Worshippers recite the Lord’s Prayer during Mass on the feast of Christ the King at Immaculate Conception Church in Jamaica Estates, N.Y., Nov. 22, 2020. (CNS photo/Gregory A. Shemitz)
On the day the Center for Disease Control and Prevention or CDC announced that face masks were no longer needed for those who have been vaccinated against COVID-19, May 13, Deacon Modesto Cordero, director of the diocesan Office of Worship, announced that in Catholic churches, workplaces and schools in Hawaii, the masks would stay on and social distancing maintained.
The deacon said the diocese is following the lead of Gov. David Ige who is keeping mask and social distancing mandates pending further review. The governor argued that there is no way of telling if someone has been vaccinated or not short of showing documentation.
The office of the diocesan chancellor Deacon Keith Cabiles on May 21 confirmed that Bishop Larry Silva is extending the diocese’s present guidelines into Ordinary Time, the liturgical period after Pentecost, until further notice.