Closure of Cathedral and other churches

The Commissioner of Police and State Emergency Coordinator has directed that certain places of worship, business and entertainment be closed from 23 March to 13 April. The Cathedral and other Mass centres within the parish have been shut as required. Closing the Cathedral is something we do regretfully, but aware of our need to play a constructive role in safeguarding the public health. Reliable information on covid-19 is available on the Department of Health website.

You can see the latest from the Archdiocese on its covid-19 page.

There are prayer resources available
• in the Cathedral bulletin each week,
• on the Archdiocesan liturgy office web site,
• and many other places online:
  • Helps with praying the Rosary from the CMMB blog,  Loyola Press, Presentation Ministries
  • Sacred Space is a very popular daily prayer site which I can highly recommend.
  • Prayer resources
  • Ignatian Prayer Online
  • Pathways to God
  • Prego
  • Mass celebrated by the Archbishop
  • The Pope’s Mass at Casa Santa Marta
  • The daily Mass readings online can be used for your personal prayer.

And many others. The Cathedral priests are available for support.

Please read the latest letter from the Archbishop.

An excerpt from the letter

I also want to reassure you that, in these changed circumstances, the Church will continue to be a living sign of God’s fidelity and God’s loving presence. But the Church will have to do this in new ways: we will have to do this in new ways, for all of us, the community of disciples, are the Church. We may not be able to gather together in our churches, but we can recreate the Church in our homes. Long before Catholics in Australia were able to build big churches for the celebration of Mass, they gathered together in their families for the rosary around an image of Our Lady. We may not be able to offer each other the sign of peace at Mass but we can offer each other the gift of our sincere prayer. We may not be able to organise morning teas for the elderly in our parish halls but we can ensure that those who are lonely and afraid are not left to themselves, even if all we can do is ring them on the phone or leave a casserole on their front doorstep. As our practical capacity to reach out to others is curtailed our determination to be disciples of Jesus, who gave everything he had and was for us, can lead us to discover new ways to live out our Catholic faith.