Moscow, June 2, 2020
Photo: d-cd.net
With the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, parishes and monasteries in Moscow will reopen to parishioners this Saturday, June 6, the day of the commemoration of the dead before the feast of Holy Pentecost, reports the official site of the Russian Orthodox Church.
Christ the Savior Cathedral and the Patriarchal Theophany Cathedral already reopened today.
Parishioners are expected to observe all necessary sanitary and epidemiological regulations of the Federal Service for the Supervision of Consumer Rights Protection and Human Welfare, including social distancing of one person per 4 square meters and the wearing of masks. Additional parishioners can pray outside, or services can be celebrated outside on the territory of the churches.
Pat. Kirill made the decision to reopen the churches after discussing the current situation with Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin and the head of the Federal Service, A. Y. Popova.
During his homily on the 4th Sunday of Great Lent in late March, Pat. Kirill asked, but did not demand that parishioners refrain from going to church. On the eve of Holy Week, churches were closed to parishioners, though it is known that some continued to serve as usual. After Pascha, it was announced that priests who continued to welcome parishioners could face ecclesiastical sanctions, after which the vast majority of churches closed.
