NO
ADMISSION TO
ORTHODOX CHURCHES OF RUSSIA WITHOUT MASKS
Interfax-Religiia, 6
June 2020
A whole
series of
sanitary rules appeared in Russian churches from the moment of
their opening
after a two-month quarantine, the Russian Orthodox Church
reported.
"Parishioners
will
be required to come into a church only in masks. If they arrive
without
masks, then workers of the church are required to give a
parishioner a mask,
and we will observe this regime until the quarantine measures
are relaxed or
replaced," the head of the synod's Department for External
Church
Relations, Metropolitan Ilarion, reported on the broadcast
Church and World on
the Rossiia-24 television channel.
Recently
in the
regions, parishioners again began to visit churches, depending
on the
conditions of the epidemic. On Saturday, the doors of the
churches of Moscow
opened, which had been closed on 13 April at the recommendation
of sanitary
authorities, because of the threats of the spread of the
coronavirus. Opening
the churches was permitted on condition of the observance of
social distancing
within them; for each parishioner there must be no less than
four square meters
of space in the church.
Metropolitan
Ilarion
explained that in each church of Russia, the square meters
allotted for
parishioners are calculated and the maximum number of persons
who may attend
the worship services is calculated. Those who are not
accommodated inside the
church must either stay outside and listen to a broadcast, if
there is one, and
then the priest can come out to them and give them communion "or
they will
be redirected to a neighboring church."
Inside
churches,
markings will be made on the floor and each person will have to
stand on the
designated space. Volunteers will see to this and they will
control so that
more people than allowed by the current rules will not enter the
church.
In
addition, the
metropolitan added, kissing icons will be restricted: in many
churches it will
be temporarily suspended while is some it will occur, but the
space of each
contact with the glass will be treated with a towel with
alcohol.
"Communion
will
be conducted as it always is, with the only difference being
that people will
not crowd around the chalice, as usually occurs in our churches,
and they will
approach one at a time, observing distancing," the RPTs hierarch
said.
While after each communicant, the spoon will be treated with an
alcohol
solution.
The RPTs
representative urged elderly parishioners to refrain for a time
from visiting
churches in order to protect their life and health. (tr. by PDS,
posted 8 June
2020)
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