Chișinău, Moldova, May 6, 2020
Photo: bloknot-moldova.md
The Orthodox faithful in Moldova will be able to attend the Divine services again beginning this coming Sunday, May 10, after being banned since mid-March due to coronavirus quarantine measures.
Speaking at a press briefing following a meeting of the Commission on Emergency Situations yesterday, Prime Minister Ion Chicu announced that open-air Church services will be held in the courtyards of churches, with the necessary sanitary measures, reports bloknot-moldova.md.
“When holding services, all necessary sanitary-epidemiological standards and a social distance of at least 2 meters must be observed. All parishioners will be required to wear masks,” the Prime Minister said.
Following the Commission’s decision, the Metropolitan Directorate of the Orthodox Church of Moldova of the Russian Orthodox Church issued a number of recommendations for the resumed services.
In order to maintain the necessary 2-meter social distance, which will be ensured by church employees, and to avoid crowding, churches will be open every day so priests can respond to all the requests of the faithful regarding Confession, Communion, and the reading of prayers.
Each church will provide the faithful with the necessary products for hand hygiene and church interiors and adjacent spaces will be regularly disinfected.
Special petitions used in time of human need and contagious diseases are also to be added to the litanies in the Divine Liturgy.
“These exceptional measures are aimed at protecting our own health and the health of those around us. Life and health are gifts from God and we have a duty to defend and cultivate them with permanent responsibility,” reads the Church’s statement.
