French faithful joyfully return to worship as churches reopen after more than two months in lockdown By Jeanne Smits, for Life Site News
Masses resumed over the weekend in several dioceses, but some bishops have chosen to keep their churches closed.
Many cathedrals and parish churches in France opened for public Masses and other religious services over the weekend, attracting thousands of faithful deprived of public worship for more than two months because of lockdown measures related to COVID-19.
Scenes of quiet and intense joy could be witnessed as believers returned to the long-deserted churches under stringent conditions, however, as public authorities have threatened to withdraw permission for non-compliance.
Support Our Site
Now is your chance to support Gospel News Network.
We love helping others and believe that’s one of the reasons we are chosen as Ambassadors of the Kingdom, to serve God’s children. We look to the Greatest Commandment as our Powering force.
On Saturday morning, the official decree allowing public religious services was published by the Prime Minister Edouard Philippe and Minister of the Interior Christophe Castaner, who famously said earlier that Catholics can pray just as well at home as in church. The announcement came five days after the Council of State gave the government eight days to modify its deconfinement rules so as to respect the “essential” liberty of worship.
According to the French bishops’ conference, civil authorities have made clear that they still prefer public worship not to resume before June 2, but their hand was forced at a time when the French government has made clear that it is prepared to allow schools and businesses to reopen while clients at supermarkets have been able to go unmasked since the beginning of confinement.
Many dioceses and parishes responded immediately, preparing churches and chapels to comply with “safety” rules. Those include: not less than 4 square meters per churchgoer, marks on benches or chairs indicating which would be accessible to the public, disinfection points for hand-washing before entering the building, and organizing one-way traffic.
Websites were quickly updated in order to inform the faithful. Often, two or three extra Masses were scheduled, on Saturday evening and on Sunday, one Mass being added at the last minute at 8:30 p.m. in one traditional ex-“Ecclesia Dei” parish in Brittany, for example, in order to let allow the faithful who were unable to come to an open air Mass in the morning, or to the regular evening Mass at 6:30 p.m., to fulfill their Sunday obligation.
