St. Ignatius Church Guidelines In
response to the State of Emergency
April 7, 2020
As the novel coronavirus infections continue to spread, the government has come to issue a state of emergency. We will cooperate with it.
It coincides with the Holy Triduum of Our Lord’s Passover. Let us journey through the passion and death of Jesus towards the Resurrection of Christ.
Under the State of Emergency, the church will respond with the following measures.
- Public Mass and all activities will remain suspended or postponed. Baptisms, even if the attendance would be small, are requested to be rescheduled after the state of emergency is lifted.
- The chapels (including the crypt) will continue to be closed. All are kindly requested to pray at homes.
- If there is anything that is really urgent (such as funerals), it could be considered to be held with minimum requirements. Please consult with the office.
- As there could be emergent necessity for communication, we will try to keep the church office open with minimum functions.
- As far as possible, we will try to continue live streaming of the Masses. On Sundays, Japanese Mass is from 9:00 am and English Mass is from 12:00 pm. Let us be united in spirit as we participate in online Mass and offer our prayers.
- As for the Orizuru project (origami crane project), the crane you once sent will be valid throughout the period of emergency. No need of sending cranes repeatedly.
- As we continue to stay at home, let us deepen our prayer, encouraging one another. It is precisely now that we need to pray and help each other. Let’s try what we can.
- We will update you as and when the situation changes. We will communicate with you about further guidelines once the state of emergency is about to be lifted.
Fr. Hanafusa Ryuichiro, SJ, Pastor