Church finds 50-person cap unviable, defers reopening for Sunday service

Ranchi: The Catholic Church on Thursday said it will approach chief minister Hemant Soren and ask him to remove the cap of 50 persons attending a service at any given time. Churces have decided to remain shut saying the strict guidelines for places of worship are difficult to follow.
In an order issued around 10pm on Wednesday, the government banned distribution of bhog, sprinkling of holy water on devotees, touching of idols/statues/holy books at religious places. Congregation of more than 50 at any given point is also barred and priests have been told to use masks like other devotees. The 30-point guidelines also ban community singing and choirs.
Talking to TOI, Theodore Mascarenhas, assistant bishop of Ranchi, said, “The 50-person limit is not viable for us. St.Mary's Cathedral at Purulia Road here can accommodate more than 3,000 people and our other churches elsewhere can can also accommodate a large number of devotees.” He added, “Although we are ready and willing to abide by all Covid-19 protocols , religious practices followed by us make this number unfeasible. We will request the CM to make suitable changes to the norms.”
Meanwhile, churches throughout the state sis not open on Thursday due to the late arrival of the government orders. “We are in the process of issuing circulars to our priests at different churches across the state, spelling out the norms that are required to be complied with. We expect our churches to be ready to reopen Sunday, We have lined up online services on October 11, 18 and 25 to reduce crowding crowds at our worshipping places.”
The 175-year-old Gossner Evangelical Lutheran (GEL) Church also said that they need more time to reopen. "We will hold a meeting with our functionaries on Friday. It will take some time to get all the safety norms and other arrangements in place. We ar aiming at reopening our churches across the state by Sunday,” Johan Dang, moderator of GEL Church, said.