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Fort Worth, Texas, Mar 18, 2020 / 06:00 pm (CNA).- Bishop Michael Olson of Fort Worth issued a pastoral letter March 18 detailing directives for the celebration of Mass during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. Those directives include a plan for the distribution of the Eucharist after Masses conclude.

While all Masses are to be celebrated without a congregation present, Olson urged the continued distribution of Holy Communion “outside of church in designated spaces after Mass for those who are present in their cars or separated by a safe distance.”

“After consultation with my priests and civic officials at local and state levels, and in cooperating with them for the good of society, I am informing you that Mass will continue to be celebrated at the scheduled times throughout the territory of the Diocese of Fort Worth, but without a congregation physically present in the church,” Olson wrote Wednesday. 

Holy Communion, he continued, “is to be distributed in an open space with safe social distancing, in the hand, and not through a car window.”

In Tarrant County, where Fort Worth is located, civil authorities have urged the cancellation of gatherings of more than 250 people. 

The Fort Worth area has two confirmed cases of COVID-19 as of March 18. The number of confirmed cases worldwide stands at 200,000. 

Olson told CNA in an interview that each pastor in the diocese will be responsible for devising how to distribute Holy Communion in his parish. 

“There would be a designated place that is open-air, and then people would not be crowding around in a line, but people would come out, receive the Eucharist in a designated spot, make their reverence, and then move forward, and go and make their thanksgiving accordingly in a safe place,” the bishop told CNA. 

“I’m leaving my pastors, having consulted with them and talked with them, to devise how that will be done.”

More than 100 dioceses throughout the United States have suspended public Masses entirely amid recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urging the cancelation of gatherings of ten or more people and the practicing of social distancing, i.e. remaining at least six feet from other people.

Fort Worth’s directives seem to be unique in their provision for the distribution of the Eucharist after Masses.

Olson told CNA that “spiritual needs are often not seen as essential to the human person,” but that his plan for continuing the distribution of the Eucharist in his diocese is a means of “care of soul and body.” 

“This is very much a moving target, and we have used a system of gradualism to cooperate [with secular authorities],” Olson said. 

“But the work of the Church has to go on, and that includes the celebration of Mass. Other dioceses are having the celebration of Mass, albeit privately, so the Mass is going on. We’re just connecting this, as well, to the reception of Holy Communion…This is in no way an act of defiance. It’s an act of solidarity.”

Olson’s pastoral letter said that priests and deacons over the age of 60 ought not distribute Communion, and stressed that “the circumstances current in our community are such that attendance at Mass borders on an impossibility and thus there is no obligation to attend.”

Olson has asked that priests celebrate Mass in their churches at the scheduled times and for the published intention, assisted by a deacon or a server or acolyte. 

If inclement weather prohibits the distribution of Communion outdoors, he said, “Holy Communion may be distributed in the church with safe social distancing and without crowding with due respect for the limits on gathering size.”

The directives are set to go into effect March 19. The diocese is working with local authorities to assess whether to proceed with weddings and funerals in the coming weeks, Olson said.

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Washington D.C., Nov 23, 2019 / 06:50 am (CNA).- Ashley Stricklin says she had a typical Texan upbringing. She was raised a Southern Baptist in a town outside of Dallas, with a family who was active in her church. Her father was a deacon in their Baptist church, and she accepted Jesus into her heart when she was nine.

Although Stricklin lived near a Catholic church, she had never been inside it, nor did she really know any Catholics–that is, until she went off to Baylor University, one of the largest Baptist-affiliated universities in the world. There, she met faithful Catholics, and embarked on a long, and at times even secretive, journey into the Catholic Church.

The Catholics Stricklin met at Baylor were “always so joyful,” which prompted her to begin to wonder what exactly was so different between the Catholic faith and the faith she was raised in. Despite her faithful Baptist upbringing, Stricklin said that she always felt as though “something was missing,” in her life, but could not quite put her finger on it.

Her new Catholic friends invited her to Eucharistic adoration, which was the first time Stricklin had ever seen the Blessed Sacrament–and she began to see exactly what she had been missing.

After that, everything changed, and she says she “started her journey” toward Catholicism. Three years later, that journey would reach a milestone, when she was received into the Church on April 28, 2019–Divine Mercy Sunday.

Stricklin received her first communion and confirmation at St. Peter’s Student Center, which is a campus ministry of the Diocese of Austin for students of Baylor University and nearby colleges.

Like many new Catholics, there were significant hurdles that Stricklin had to overcome before being received into the Church–both in the doctrinal sense and in the personal. For Stricklin, it was easy for her to come to accept teachings she had previously believed were wrong, such as the Immaculate Conception of Mary and Mary’s role as mediatrix of grace.

“I actually did a Marian consecration before I was confirmed,” said Stricklin. “And so it just went full circle for me.”

It was the reaction of her Baptist parents, however, that proved to be one of Stricklin’s biggest anxieties before entering the Church. Although Stricklin knew from early on in college that she wanted to become Catholic, she delayed entering the Church until her senior year, because she was afraid of how they would react.

“I definitely thought my parents were going to disown me,” Stricklin said. “That’s why I waited until I was a senior, because I didn’t think my parents would continue to pay for college.”

In the meantime, Stricklin read book after book about Catholicism, nearly exhausting the Baylor library’s section on Catholicism. She read everything from “Rome Sweet Home” to the “Summa Theologica,” eventually concentrating on conversion stories and books about the Eucharist.

Still, she kept all of her religious curiosity and plans a secret from her parents–for three years.

“I would hide my books,” she said. “I cleaned my (web) browsers, which was really not a good idea looking back now.”

Fearful still of her parents’ rejection, Stricklin waited until just two months before her First Communion and Confirmation to tell them what she was planning on doing. To her astonishment, while they were certainly taken aback, they neither abandoned her nor cut her off.

“I told my mom in February and she thought I was joking, like she just thought it was a joke,” she said, laughing. “I was like, ‘Oh no, mom, it’s not a joke.’”

Despite her fears, Stricklin’s mother attended her First Communion, and her father is supportive of her religious journey, both of which were pleasant surprises. Her grandparents, however, still do not know she has converted.

Stricklin chose St. John Paul II as her confirmation saint, something that she was hesitant to do as she thought it would reveal that she was a convert. Eventually, she realized this was silly, and went with him anyways. She said she chose St. John Paul II due to both her interest in Eastern Europe, and because she found his papacy and writings to be “truly inspiring.”

Stricklin is now a student at Creighton University School of Law, where will graduate in 2022. About seven months into her new journey as a fully-initiated Catholic, Stricklin remains intrigued and fulfilled by the Eucharist, and she continues to delve more into her faith.

After initially being intrigued by the Eucharist at her first-ever adoration, Stricklin says now that she considers the sacrament to be “such a joy” and that she eagerly looks forward to receiving it. And despite her initial troubles, fears, and everything else associated with the process of converting to Catholicism, she says things have been smooth sailing.

“It’s been an interesting journey, and each day I just continue to strive for sainthood and just keep trying to increase and my relationships with God, so, yeah, it’s been good,” she said. “It’s been a cool journey so far.”

This story is part of a CNA series profiling new converts to the Catholic faith.

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Photo illustration. / Shutterstock

Washington D.C., Mar 1, 2022 / 15:46 pm (CNA).
A Ukrainian Catholic priest who is the dean of theology at the Catholic University of America is urging the faithful to take seriously Pope Francis’ call to pray … […]