Guidelines have been issued for Catholic celebrations such as baptisms or weddings.
Due to the increasing number of infections, the Catholic Church has established new rules for the celebration of baptisms, first communions, confirmations, marriages and funerals. Here are all the details.
In order to ensure that the minimum distances are observed during the celebration and when entering and leaving the church, there are, for example, appropriate markings on the paths and seats, but also one-way rules when entering and leaving the church.
The guidelines are intended to support parishes and dioceses in drawing up their own prevention concepts, which must be drawn up for “religious celebrations on a one-off occasion” and go beyond general hygiene measures, reported “Kathpress” on Friday. They were prepared by the Austrian Liturgical Institute in coordination with the General Secretariat of the Bishops’ Conference and Bishop Anton Leichtfried, who is responsible for liturgy.
Contact person management, i.e. the recording of the community present for follow-up in the event of an infection, is also planned. For this purpose, contact data sheets with name and telephone number are to be filled out. The data is to be kept for a period of 28 days and deleted immediately after this period. Processing of the data for other purposes is generally not permitted. The creation of a photo is also intended to help.
Should a suspected case occur during or after a celebration, “those affected must immediately clarify whether an infection with SARS-CoV-2 is present.” In the event of an infection, the parish as well as the responsible health authority must be informed immediately.
Safety requirements only as recommendations
A prevention officer should also be appointed beforehand for each church celebration, who must ensure that the concept is adhered to. However, they should not be held responsible for any disregard of the guidelines, it is said. After all, the security guidelines for the church area are only recommendations and not legally binding regulations.
— Hector Pascua, Source APA, Picture: stockilyapp.com
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