Covington Bishop: No holding hands during mass

COVINGTON, Ky. - Bishop Roger Foys of the Covington Diocese decreed that parishioners should not hold hands during the Lord's Prayer.

In his decree Bishop Foys writes:

Special note should also be made concerning the gesture for the Our Father.  Only the priest is given the instruction to "extend" his hands.  Neither the deacon nor the lay faithful are instructed to do this.  No gesture is prescribed for the lay faithful in the Roman Missal ; nor the General Instruction of the Roman Missal , therefore the extending or holding of hands by the faithful should not be performed.

"I'm a little bit surprised," said Dan Ryan of Edgewood.

9 News spoke to Ryan as he picked up his son from Covington Catholic High School.

"It helps keep us together as a family you know the motto that says a family that prays together stays together.  I think there's a whole lot of room for interpretation there I think again we're talking about individual decisions and individual options there should be some discretion it sounds like to me," Ryan said.

"First, I didn't know that was an edict that Bishop Foys made but my family and I do hold hands while we say the Lord's Prayer but the way I feel about it is if that is not part of liturgy then we will follow the liturgy," said J. Zang of Crestview Hills.

Diocesan spokesman, Tom Fitzgerald released a statement to 9 News saying that Foys was trying to follow the laws of the church.

"Bishop Foys’ purpose [in issuing the decree] was to reiterate the directives guiding the celebration of the Mass as specified by the Second Vatican Council and related Vatican documents, fulfilling his role as chief teacher of the diocese; he did so as the new translation of the Roman Missal was first used in the diocese and in the United States last weekend," Fitzgerald said in the statement. "The decree concerned the proper texts of Mass prayers; liturgical music; gestures for priests, deacons, religious and lay faithful; the location of the choir and other musicians; and prayerful silence before and after Mass.”

The Archdiocese of Cincinnati says that as of now there are no plans to restrict parishioners from linking hands during mass.