After 75 days, faithful enter churches, but in a restricted manner

 After a 75-day lockdown, most churches in Kerala on Tuesday opened their doors to the faithful.

KOCHI: After a 75-day lockdown, most churches in Kerala on Tuesday opened their doors to the faithful. While most of the churches allowed private prayers, some conducted Holy Mass but with a limited number of people in attendance.  However, the Mar Thoma Church and the  Archdiocese of Verapoly have decided not to open their churches till June 30.

In the case of the Syro-Malabar Church, the Ernakulam-Angamaly and Changanacherry archdioceses will not open their churches for Holy Mass till June 30. “Holy Mass was conducted in more than a 100 Catholic churches in the state,” said Fr Antony Thalachelloor. According to him, the authority to decide whether to allow the faithful to take part in the Holy Mass was given to the bishops.

“The parish vicars too can decide whether to open the church or not depending on the situation in the area,” said Fr Antony. He said, “Since only a limited number of people can attend the Mass due to social distancing norms, the vicars have come up with various methods to decide who can attend. The family units too have been asked to nominate people for attending Mass.”

According to him, in large churches where the Holy Mass was held, the faithful attended in full strength as stipulated by the government. “For example, in churches where 100 people were allowed to attend, the listed number of believers was present,” he added. Even as most of the Catholic churches opened on Tuesday, the churches belonging to the Syro-Malankara Church will open for worship from June 10. “On Tuesday, all the churches were cleaned and sanitised,” said Fr Aluvila John, secretary to Cardinal Baselios Cleemis, the Major Archbishop of the Syro-Malankara Church.

In the case of the Jacobite Church, Catholicose Baselios Thomas I has issued a directive to open all churches by strictly adhering to the guidelines issued by the government. “The bishops of the respective dioceses and the parish vicars have been given the authority to decide whether to allow the laity to attend the Holy Mass,” said Kuriakose Mar Theophilose, chairman, media cell, Jacobite Church.According to him, the Thumpamon, Kollam and Niranam dioceses have decided not to open the churches till June 30. 
The holy Episcopal synod of the orthodox Church decided not to open the churches for the faithful until further orders in view of possibility of the spread of coronavirus.

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