Circular – Regulations for the New Liturgical Year
CP-Cir/185/2022
Circular Letter
To the Clergy ministering in the Churches, Chapels and other Places of Worship in the Archdiocese of Goa and Daman
As we begin a new Liturgical Year
My dear brother priests,
On the twenty-seventh of this month we shall be commencing a new Liturgical Year. Every Liturgical Year is a God-given opportunity for us, Catholics, to experience and to grow as disciples of Jesus, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, in the Father’s Love.
For the last two years or so, our social, cultural and liturgical life had been severely curtailed due to the threats posed by the pandemic and the restrictions imposed by authorities. These threats, at present, seem to have minimised. People are seen moving freely in public and at social gatherings and life appears to have returned to normal. It is expedient that we too return to our normal liturgical and community life as a Church, gathering physically around the Altar of the Lord to celebrate our faith and our life.
Keeping the above in mind, we hereby revoke the general dispensation that was granted to the Faithful in this Archdiocese regarding the participation at Mass on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation (cf. CP-Cir/13/2020, dated 19 March 2020) as well as the SOPs on social distancing and the restriction in the number of persons in sacred places. Holy Communion is to be administered on the hand or on the tongue, the choice lying with the communicant. It is left to the individual faithful to take the desired precautions concerning hygiene and other related acts.
I appeal to you, beloved brothers in Christ, to begin this Liturgical Year as a journey in faith to where the Lord seeks to lead us. Let us hold hands with one another and walk together as a “synodal” Church, giving witness to the values of the Gospel through our life of compassion and love. I entrust you all to Mary, the first and the most perfect of Christ’s disciples.
The contents of this Circular Letter are to be made known to the Faithful under your care.
Archbishop’s House, Panjim, Goa, 14 November 2022.