UPDATE High restrictions on pilgrimage to Iasi: People were allowed access to the relics of Saint Parascheva without a bulletin / Reaction from Raed Arafat – Essential



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The restrictions imposed by the central authorities on pilgrimage from the relics of Saint Parascheva for those outside of Iași have been lifted, so that all pilgrims can enter the coffin, without having to present the bulletin indicating that they are not from other counties. “Bună Ziua Iași” writes that hundreds of people from all over the country can sit in line to worship the relics.

Hundreds of people from Iasi and outside the city tried to enter the courtyard of the Metropolitan Cathedral at noon on Wednesday, forcing the access doors and the cordon of gendarmes, to worship the sanctuary of Santa Pía Parascheva. The intervention forces withdrew and thus people from outside of Iaşi reached the coffin, according to Agerpres.

Representatives of the Bacău Mobile Group of Gendarmes or those of the local authorities could not be reached to express a point of view on the incident and the decision to withdraw the application of the law to allow access to relics and pilgrims from outside Iasi. . .

Some 50 people among those who protested invoking conspiracy theories were evacuated from the courtyard of the Metropolitan Cathedral by a team of gendarmes and priests, citing health risks, wrote Ziarul de Iași. They fought with the gendarmes until they were allowed to line up. Most of them are not from Iaşi, almost none wear masks, have flags, icons and some have priestly clothes. They go in a compact group, they do not respect physical distance or any health protection standard, the aforementioned publication also points out.

As of this news release, it is unclear who made the decision to lift the restrictions.

Raed Arafat’s reaction

Asked in the briefing at the end of the government meeting who made the decision to lift the pilgrimage restrictions, Secretary of State Raed Arafat replied: “I can’t answer here because I don’t know if or who gave this ( …) Everyone has noticed that we have a continuous increase in cases, we are in a significant upward trend, when we put these measures we try with them to reduce exposure, reduce transmission, our call to the population is to understand the situation and collaborate with us in the fulfillment of these norms and of these dispositions that are emitted by decisions of the CNSU or by governmental decisions “.

Metropolitan Church of Moldova: those who want to worship the coffin wait two hours in a row

People should worship on this day in the coffin with the relics of Saint Pia Parascheva dedicated to her, waiting two hours in a row, where now there are hundreds of people who came from outside Iasi, according to Agerpres.

“The line is formed up to the ‘wall of mourning’, that is, at a distance of several hundred meters. From what I have calculated, it takes about two hours to reach the canopy with the coffin of St. Pious Parascheva. It is not from Iasi, ”said priest Constantin Sturzu, spokesman for the Metropolitan Church of Moldova and Bucovina.

The coffin with the relics of Saint Pía Parascheva was removed, on Wednesday morning, from the Metropolitan Cathedral of Iaşi and placed in the marquee in the courtyard of the place of worship, after a week of controversies about the opportunity to carry out the pilgrimage. This year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the central authorities decided to ban the pilgrimage to those who do not live in Iasi, a decision that provoked harsh reactions from the top of the Church.

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