Fr Paul Dunne celebrating Sunday Mass in Our Lady Mother of Divine Grace Church, Raheny, Dublin via webcam.
Pic John Mc Elroy 
Parishes in the Republic are expected to be able to have churches up to 50% full from next week. As The Irish Catholic went to press this week the Cabinet was poised to announce a further easing of restrictions on religious and other gatherings and permit a phased return to out-of-school activities for children.
Sacraments
In dioceses in the Republic that did not choose to proceed with the sacraments of initiation last month, the Government is to recommend that First Holy Communion and Confirmation ceremonies can proceed from September 6.
Likewise, the numbers permitted at Mass will be lifted to 50% of the capacity of the church. This will lead to a significant lift in larger parishes that were contending with only being allowed 50 parishioners present unless the building could be separated into individual pods of 50.
Ceremonies
When church ceremonies returned north of the border over five months ago, social distancing was reduced to one metre per person meaning that northern parishes could have larger congregations based on their size. The civil authorities in the North also decided in July that masks would no longer be obligatory for the entire duration of the Mass, just when entering and leaving the building. However, in effect many parishes have voluntarily retained that restriction.
As this newspaper went to press, there was no indicator that there would be an immediate easing of the mask policy in places of worship. However, Government sources have indicated that the hope is that from October 22, masks will only be required in healthcare and retail settings.
With live music expected to also be permitted early this month, many choirs are also hopeful that they will be able to get back to regularly accompanying the liturgy with their music.
Socially-distanced
The removal of the recommendation that First Holy Communion should not proceed will be welcomed by many parents. However, in reality hundreds of parishes across several dioceses have already been proceeding with socially-distanced ceremonies.
