Chiang Mai Diocese Official Announcement
Prot. No. CM051/2020
Request to Inform the Christian Faithful
and Provide Assistance to the Diocese Due to the Effects of the COVID-19 Outbreak
The present outbreak of COVID-19 has a detrimental impact in our country and the world, which affects the way of life of people worldwide, the society, economy, unemployment, etc. And as such our Catholic Church, whether it may be the Universal Church or the local Church, is certainly experiencing its effects which cannot be avoided. In order to help support the Church and sustain the lives of our Christian faithful through prayers and concrete participation in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, which is the highest form of prayer of enormous value, we would like to request our priests, men and women religious and all our Catholic brothers and sisters in the Chiang Mai Diocese the following:
- We request priests incardinated in the Chiang Mai Diocese and members of religious orders and institutes, especially parish priests, to inform the faithful under their pastoral care and jurisdiction and encourage every family to request for a Mass at least once a month starting May until December 2020;
- That in this moment of difficulty we take this as an opportunity to collaborate and help rebuild the lives of poor families by supporting the Church and our brothers and sisters in a concrete manner.
“The Christian faithful are obliged to assist with the needs of the Church so that the Church has what is necessary for divine worship, for the works of the apostolate and of charity…” (Code of Canon Law Can. 222 §1) We implore God’s blessings to reciprocate the generosity of everyone who participates in this endeavor, assists with the needs of the Church and helps rebuild the lives of Christian faithful by praying and offering Masses together with the priest celebrating the Mass. We also ask God’s protection for all of us so that we would be able to safely pass through these hardships through the intercession of our Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church.
Happy Easter to all our brother priests, men and women religious and all our dear brothers and sisters in Christ!
Dated 15th April 2020
+ Bishop Francis Xavier Vira Arpondratana
Bishop of Chiang Mai Diocese
Rev. Saravuth Haeto
Chancellor of Chiang Mai Diocese
