Cardinal John Dew has sent the following message to parishes in the Archdiocese of Wellington about the change for Alert Level 2 to Alert Level 1:
5 March 2021
Dear Fathers and Lay Pastoral Leaders
As the Prime Minister has announced we are returning to Alert Level 1 at 6am on Sunday morning Masses and other parish gatherings can resume on Sunday without restriction on numbers.
There will be no Vigil Masses on Saturday evening (6 March).
The same requirements we were following in Alert Level 1 previously apply until further notice:
- Communion on the hand only.
- No distribution of the Precious Blood.
- Non-contact Sign of Peace
- No holy water in stoops.
Please encourage people to be careful when they gather, for their own safety and that of others.
With all good wishes and every blessing
Yours sincerely in the Lord
John A Cardinal Dew
Archbishop of Wellington
28 February 2021
Cardinal John Dew has told parishes in the Archdiocese of Wellington that with Alert Level 2 having come into force at 6am on Sunday 28 February for seven days, there will be no public Masses during this time. There should also be no in-person parish gatherings or liturgical events. He encourages people to take time to reflect on the Sunday readings, and especially the Gospel which is the account of the Transfiguration. The readings can be found here. Mass for the Second Sunday of Lent (28 Feb) which was livestreamed from Our Lady of Kapiti Parish can be accessed here.
17 February 2021
Cardinal John Dew has sent the following message to parishes and schools in the Archdiocese of Wellington regarding the change to Alert Level 1:
Dear Fathers and Lay Pastoral Leaders
As we are returning to Alert Level 1 Masses and other parish gatherings can resume without restriction on numbers.
The same requirements we were following in Alert Level 1 previously apply until further notice:
- Communion on the hand only.
- No distribution of the Precious Blood.
- Non-contact Sign of Peace
- No holy water in stoops.
Please encourage people to be careful when they gather, for their own safety and that of others.
With all good wishes and every blessing
Yours sincerely in the Lord
John A Cardinal Dew
Archbishop of Wellington
Cardinal John sent the following message for the change to Alert Level 2 on Monday 15 February:
15 February 2021
Dear Fathers and Lay Pastoral Leaders
Now that we are in Alert Level 2 until Thursday, we need to play our part in keeping the community safe.
Under Alert Level 2 gatherings are restricted to 100 people with appropriate social distancing. We know that for some of our churches, the need to social distance will mean far fewer than 100 people can be accommodated. Contact tracing and social distancing requirements would need to be put in place, and some way of limiting numbers.
As the Alert Level change is, at this stage, only for three days, until further notice we will follow the same procedure as we did when we were last in Level 2:
- There are to be no Masses or other liturgical events or parish gatherings in the Archdiocese. This includes weekday Masses. The Ministry Formation Day planned for Tuesday 16 February will not go ahead.
- There are to be no Ash Wednesday Masses or liturgies in our churches. If your parish planned to participate in an ecumenical service in one of your parish’s churches, it is not to take place in that venue. If the other denominations participating wish to go ahead with an ecumenical service in their church, Catholics are free to make their own decision about joining them.
- If the Alert Level changes back to Level 1 on Wednesday night, we will look at having the blessing and distribution of the ashes at Masses next Sunday.
In the meantime, it may be helpful if you are able to get a message out to your parishioners to encourage them to do something at home to mark Ash Wednesday, to pray with the Scriptures and find ways to mark the beginning of Lent in their homes.
With all good wishes and every blessing
Yours sincerely in the Lord
John A Cardinal Dew
Archbishop of Wellington