Coronavirus: Catholic Church hopes Mass 'can resume this month'

The Irish Catholic Church has set out a list of new Covid-19 safety measures in preparation for the reopening of churches for public worship.

They include a limit on numbers allowed into churches at any one time and a requirement for priests to wear face-coverings when distributing communion.

Last week, the Irish government said it "anticipated" churches in the Republic of Ireland would reopen on 29 June.

No decision has yet been made on indoor church services in Northern Ireland.

"At the end of the month we hope to slowly and cautiously resume public worship in our churches, knowing that it can only happen in a limited way," said a statement from the Irish Catholic Bishops` Conference.

Changes outlined in the bishops' document mean the number of people who are allowed into a church at any one time will be "much reduced" in order to adhere to social distancing guidelines.

Capacity limits will depend on the size of the individual building, so parishes have been asked to risk assess the number of people who could be "accommodated safely" in each church.

The document also says that priests and Eucharistic ministers "should wear a face-covering while distributing Holy Communion" and "visibly sanitise their hands" both before and afterwards.

It adds that communion "should be received in the hand" only and a bottle of sanitiser should be available at each distribution point "to enable the priest/minister to re-sanitise their hands if necessary".

The bishops said the sign of peace, which usually involves shaking hands with other members of the congregation during Mass, "can be omitted or offered in a manner which avoids any physical contact".

In addition to limiting physical contact, the document includes a hygiene checklist which asks parishes to ensure:

It also states that communion chalices, prayer books and hymn sheets should not be shared at this time.

The bishops suggest that stewards may be required to help maintain social distancing at entrances and exits, and also during communion.

They issued a particular appeal to younger Catholics to volunteer to help churches implement the new safety measures.

They said young people were needed now more than ever because the older generation "may be unable to offer their normal help" during the pandemic, while many priests "may still need to remain shielded from the virus".

The bishops said the framework document was drawn up after "extensive consultation across the dioceses of Ireland" and took account of the most up-to-date public health advice and regulations.

Northern Ireland's First Minister Arlene Foster addressed the issue of indoor religious services during Stormont's coronavirus briefing on Monday.

She said that a working group, involving churches and other faith groups, had been established to "discuss how best to achieved the gradual reopening of places of worship safely".

Last week, the Church of Ireland published its own nine-stage plan outlining the necessary risk assessments and safety measures required in preparation for when indoor church services resume on both sides of the Irish border.

In Northern Ireland, churches along with many other public buildings were ordered to close to the public on 28 March under Covid-19 emergency legislation.

But the Stormont Executive allowed churches to reopen for private prayer in May as part of the first phase of its plan to ease lockdown measures.

Churches in the Republic have remained open for private worship throughout the pandemic, but public services are not taking place as large public gatherings have been banned.

Under the Irish government's five-stage recovery plan, places of worship were due to reopen with social distancing measures on 20 July.

However, last Friday Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister) Leo Varadkar announced that the recovery plan was being accelerated and a government statement said it was "anticipated" that places of worship would be able to reopen from 29 June.