What a palaver!
Well the Conseil d'Etat (whatever that is) told the government that their ban on religious ceremonies was too restrictive and gave them 8 days to lift the ban and issue guidelines to follow.
So yesterday the government issued a décret authorising religious ceremonies once more under the following conditions :
1) physical distancing of 1m to be respected
2) 1 person per 4m2 of space
3) surfaces, doorknobs etc. to be disinfected before the ceremony
4) a one way system and people in charge to ensure no "attroupements" (gatherings)
5) all to wear masks (masks can be briefly removed if the rite demands it)
6) hand gel at the entrance
You can see that they have the Roman Catholic mass in mind, where it's you, the priest and the bread, and you're broadly happy to come, commune and go.
In our churches "attroupement" is part of the whole deal, so we may even decide to continue as we are until September, or until conditions allow a more normal meeting style.
So yesterday the government issued a décret authorising religious ceremonies once more under the following conditions :
1) physical distancing of 1m to be respected
2) 1 person per 4m2 of space
3) surfaces, doorknobs etc. to be disinfected before the ceremony
4) a one way system and people in charge to ensure no "attroupements" (gatherings)
5) all to wear masks (masks can be briefly removed if the rite demands it)
6) hand gel at the entrance
You can see that they have the Roman Catholic mass in mind, where it's you, the priest and the bread, and you're broadly happy to come, commune and go.
In our churches "attroupement" is part of the whole deal, so we may even decide to continue as we are until September, or until conditions allow a more normal meeting style.
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