(ANSA) - LUNGRO, 28 DEC - The Cathedral of Lungro, seat of the Byzantine Eparchy of Italy which brings together the Greek-Orthodox faithful of the Byzantine rite of Southern Italy, has been temporarily closed and will be sanitized.
The mayor of the town in the province of Cosenza, Giuseppino Santoianni, signed the provision after having received from the provincial health authority of Cosenza a communication relating to the positivity to Covid 19 of one of the two priests who had celebrated the rite in front of some believers.
Furthermore, at the moment of the Eucharist many faithful drank from the same chalice used by the officiant, although the anti-Covid provisions prohibit any promiscuity, as documented by the images of the video circulated on the net.
The images show the faithful approaching the chalice and using it in turn.
The mayor, pending the execution of the swabs to which the faithful present at the function will have to undergo, has therefore deemed it appropriate to arrange with his own ordinance the closing to the public of the cathedral of San Nicola di Mira, the main church of the town seat of the Diocese (Eparchia), at the conclusion of the sanitation operations.
(HANDLE).