NEW ULM — Minnesota Catholics will be returning to mass the first weekend in July.

The bishops and diocesan administration of the Minnesota Catholic Conference announced the reinstatement of the obligation to attend mass on Sunday and Holy Days of Obligation beginning the weekend of July 3/July 4.

The Minnesota Catholic bishops and diocesan administration released a statement that said this decision came as the pandemic subsided and public gathering restriction and safety protocols were lifted.

The statement included a quote from St. John Chrysostom, “you cannot pray at home as at church, where there is a great multitude, where exclamations are cried out to God as from one great heart, and where there is something more: the union of minds, the accord of souls, the bond of charity, the prayers of the priests.”

The statement clarified that although the general dispensation from the obligation to attend Sunday mass will no longer be available, the Church has always recognized that certain circumstances can excuse a person from the requirement to observe the obligation. Persons are still excused from obligation if their health could be compromised; if they exhibit flu-like symptoms, or possible asymptomatic illness; are caring for sick or infirm; are pregnant or 65 years of age; are prevented from attending through no fault of one’s own or significant fear or anxiety of becoming ill by being at Mass.

More information on this decision are available on the diocese’s protocols can be found at the website backtomasssmn.org.