From Our Special Correspondent

Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru

Bengaluru, Sep 19: Finally, the churches in the archdiocese, here, will be open for daily and Sunday masses from September 21.

However, according to the latest circular issued by the Archbishop of Bengaluru Dr Peter Machado on Saturday, the opening of churches or chapels for congregations will be subject to a ceiling of 100 persons (or one-third of the capacity of the church) at every service with strict adherence to the government stipulated norms of 'physical distancing, sanitizing and checking with thermal gun etc'.'

"We have finally decided to open the churches for public (congregational) worship by strictly following the government directives and restrictions," the archbishop said.

The archbishop laid down the directives issued by the state government and also the centre to be followed in the churches and chapels for daily mass service or Sunday mass.

The conditions are:

The church and the premises have to be sanitized by way of fogging before and after every service.
The parish priests are encouraged to have more services on Sundays and days of obligation if such need arises in their parishes.
It is understood that request for priests, especially from among the religious, will have to be made if more than the scheduled masses have to be celebrated on Sundays and days of obligation.
It is advisable that the parish priest convenes the meeting of the PPC and PFC members to discuss the opening of the churches and other spiritual ministries in the parish. It can be either physical presence by following the required SOPs or run a zoom meeting.

"Please keep in touch with your respective deans and area-wise vicars general, in case of any difficulty in opening your parish churches for public services," the archbishop said.