Cardinal Seán O’Malley, the archbishop of Boston, announced Wednesday that he was lifting the dispensation of the Sunday and Holy Day Mass obligation, effective the weekend of June 19 and 20.
The dispensation was put into place in March 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic took hold and large gatherings were canceled.
“In this year of Saint Joseph, who was always a faithful observer of the sabbath, we chose Father’s Day as an appropriate day to encourage all of our people, and especially our families, to return to the Sunday celebration of the Eucharist,” O’Malley wrote in a letter to parishioners.
The cardinal noted that the obligation for Catholics to attend Mass does not apply to those who have been exposed to COVID-19 or any other communicable disease, those who are confined to their homes or a hospital, and people who have not yet been vaccinated against COVID-19.
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