Nicosia, December 23, 2020
The Church of St. Lazarus in Larnaca, Cyprus. Photo: wikimedia.org
The Cypriot Council of Ministers met yesterday and decided to relax its strict quarantine measures for the Great Feasts of the Nativity of the Lord Jesus Christ and Theophany.
With the strict implementation of sanitary measures, up to 75 believers will be allowed to attend Liturgy in each church, reports Romfea.
The government initially announced earlier in the month that the churches were completely closed to the faithful at least through the end of December. The Holy Synod of the Cypriot Church then met in an extraordinary session and called upon the government to reconsider such excessive measures. The state’s Council of Ministers met again the next day and announced that the churches would remain closed, though noting that they would return to the issue again in a week.
At its session yesterday, the Council stated that, “Recognizing the need of the faithful for church, and given that the protocols will be strictly implemented,” churches are allowed to open on December 25 and January 6 with a maximum of 75 parishioners, with each person occupying a space of 3 square meters.
The Council also recommended that churches serve multiple Liturgies if need be, to accommodate all those who want to go to church.
The presence of the faithful outside the churches is also permitted, with a distance of 2 meters between each person. People over 12 years old are required to wear a mask.
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