[ad_1]
Dublin’s Catholic Archbishop Diarmuid Martin has said he is concerned that parishes may take initiatives to “do first communions and confirmations” amid the latest Covid-19 developments in the county, and said he knows “the pressure that families and schools can generate in parishes ”.
He also criticized what he said were distortions of the Vatican’s stance on worship during the coronavirus pandemic, and expressed concern that some were underestimating the seriousness of the current public health situation in Dublin, which has seen the return of women. restrictions on places of worship in the midst of a crisis. peak in Covid-19 cases in the region.
These restrictions include the closure of places of worship, except for private prayer, and the postponement of First Communion and Confirmation services.
In a statement Saturday, the archbishop said: “I am seriously concerned that many people are underestimating the seriousness of the current situation in Co Dublin and indeed now in other counties. The spread of the virus has reached serious levels and constitutes a real risk of a radical increase in infection in the community. In many cases, the increase in numbers is due to gatherings within homes and communities. ”
He said this increase in numbers in Dublin was behind calls by public health experts for people to cut down on their contacts, and this need to cut down on contacts was in turn the root of the latest moves to limit public worship. in the capital.
He added that while there was no evidence that the virus spread in worshiping communities, the measures in Dublin are appropriate at this time.
In Saturday’s statement, he also addressed the issue of the “severe distortion” of a Vatican document addressing worship amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
“I have seen reports citing a Vatican document urging a speedy return to normal worship. Some use it as an indication that the official line of the Holy See is to oppose the restrictions. This is a very serious distortion of what that document says.
“The document … strongly supports the application of restrictive measures and ‘painful decisions even to the point of suspending the participation of the faithful in the celebration of the Eucharist for a long period'”.
He said: “Places of worship must remain closed except for private prayer, as well as limited attendance at funerals and weddings.”
Communion and Confirmation
On the subject of the celebration of First Communion and Confirmation, he said he understood the disappointment of the families who had prepared to undertake these events and now find them postponed.
However, he said he was concerned “that parishes take initiatives to ‘do first communions and confirmations.’
“I appreciate the pressure families and schools can bring to bear on parishes. We must remember that First Communions and Confirmations are sacramental acts and should be celebrated in an appropriate liturgical context and catechetical preparation.
“The idea that sacramental acts must be performed quickly and can be performed outside of the normal liturgical situation is false. There is no urgent need to celebrate these sacraments just because they fit into the school calendar. “
“Some efforts, often well-intentioned, run the risk of reducing the administration of sacramental acts almost to the level of a supermarket where you can stop by and ‘do the sacrament.’ This would reduce the Eucharist to a commodity ”, he added.
In a message to the clergy on Friday, the Archbishop of the Church of Ireland in Dublin, Michael Jackson, warned that his churches would almost certainly have to close as Dublin moved to Level 3 restrictions under the government’s Living with Covid- plan. 19.
He said the prospect was “frustrating and frightening” but added: “It is important that we face this with resilience and hope.”
[ad_2]