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Application of an ash cross on a man's forehead (archive image)
Photo:
Caroline Seidel / dpa
In the Eifel town of Monschau, the Catholic Church tried to give believers in the pandemic access to an ash cross outside of the church service with a well-intentioned Ash Wednesday campaign.
For this purpose, jars with an already bottled mixture of ashes and holy water were deposited in seven churches.
If you wanted, you could take one of the vessels with you in a bag and draw an ash cross on your forehead at home.
The ash crosses, with which the Catholic Church traditionally celebrates the beginning of Lent, had undesirable side effects.
According to information provided by community officer Monika Breuer, believers soon reported and complained of skin irritation - redness, a burning sensation and pimples.
"We immediately removed all the sachets from the churches," said Breuer.
In addition, they tried in all ways to reach those who were known to have fetched a drink.
A total of about 20 cases with skin reactions were found.
Two of them also reported »vacancies«.
Was an "alkaline mixture" created?
An exact explanation for the incident is not yet available.
A Google search of those involved revealed that there had been similar cases in the diocese of Freiburg.
"They did a major investigation back then and put it down to the fact that ash and water react chemically," said Breuer.
The police had announced at the time that an "alkaline mixture" had formed that caused chemical burns.
Since then, the Archdiocese of Freiburg has not added water to the ash cross.
"If we had known that beforehand, we would have put the ashes dry in the jars," said the councilor.
The action was meant well.
"It is of course terrible that people have hurt themselves with what we wanted to do good." Now it is planned to also have the ashes from Monschau examined.
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apr / dpa