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St. Joseph Catholic Church, Wauwatosa, Wis.

COVID-19 Updates

Information on changes in activities and worship at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Wauwatosa will be continually updated on this page. Per the order of the state and the City of Wauwatosa, masks must be worn by people attending Mass. If we are found not in compliance with the mask mandates, we risk losing our ability to have public Masses. The City of Wauwatosa is monitoring compliance.

Exemptions to the mask requirement include: Children under age 5, individuals with medical conditions, intellectual or developmental disabilities, mental health conditions, or other sensory sensitivities that prevent the individual from wearing a face covering. Please tell Fr. Dennis if you have a condition that merits an exemption.

Return to Mass - Catholic Comeback Our Masses are at 4 p.m. Saturday, and 8 and 10:30 a.m. Sunday.

The obligation to attend Sunday Mass has resumed. Read Archbishop Listecki's column on the resumption of the obligation to attend Mass, starting September 14.

Regarding the obligation to attend Mass, the archbishop states, “If a person is at risk because of age, underlying medical conditions or a compromised immune system, one would be excused from the obligation. If a person is caring for a sick person they would be excused from the obligation out of charity. Fear of getting sick, in and of itself, does not excuse someone from the obligation. However, if the fear is generated because of at-risk factors, such as pre-existing conditions, age or compromised immune systems, then the fear would be sufficient to excuse from the obligation.”

Daily Masses are celebrated at 8:15 a.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays. (Wednesday and Friday Masses are reserved for St. Joseph day school students; no public attendance is allowed.)

Ready to return to Mass? We’re ready for you!

St. Joseph continues to follow COVID-related health and safety measures.

Those measures have allowed us to safely celebrate Mass each weekend, and twice-a-week daily Masses for parishioners.

We have increased our capacity for Mass attendance starting this weekend, but we have not let down our guard for health safety.

Here’s what you can expect at Mass:

  1. Enter at the Center Street entrance only. You may leave via any door.
  2. Seating is allowed only in every other pew. That allows recommended distancing.
    1. There are some pews that have a usable pew in front of them. If you are in one of those, do not sit directly behind another person.
  3. Masks are required in church at all times, except when receiving communion. We are subject to the state’s mask mandate, and that of the City of Wauwatosa. Please comply. Wauwatosa is monitoring compliance; we could lose our ability to have public Masses if we are found out of compliance.
  4. Communion is distributed only in the form of the Body of Christ. Recipients should hold their hands as flat as possible so the communion distributor can place the host on the hand without making skin contact.
  5. For the time being, we have a limited number of communion distributors at each Mass.
  6. Communicants approach the distributor in a different manner; ushers will guide you.
  7. Single-use music sheets are available at the Center Street entrance. After Mass, place them in the paper grocery bag in the Center Street entrance, for recycling.
  8. Contributions should be placed in the basket at the Center Street entrance.
  9. Pews, kneelers, door handles and other surfaces are sanitized after Mass.