Cardinal Tobin Reflects on Blessings, Challenges of Pandemic

Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, C.Ss.R, Archbishop of Newark, has released a pastoral letter in which he reflects on the “Great Eucharistic Fast” of 2020, during which many among the worldwide faithful were unable to gather for in-person masses and the celebration of the Eucharist. As we continue into 2021, Cardinal Tobin is calling upon the faithful to look forward to an eventual return to in-person worship — once health officials determine that this can be done safely.

“When our churches were closed and it became impossible for most Catholics to receive the Eucharist, our Holy Father Pope Francis strongly urged us to find ways of maintaining ‘spiritual closeness’ with God and with each other,” Cardinal Tobin writes, adding, “Now that we are gradually reopening our churches, and increasing the numbers of people who can attend daily and Sunday Masses, I have been asked whether it isn’t time to discontinue live-streamed liturgies and restore the obligation to go to Mass in person on Sundays and Holy Days.”

New Jersey officials have increased the attendance limits for in-person services, as COVID-19 hospitalizations and transmission rates have trended in positive directions. Although Cardinal Tobin plans to continue live-streamed masses and encourages worshippers to return to churches only when they feel safe to do so, he looks with prayerful optimism to a future in which the faithful can celebrate in-person Masses together.

Cardinal Tobin’s letter also notes that Mass attendance was in decline even before the pandemic. It is his hope that as we move beyond COVID-19, the faithful will encourage their fellow Catholics to return to church in even greater numbers. “Is it possible,” he asks, “that the Great Eucharistic Fast of 2020 will prove to be a blessing in disguise — a great awakening — for those of us who have consciously or unconsciously ‘walked away’ from Jesus and His Church?”

To read the full text of Cardinal Tobin’s pastoral letter and to view his brief video message, both available in English and Spanish, visit www.rcan.org/cardinal-joseph-tobin-pastoral-letter.

About the Archdiocese of Newark

Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, C.Ss.R., was appointed Archbishop of Newark on November 7, 2016, elevated to Cardinal by the Holy Father, Pope Francis, on November 19, 2016, and installed as Archbishop of Newark on January 6, 2017.

Together, the Cardinal and auxiliary bishops shepherd the approximate 1.3 million Catholics who reside in the 511 square miles of the Archdiocese of Newark, comprised of Bergen, Essex, Hudson, and Union counties. The Archdiocese includes 212 Catholic parishes and 75 primary and secondary Catholic schools. For more “Facts and Figures,” visit www.RCAN.org.