Buffalo, NY (WBEN) - Preparations for area Catholics to return to the pews continue after a months long coronavirus lockdown from physically attending services.
Buffalo Catholic Diocese Apostolic Administrator Bishop Edward Scharfenberger has a message for the faithful as they look to return to the pews; be patient if their church doesn't reopen right away.
"We've had some guidelines out on how to reopen. We know we have the green light from the governor's office to reopen under certain conditions, the hand washing, masks, and social distancing," says Scharfenberger. "What I task all parishes to do is to come up with a plan to reopen. Some will reopen sooner rather than later, and we'll all have to be patient about that." He says parishes shouldn't just share the plans with the diocese. "Let the locals know too, the police, the sheriff's so they're aware as well, so we want to keep everyone informed. It's something we walk through together, it's a process," says Scharfenberger.
Scharfenberger notes some parishes have already opened, but reminds parishioners every parish has different resources.
"Some of them have the resources to reopen right away, the larger ones may need more time to organizer, but it won't be long before we'll have all of them open," says Scharfenberger. "We keep putting out proposals as to what we think are sensible ways of doing it. We put a proposal to open at 25 percent capacity which we think is rational, and we'll see how that works out."