St. patrick Church 

Message from Archbishop Michael Jackels to priests of the Archdiocese (on August 12, 2021):

If your parish is in a county with a substantial or high COVID transmission rate, you should recommend that masks be worn at all church events held indoors. Since June 2021, COVID safety measures are decided by the Pastor/PLC, in keeping with city or county ordinance, and in consultation with parish staff and pastoral council. Also, we have been, and still are guided by public health officials on the local, state and national levels.

For unvaccinated people, the CDC/IDPH recommendation is to get vaccinated as soon as possible. Until such time, those folks should wear masks, social distance, and sanitize. For vaccinated people, the CDC/IDPH recommendation is to wear a mask in public indoor settings in counties where there is substantial or high transmission.

As of this writing, the CDC regards the whole state of Iowa as an area of high transmission, which includes all the counties in the Archdiocese, except Jackson, Mitchell and Winneshiek. Therefore, the other 27 counties in the Archdiocese should be recommending masks at all events held indoors, in order to stop the spread of the delta variant of the coronavirus.

The greater our compliance with the request to be vaccinated and the recommendation to wear a mask indoors, the sooner the pandemic will be over. Pray to God for a speedy end to the pandemic, distribution of the vaccine, and ready reception to taking the vaccine, here, but also in the poor countries in the world.

Response from Father Moser: No one is required to wear a mask. For the next several weeks though, masks will be made available at church entrances for those who want to wear one and forgot to bring a mask with them to Mass.  I intend to wear a mask during the entrance procession and recessional during Mass; in addition, I will wear a mask while distributing communion.