May 28, 2020
Catholic Yokohama Diocese, Sueyoshicho-Parish
Parish Priest Fr. Joseph Akihisa Hamada
To all the faithful of the Sueyoshicho Church
About Resumption of the Holy Mass with Congregation (with presence of the Faithful)
+Peace of Christ
The state-of-emergency declaration has been cancelled by Japanese government in Kanagawa Prefecture, and we begin to resume our daily life gradually. However, it is hard to resume everything immediately how it has been before the spread of infections of Covid-19.
After careful deliberation with the Parish Council, the Parish Priest decided the following. This does not apply if there is a recurrence of the declaration of emergency by the Prime Minister of Japan, or if the Governor of Kanagawa Prefecture and the Mayor of Yokohama make another request to refrain from going out.
【Resumption of the Holy Mass with Congregation will be from June 07, Sunday】
１）The Holy Mass with the Congregation for the time of being:
ア）Every Sunday 11:30 Japanese Mass
（the Live streaming on Youtube →）
イ）14:00 English Mass on 1st and 3rd Sunday
ウ）Every Thursday 10：00 Japanese Mass
２）Only parishioners of the Catholic Sueyoshicho Church can participate in the masses.
3) For safety measures and to prevent infection, we will restrict admission to 100 people. We close the door when 100 people are in the Church. We open the door of the Church at 10:30 on Sunday and close the door 30 minutes after the Holy Mass. When English Mass will be celebrated on Sunday, we open the door at 13:00.
4) For cluster measures, please fill up a designated form with your specified name, and telephone number. The form is available on the first floor entrance of the church, on top of the table for hand disinfectant.
5) Upon entering the church, a temperature measurement will be conducted, and persons who exceed 37.0 degrees will be prohibited from entering the church.
6) For the time of being, the entire church building will be in complete silence.
7) It is prohibited from entering the church without wearing a mask.
8) If you are coughing or sneezing, we may ask you to leave the church.
9) For the time of being, silence is maintained during the liturgy and everybody is encouraged to pray with the words of the Priest.
10) About the church facilities, only the Church will be open. For the time of being, the parish hall (in the 1st floor) and the kitchen cannot be used.
11) The Church will be closed except at the time of the Holy Mass.
【Preventive measures for the Holy Mass】
・No Reader & Lector (The priest conducts all recitations)
・No Commentator (The priest conducts all responses)
・No Psalmist (The priest will recites the psalms)
・No organ and no songs.
・The priest enters the church to the main altar, without procession.
・There is a collection box on the table in front of the organ; collections to be put, before and after the mass.
・Up to two altar servers allowed on Sundays.
【Preventive measures in the Church Facilities】
- New arrangement of chairs inside and in front of the church hall, and securing a social distance around each chair.
- Removal of the holy water basin.
- Thorough disinfection of places where human hands touched . Must be done before and after every Holy Masses.
- Thorough hand disinfection by handing one alcohol tissue to each person at the entrance of the first floor of the church hall.
- Open of the windows in the Church and the front hall. Ventilated at all times!
- For the entrance on the first floor of the church, double doors are locked, only the single door is opened. Thorough hand disinfection is required!
- Set the Cooling temperature to 20 degrees.
-End –