No attending Mass, attend only if necessary: Bishop Filip Neri

Another Fresh Church advisory was out on Thursday. The Bishop has issued advisory to the faithfuls, stating strictly not to attended mass or visit the church if its not necessary. All children and elders above 60 years should refrain from visiting the church and gathering. Even no gathering for funeral or marriages.

On Thursday, the Bishop issued an advisory appealing all the people not to attend mass unless strictly necessary, and if attending then one should keep  1 meter distance. Also all children and elders above 60, with or without  cough, cold, fever & serious ailments including diabetes should refrain from going to church. All baptism and marriages should be attended and celebrated with only with family, no visits for death,  or else postpone other celebrations. These instructions are necessitated by the fact that the virus spreads in a most subtle, unsuspecting and rapid manner.

BISHOP ON CORONA VIRUS

1 CELEBRATIONS OF HOLY MASS.

 

1.       The Faithful are advised not to go for daily Mass, unless it is strictly necessary. They should, in any case, keep a distance of not less than a metre from one another.

2.       Strongly  advised not to take part in the Mass:

(a)    Children and those above 60 years of age
(b) those who are under a bout of even a common cold, including cough, sneezing, runny noseor fever.
(c) those having co-existing ailments like hypertension, diabetes, heart disease,lung disease, cancer, etc.
 (d) those who have travelled from any of the virus-infected areas, outside or inside the country, after the 1st of March, 2020

3.        Priests, however, should continue to celebrate Mass, even without a congregation.

 

 

2 SACRAMENT OF ANOINTING THE SICK & VIATICUM

1. Priest are not to deny the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick and the Viaticum, whenever requested. However, the priest should sanitize his hands before and after touching the recipient and take other precautionary measures;

 

3  SACREMENT OF BAPTISM

1.       Baptisms are to be celebrated taking the necessary sanitary precautions and with the

participation of close family members only, provided they do not show symptoms of

the disease or of a common cold. In case they, or even the godparents, show such

symptoms, they are not to participate in the celebration.

 

4.        FOR MARRIAGE:

Marriage celebrations with large attendance should be postponed to a safer time.

5.       FUNERAL :

1.       Funerals are to be celebrated only with the participation of the minister and of close family members, who are to take the necessary precautions.

2.       On the  occasion of deaths, gatherings in the house of the deceased are to be avoided; Masses for the Dead, with the participation of a large congregation, are to be rescheduled to a safer time.