In a far reaching development, all services in Roman Catholic and Protestant churches across Telangana have been suspended with immediate effect till March 31 in wake of COVID-19. This is the first time ever that the church services have been cancelled.
Religious heads of the two dominant denominations swung into action and issued separate advisory to the congregation. As a result, Sunday mass in churches in the State will not be conducted.
Vicar General of Archdiocese of Hyderabad Swarna Bernard, in a statement on Friday, said as per the instructions of Central and State governments and the Archbishop, all the church activities are suspended with immediate effect till March 31.
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Live telecast
“The Satations of the Cross and Rosary shall be recited personally. As Prime Minister Narendra Modi called the nation for Janata Curfew on March 22, there will be no masses on Sunday. On that day, there will be live telecast of Holy Mass at 9.30 a.m. on Catholic Hub TV,” the statement said.
In a televised message to the community on Friday, A.C. Solomon Raj, Bishop, Church of South India of the Diocese of Medak, said as per the directions of the CSI Synod, Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, it has been decided to suspend all the services conducted by the CSI churches.
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“Even in the hardest times, the services had never been cancelled. This is the first time we are facing such a situation. The churches will be open but no service will be conducted,” the CSI Bishop told The Hindu on Friday.
“Holy Communion services on Sundays, Lenten Evening Worship Services on Wednesdays and the Lenten Cottage Prayers are suspended till March 31. All the members are also advised to cancel all family celebrations, if any, to avoid public gatherings. Kindly pray for the healing of all those who got infected so far and that God may remove this pandemic from the globe at the earliest,” he said.
Fasting on Mar. 23
In a related development, the Chennai-based Church of South India Synod Secretariat issued guidelines for public gatherings for liturgical and ecclesiastical purposes.
The circular issued in the name of A. Dharmaraj Rasalam, Moderator, Church of South India, sent across to all the CSI churches in South India said that March 23 would be observed as day of fasting and prayers at home in the midst of COVID-19 pandemic.
“The liturgical gatherings such as Sunday worship services, weekly services, special services, festivals services, church meetings, Sunday school, vocational bible schools, women and youth fellowships needs to be planned with great caution and avoid gathering of people as precautionary measure (sic),” the circular said.