Attending Mass during the current pandemic
Entry to Mass is contingent on the following:
- If you are not feeling well please do not attend the Mass.
- All attendees must sign in and provide their name & phone number. Please do not provide fake details. Attendees must also stipulate they are not ill and/or suffering from flu like symptoms and that to their knowledge they have not been exposed to COVID-19.
- All attendees must sanitise their hands when entering and leaving the church with sanitiser provided. We also ask you wear a mask while in the church.
- Social distancing must be adhered to. Families may sit together but you should be distanced 1.5m from other households.
- Please take your bulletin with you when the Mass is ended.
- When entering and exiting the churches as well as when lining up for Holy Communion please maintain a distance of 1.5m from others. Please do NOT congregate outside the church before and after Mass.
- All attendees should follow the direction of the volunteers on duty.
- Volunteers are not to be abused or ill treated in any way. If you have a complaint please direct these to Fr Anthoni Selvaraj or Ruth Rawlinson at the Parish Office by calling 9331 4043.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Q: Do I have to reserve my space in advance.
A: We no longer take bookings with the exception of special occasions such as Confirmation and Christmas.
Q: Why do I have to provide my contact details?
A: We are legally obligated to record the contact information of all people who enter our churches. We can record your contact details either through QR code or on a paper sign-in sheet.
Q: What will you do with the registration sheets containing my personal information after the Mass has concluded?
A: These will be kept securely in the Parish Office for four weeks. After four weeks has passed these sheets will be destroyed. Note: We will NOT add personal information received in this way to our own database or mailing lists. If you want to join our mailing list and stay up to date please click here.
Q: Mass times are now back to normal – why is there no Mass in the Double Bay Chapel?
A: Due to the size of the chapel and the fact we don’t control the building (and the cleaning) it was not possible to resume Mass there straight away. We are hopeful to resume Mass soon at Double Bay as more restrictions are lifted.
Q: I heard we can have three hundred people per Mass – why aren’t a hundred tickets available?
A: We are still beholden to the 4 square meter rule and to ensure our churches can offer appropriate space for social distancing. The current limit in our churches is 65 for Edgecliff and 165 for Paddington. These numbers include our volunteers.
Q: Will you be continuing the live-stream?
A: We are not currently live-streaming. We will let you know if this changes in the future.
Q: Can I attend the live-streamed Masses in person?
A: We are not currently live-streaming. We will let you know if this changes in the future.
Q: I booked for a special Mass (Christmas etc). Why did I receive an email from Eventbrite?
A: We are using a third party provider called Eventbrite to run our online booking system. Using this system helps us ensure that Masses are not overbooked and ensures that we can manage bookings in an efficient way. Without this system 100% of bookings would need to be taken manually over the phone and via email which we cannot do in a cost-effective way as this increases the time taken to manage each booking substantially.
Q: How can I help?
A: Join our roster of COVID-Safe volunteers. Call Ruth 9331 4043.
