05/11/2020 - 19:35
- Clarín.com
- Politics
Without masses but with individual confessions and prayers. After more than 50 days of quarantine for the coronavirus, the Catholic Churches and religious temples of the country will be able to reopen their doors to receive the faithful.
The decision was made by the national government and the measure will be applicable to the entire country although, due to local determinations, the quarantine for religious confessions had already been relaxed in some provinces.
Santiago Cafiero, head of the Cabinet, received this Monday at the Casa Rosada the leadership of the Argentine Episcopal Conference shared by Monsignor Oscar Ojea, Cardinal Mario Poli and Monsignor Carlos Malfa, respectively president, vice president and secretary general of the entity.
Cafiero was accompanied by Foreign Minister Felipe Solá and the Secretary of Worship, Guillermo Oliveri, and there he anticipated the decision that churches and temples can "open their doors for spiritual assistance to the faithful and individual prayers . "
They will be, since the beginning of social isolation on March 20, the first "practices of faith" that will be authorized in the churches and temples of our country.
However, masses and congregations of the faithful will not be allowed . The ecclesiastical leadership said it works to design the health protocols that will be applied when religious services resume.
The meeting held at the Casa Rosada also analyzed the situation of vulnerable towns and neighborhoods in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, a concern that gained visibility in recent days in the face of the appearance of positive cases in towns 31 and 1.11 .14, both in the City of Buenos Aireds, and also in Moreno settlements.
Cafiero reviewed with the religious references the task of the Church in the poor neighborhoods across the country "to provide assistance to the most vulnerable sectors."
According to official information, the social and economic consequences that arose as a result of the fight against the pandemic were also analyzed , and at the meeting the participants agreed that the most important thing is health and preserving people's lives.
In this sense, "joint organization with municipalities and organizations from different parts of the country was highlighted, which allowed solving many health needs that arose from social, preventive and compulsory isolation."
