Priests in self-quarantine after Cathedral of the Incarnation staff member tests positive for COVID-19

Priests at the Cathedral of the Incarnation are in quarantine after a staff member tested positive for the coronavirus. 

The Rev. Edward Steiner, pastor of the Nashville church, alerted parishioners via email on Wednesday afternoon of the situation. The priests and staff who had regular contact with the sick employee are self-quarantining for 14 days, he said. 

"We're not pushing a panic button and I certainly don't want them to push a panic button," Steiner said in an interview with The Tennessean.

The announcement comes just days after the Catholic cathedral resumed in-person weekend Mass for the public. However, Steiner said the employee, who is experiencing mild coronavirus symptoms, is not someone churchgoers would have come in contact with on Saturday or Sunday. 

The last interaction Steiner and the associate pastor, the Rev. Gervan Menezes, had with the employee occurred Thursday and Friday, Steiner said. Neither priest is experiencing symptoms, Steiner said, but he addressed the transmission risk in a Wednesday email. 

"We priests took great care to practice all precautions this past weekend," Steiner said in the email. "My hands are chapped from all the sanitizer! While there is a small chance that either I or Father Gervan could have transmitted the virus, the chances are very slight at best. The timing and our use of precautions suggest we were 'safe.'"

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Steiner does not think those who attended weekend services need to ratchet up their concern, but they should resume frequent hand washing and other prevention measures if they have relaxed them.

Like in many other religious traditions, public Mass in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Nashville was suspended for several weeks due to the coronavirus pandemic. As the state began reopening, Nashville Bishop J. Mark Spalding announced services could be reopened to the public on May 18. 

The cathedral resumed public Mass that day with precautions in place aimed at mitigating the spread of the virus.

"They probably were safer in the church than they were at any store that's reopened," Steiner said. 

Ushers helped parishioners maintain safe social distances while seated in the pews and during the distribution of communion, Steiner said. Hand sanitizer was made available and masks were expected to be worn when churchgoers moved about the sanctuary, he said. The church was also cleaned in between services.  

"Sunday was so nice ... I was a little bit on pins and needles, but it could not have gone any better. People could not have tried any harder to be cooperative and do what they needed to do," Steiner said. "Even with that little underlying anxiety, it was still so nice to be back, so this is incredibly disappointing and frustrating."

The priests in self-quarantine will still stream Mass online, but they will not be celebrating public services at this time. Steiner and Menezes will reassess this restriction early next week in consultation with their doctor, according to a follow-up email Steiner sent Wednesday.

"As much as we love saying Mass and preaching, the thought of us being transmitters is just too horrifying to contemplate," Steiner said. 

But public services at the cathedral are expected to continue with the help of other clergy, Steiner said. 

The Rev. Aby Thanickal, a cathedral priest who was not exposed to the active COVID-19 case, will continue to celebrate the public services and Spalding will say the 11 a.m. Mass on Sunday. 

Reach Holly Meyer at hmeyer@tennessean.com or 615-259-8241 and on Twitter @HollyAMeyer.