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At the press conference, G.Grušas said: “In these difficult times, we have received the Christmas holidays in a different way than usual. To protect the health and lives of others, we have abandoned the regular gathering for solemn services. Thank you all for your understanding, patience and responsible attitude.
At the end of the year, we hoped that there would be an opportunity to return to the order that was in place in our churches during the quarantine until December 16 of last year, when a limited number of people attended services in accordance with the necessary safety requirements. . So, at the end of the year, we decided to restore this order at the end of Christmas, starting on January 11. “
Extended until January 31.
However, as the archbishop acknowledged, the situation has not improved: “So, given the current situation, today we have decided not to resume public services in the churches with the participation of the faithful. This is 2020. December 16 we are expanding the order in our churches through 2021. January 31, with the possibility of mitigating it earlier if more pronounced positive developments occur. In this way, we sympathize with all those for whom this moment is extremely difficult, especially with patients, doctors and nurses ”.
Photo by Julius Kalinskas / 15min / Sunday Mass
According to G. Gruš, the decision on the renewal of public services was made at the end of last year, when it was decided that the remote mass would be held until January 10.
“We understand how important pastoral help is to all of us. We remind you that churches remain open to the private prayer of believers. Funerary St. Mass or other sacraments are celebrated only in the immediate vicinity of family members. In agreement with the priest, it is possible to make a confession, receive Holy Communion, “said G. Gruš.
He said that the situation was discussed with experts, doctors.
G.Grušas also admitted that in January, after the big festivals, there are very few people in the churches, so it is not difficult to maintain the established distances. “However, we have decided not to renew ourselves for reasons of solidarity,” the archbishop said.
Given the current situation, today we have decided not to resume public worship in churches with the participation of the faithful.
Asked about how he values the speeches about the fact that public masses will be celebrated due to the fact that no sacrifices are collected, G. Gruš assures that the situation of the Church is similar to that of everyone else, but it was not discussed, only the need pastoral care and safety of believers.
G.Grušas said that the mood of believers is different: some people really lack common prayer and spiritual help, others tend to protect themselves and others.
The archbishop said that the views of the bishops in the Lithuanian Episcopal Conference were mixed, but found consensus “with a strong majority.” He also stressed that the priests still had a lot of freedom to decide on St. Mass offering: if you do not feel well, feel any symptoms, it is recommended to stay at home and protect your health and that of others.
Photo by Julius Kalinskas / 15min / Sunday Mass
G.Grušas also thanked the priests who work in hospitals and other institutions, as he called it, in the front ranks of the fight, for going to the patients despite the danger.
The archbishop acknowledged that both the tightening of security requirements, where Masses could only take place remotely, and the granting of public worship received comments from various believers.
VIDEO: The Episcopal Conference changed its position and decided not to resume public services
Disapprove of secret masses
G.Grušas did not deny that there are priests who still celebrate Masses in which the faithful also participate. But he himself does not agree.
“It just came to our knowledge then. If we talk about this day, abstinence is a sensible decision at this time, and I have spoken in favor of it. And as for priests, we have everything in the Church. We also trust in your conscience, honesty, but, as we have seen with the posts, how many people turn around on the road, not always and not everyone is aware at the moment.
We ask again (those priests – ed. Past.). Even when masses are celebrated without people, when they are filmed, a small number of people participate in them: servants, organist. But there are priests, usually for pastoral purposes, diligence, time and with believers, but please don’t do it, ”said G. Grush.
If we talk about this day, abstinence is a sensible decision at this time, and I have spoken in favor of it.
In the Archdiocese of Vilnius, 20 priests fell ill with coronavirus, two of them died.
Announced to update
Previously, the Episcopal Conference of Lithuania announced that it would resume public services with the believers from next Monday, January 11. She promises that in the church a person will be at least 10 square meters, a distance of two meters between people will be kept, they will have to wear masks.
Neither during the first nor the second quarantine, the Government of Lithuania did not accept binding instructions for the Church regarding the organization of services, only recommendations.
Under the current resolution, the government recommends abstaining from religious rites or organizing them remotely, with exceptions only for funerals where it is proposed to limit the number of people.
Such a decision by the Lithuanian Catholic Church has caused great outrage in the public sphere, especially on social media, where people have expressed their discontent with each other that they are allowed to meet in churches without the pandemic.
The Constitution of Lithuania states that churches and religious organizations freely perform their rites and conduct themselves according to their canons. BNS lawyers said the Catholic Church has formal legal arguments to make an independent decision, but its validity is questionable given the epidemiological situation regarding the coronavirus.
Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė said Wednesday that she hopes the Lithuanian Bishops’ Conference will review the decision on the renewal of services.
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