Ottawa's Catholic Churches adjust to capacity restrictions for Christmas mass

The Archdiocese of Ottawa is encouraging people to check with their local parish for information on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year's masses as COVID-19 restrictions limit crowds over the holidays.

Medical officer of health Dr. Vera Etches issued a letter of instruction last week limiting capacity in places of worship to 50 per cent over the holidays.

"The churches are still open. We are following the COVID protocols that we've had since we first began to open after COVID," said Rev. Daniel Van Delst, Chancellor of the Archdiocese of Ottawa.

"Which means that we do require the physical distancing between households of two metres. So that is very much limiting our capacity this year."

During an interview on CTV Morning Live Friday morning, Rev. Van Delst said each church is handling the COVID-19 capacity restrictions differently.

"Many parishes have established a reservation system so that people are required to call and to find out about if there's still room at masses," sad Van Delst. "Other parishes are going with a first-come, first-serve system and in that case the ones who are earliest get in."

The Archdiocese of Ottawa has a list of Christmas masses available on its website.

Van Delst says the earlier masses on Christmas Eve – between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. – are "traditionally always very full", and it may be difficult to get a seat.

"There are later masses in most parishes, like 10 o'clock or 11 o'clock or midnight. There's Christmas Day masses as well – those are more traditionally more sparsely attended and so there's more likelihood to be space."

If you are planning to attend a Christmas Eve or Christmas Day mass, you must wear a mask while inside the church.

"If they have any symptoms or anything like that we do encourage them to stay home," said Van Delst.

QUEBEC

Churchgoers attending Christmas services in places of worship in Gatineau and western Quebec must be fully vaccinated.

The Quebec government says the vaccination passport must be shown to access the church.