ERIE — Even as administrators and pastors in the Diocese of Erie follow the recommendation of the Centers for Disease Control to maintain significant protocols, the Most Rev. Bishop Lawrence T. Persico, bishop of Erie, is looking to the future.

In recent weeks, he has asked Deacon Steve Washek, executive director of the Office of Faith Formation, to oversee a committee of staff and pastors tasked with considering how parishes can best welcome parishioners back to Sunday Mass.

No date has been set to lift the dispensation from the obligation to attend Sunday Mass put in place more than a year ago. That is likely to be months away. But the committee is looking well beyond the logistics of that day.

Although parishes have been sustained by the sacramental life they maintained, parish communities are longing for the day that they can safely worship together. Committee members plan to lay a solid foundation that will focus on helping parishes extend a warm and pastoral welcome; help people find hope and healing after endless months of separation, loss and longing; celebrate and renew life as a parish community; and explore the opportunities for growth and transformation that will come from this unexpected moment.

Certainly, many have been attending Mass since the return to public worship after a two-and-a-half-month hiatus the bishops of Pennsylvania put in place in mid-March of 2020. A significant number of Catholics, however, have opted to remain away from crowds, choosing instead to participate in Mass via livestream. As people move through the weeks-long process of being vaccinated, and as the summer months make it possible to keep windows and doors open, it’s likely the numbers of those attending Mass in person will gradually grow.