Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options
Hazel Jordan, an employee at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Minneapolis, poses for a photo July 9, 2020, while wearing a mask in church. (CNS photo/Dave Hrbacek, The Catholic Spirit) 

ST. PAUL, Minn. (CNS) -- Mask-wearing is something Astrid Liden says she feels "extremely" passionate about.

A cantor at St. Therese in the Minneapolis suburb of Deephaven, she's been intimately familiar with her parish's plan to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, even before it reopened for public Masses.

The 19-year-old sang for livestreamed Masses, and now she's leading music for the socially distanced, in-person Masses. Liden takes off her mask only to sing, she explained. And she struggles to understand why others don't take mask-wearing as seriously as she does.

"There's no reason for you not to wear one," she said, noting that her parish offers free masks at the entrance. "It kind of hurts me to see people walk by the masks table without a mask. It's just kind of a slap in the face."

Public health officials have recommended that people wear masks inside enclosed spaces, such as a store or church, to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey has mandated mask use in many indoor spaces, and Gov. Tim Walz said he is considering new mask measures in Minnesota.

“There’s no reason for you not to wear one,” she said, noting that her parish offers free masks at the entrance. “It kind of hurts me to see people walk by the masks table without a mask.”

The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis' COVID-19-related recommendations to parishes strongly encourage Mass participants to use social distancing and wear masks during the in-person liturgies that resumed in May, following a two-month suspension.

In practice, mask-wearing varies dramatically in parishes across the archdiocese, with some Catholics reporting it's a requirement at their parish, and others saying few people wear masks at their parish church.

In that way, mask-wearing at church has paralleled public mask use in general, which has seen variance across the state and country.

A June Pew Research Center survey found that about two-thirds of U.S. adults say they wear a mask most of the time, but fewer than half reported that most people in their area wear masks most of the time.

Mask-wearing at church has paralleled public mask use in general, which has seen variance across the state and country.

Meanwhile, some see mask use -- or not -- as a partisan issue or a political statement, with political conservatives less likely to mask than political liberals.

An April Gallup Poll found women, city and suburb residents, college graduates and Democrats are more likely to report wearing masks. It also found Americans who live in the western and northeastern parts of the United States were more likely to report mask-wearing than Americans in the Midwest or South.

Laura Carr said she senses a partisan divide on the matter, but she hopes that's not what's influencing mask-wearing at her parish, Epiphany in Coon Rapids, Minnesota. She sees the decision whether to wear a mask as "a prudential judgment on the part of the wearer," she said. Her family currently chooses not to wear masks.

"For us, to wear a mask at Mass would be to say, 'I am afraid I might get the virus' and 'I'm afraid I might have and spread the virus.' It also says, 'I believe this mask prevents that.' We have not bought into these fears or assumptions, nor are we convinced that mask-wearing is an effective solution for this poorly understood virus," said Carr, a 34-year-old mother of two, who is also pregnant.

Some see mask use—or not—as a partisan issue or a political statement, with political conservatives less likely to mask than political liberals.

"We don't believe reducing ourselves and others to 'virus-carriers' is a loving or dignified view of ourselves and fellow Catholics that belongs in the house and presence of the Lord," she told The Catholic Spirit, newspaper of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

She said that she would mask if her pastor or bishop directed her to. "We would not disobey their orders," she explained.

Carr spoke with The Catholic Spirit July 7, the same day Archbishop Bernard A. Hebda released a video on YouTube thanking Catholics for wearing masks and encouraging them to continue to wear masks.

"While I realize that there are lots of opinions out there, the safest path seems to be following the recommendations of the Minnesota Department of Health and Centers for Disease Control," he said. He also encouraged people who find masks uncomfortable, or for whom it's a sacrifice to wear, to unite that sacrifice to the suffering of people around the world.

The video prompted a range of reactions on social media, from people thanking Archbishop Hebda to others accusing him of fear mongering.

In a separate query, The Catholic Spirit asked its Facebook followers July 7 if they wear a mask to Mass, and why or why not. The post received more than 200 comments. Some people said they felt comfortable removing their mask during Mass because they feel social distancing is sufficient, or they found it difficult to breathe while wearing a mask. Some called mask-wearing a government conspiracy. A few said that wearing masks is a sign of fear, and "fear is not from the Lord."

Others said they wore their mask because of advice from health experts and out of respect for others. "Yes because I value the lives of people around me, as well as the people around them," one man replied. One woman said that the commenters who replied "no" were the reason she could not safely attend Mass at this time.

At St. Therese, Liden said one reason she feels so strongly about mask-wearing is because her 86-year-old grandmother lives with her family, and she wants to protect her, and wants others to protect her, too.

Experts say that most masks currently being used aren't designed to protect the wearer, but to prevent the wearer from spreading COVID-19 if he or she has the illness but is unaware. People who know or suspect they have the illness are encouraged to quarantine.

An incoming sophomore at Columbia University, Liden returned to the Twin Cities as the novel coronavirus began to hit New York.

For her, forgoing singing with a choir at Mass for the time being -- another COVID-19 precaution, because of the way singing projects the voice and mucous droplets from the mouth -- is a sacrifice. But it's one she's willing to live with if it could help protect others. Most people at St. Therese are wearing masks, she said, and she's grateful.

She said a few weeks ago, St. Therese's pastor, Father Leonard Andrie, thanked the congregation for wearing masks and keeping others safe.

"And those comments," Liden said, "have started making people wear masks."

[Don’t miss the latest news from the church and the world. Sign up for our daily newsletter.]

We don’t have comments turned on everywhere anymore. We have recently relaunched the commenting experience at America and are aiming for a more focused commenting experience with better moderation by opening comments on a select number of articles each day.

But we still want your feedback. You can join the conversation about this article with us in social media on Twitter or Facebook, or in one of our Facebook discussion groups for various topics.

Or send us feedback on this article with one of the options below:

We welcome and read all letters to the editor but, due to the volume received, cannot guarantee a response.

In order to be considered for publication, letters should be brief (around 200 words or less) and include the author’s name and geographic location. Letters may be edited for length and clarity.

We open comments only on select articles so that we can provide a focused and well-moderated discussion on interesting topics. If you think this article provides the opportunity for such a discussion, please let us know what you'd like to talk about, or what interesting question you think readers might want to respond to.

If we decide to open comments on this article, we will email you to let you know.

If you have a message for the author, we will do our best to pass it along. Note that if the article is from a wire service such as Catholic News Service, Religion News Service, or the Associated Press, we will not have direct contact information for the author. We cannot guarantee a response from any author.

We welcome any information that will help us improve the factual accuracy of this piece. Thank you.

Please consult our Contact Us page for other options to reach us.

City and state/province, or if outside Canada or the U.S., city and country. 
When you click submit, this article page will reload. You should see a message at the top of the reloaded page confirming that your feedback has been received.

The latest from america

The 12 women whose feet were washed by Pope Francis included women from Italy, Bulgaria, Nigeria, Ukraine, Russia, Peru, Venezuela and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
"We, the members of the Society of Jesus, continue to be lifted up in prayer, in lament, in protest at the death and destruction that continue to reign in Gaza and other territories in Israel/Palestine, spilling over into the surrounding countries of the Middle East."
The Society of JesusMarch 28, 2024
A child wounded in an I.D.F. bombardment is brought to Al Aqsa hospital in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip, on March 25. (AP Photo/Ismael abu dayyah)
While some children have been evacuated from conflict, more than 1.1 million children in Gaza and 3.7 million in Haiti have been left behind to face the rampaging adult world around them.
Kevin ClarkeMarch 28, 2024
Easter will not be postponed this year. It will not wait until the war is over. It is precisely now, in our darkest hour, that resurrection finds us.
Stephanie SaldañaMarch 28, 2024