Masses resume in the KL Archdiocese

Jul 04, 2020

Message from Archbishop Julian Leow
“Congratulations Fathers for re-opening our churches after all these months. Thank you and your team for managing this first day. Hope you will evaluate the SOPs and keep on improving on them. Some areas to consider:

1. Discourage congregational singing for now. Have a cantor or two to sing hymns.

2. Be fair with the registration and selection process of who attends Mass.

3. Be proactive and welcoming. Provide information booths at entrances to register or inform of procedures.

4. Consider some walk-ins.

5. RELA to assist with security  and crowd control

6. Learn from others and provide a pleasant experience at Mass.

7. Keep the focus on the source and summit of our Christian life, the whole Eucharistic celebration.”

Msgr Leonard Lexson, St John’s Cathedral
“Our first Mass since the MCO was to welcome our ministers of liturgy back for the celebration of the Eucharist by practicing the safety measures we put in place.

“The Parish Response Team (PRT) of the Cathedral did a commendable job to test these SOPs with the ministers of liturgy first, in preparation for  welcoming the rest of the parishioners July 5. “

There were a few walk-ins who wanted to join in with the registered ministers of liturgy, but they didn’t respond well when the procedures were explained. The team was prepared for situations like these and handled the incident well. 

“We look forward to receiving more parishioners back soon and look forward to the day when the cathedral will resound with the response of a full house. “Till then, we will take things one day at a time as we continue to look out for the well being of all our parishioners.”

Fr Albet Arockiasamy, Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe
“We had Mass at 10.00am  and all went smoothly. During rehearsal on Friday, proper instruction and guidance were given. No authorities came around because I had already explained to the   police in charge of our area that we were having rehearsal on Friday, and Sunday would be the actual Mass. He said that as long as the SOPs were followed, there would be no problems.”

Fr Terrance Thomas, Church of the Immaculate Conception
“Our Mass on June 28 was celebrated in English and Tamil, for about 40 people, i.e.: the main leaders of the parish, PPC, PCC, BECCOT and staff.

“All the SOPs from the Archdiocese were adhered to. However, we need to improve the movement during distribution of communion.

Fr Andrew Wong CDD, Church of St Ignatius
“Over here in SIC, things also went well, no authorities came over. After Mass we sanitised the church once again.”

Fr Gerard Theraviam, Church of the Divine Mercy
We only used the ground floor with 200 parishioners for our first Mass. All went well. No government officials came.  We had adequate preparation and it was smooth. We will be using the upstairs too for future Masses.

Fr Dr Clarence Devadass, Church of Our Lady of Fatima
“The process of coming to Mass was cautious but smooth. Parishioners were patient and understanding with the new SOPs that are in place. The challenge will be to deal with those who don’t have facilities to preregister. We need to find ways to help and include them”.

Fr Christopher Soosaipillai, Church of the Good Shepherd
“On Friday, June 26, three officers from Jabatan Perpaduan Negara dan Integrasi Nasional (JPNIN) came to check on our SOPs for our Sunday service on 28 June.

“They commended us for our preparation and took photos of the various signages and the church setting.

“They also took some photos of our SOPs placed outside church. They said that one person from JP NIN would be here on Sunday, to observe.

“On June 28, two persons from JPNIN came to check and after a while left. They were happy with our preparations.

“We had three RELA personnel  helping us for better control of cars and people.

“There were two police personnel observing and they too were happy.

“The church was locked at 9.20am and Mass began at 9.30am.

Fr David Arulnatham, Church of St Jude
It was a good experience reopening our church in Rawang and our chapel in Batu Arang.

There were 41 parishioners in Rawang and 31 in Batu Arang. All went well, with a few hiccups here and there.

Three police personnel and two army personnel arrived after Mass in Rawang.

As my response team members were still around, we briefed them on our SOPs, registration process, seating arrangement and plans for  the coming weeks.

They seemed pleased and did not raise any questions, they took note of our Mass times for the coming Sundays. They left saying that they would return the following Sunday.

On the whole it was a great day again at both places.

The gates were locked during Mass.

The exit after Mass also needed to be guided. We did badly here in Rawang.

Fr Eugene Benedict, Church of St Theresa
“We had to limit our capacity to 98 persons including the celebrant.

“Our volunteers underwent training on June 27

“The main gate was locked after 9.20am as Mass would begin at 9.30am.

“Everything went smoothly from beginning to the end.”