressed disappointment that the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review a federal appeals court ruling that the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority's prohibition of religious advertising did not violate the First Amendment.
When public Masses in the Archdiocese of Washington were suspended in efforts to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, Father Scott Holmer, pastor at St. Edward the Confessor Parish in Bowie, Maryland, got creative about bringing the sacraments to his local community.
Bishops and other Catholic leaders from around the country issued statements of congratulations to Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory on his April 4 appointment by Pope Francis to head the Archdiocese of Washington. Archbishop Gregory had headed the Archdiocese of Atlanta since 2005:
Discovering who had traveled the farthest to be at the Archdiocese of Washington's annual Youth Rally before its Mass for Life quickly became apparent by scanning the crowd of young people near the stage at the Capital One Arena.
The Archdiocese of Washington has voluntarily released the names of abusive priests and stated that there have been no credible claims of abuse made against archdiocesan priests in almost 20 years.
A "Season of Healing" for sexual abuse survivors began in the Archdiocese of Washington with a Sept. 14 Mass at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle.
