All Saints' Day as a challenge

On All Saints' Day there is a great rush in the cemeteries.

This poses a challenge for the parishes in Corona times.

There is no uniform line in the district.

Some skip the public grave blessings, others hold them under strict hygiene regulations.

District

- In the pandemic year 2020, many things are no longer what they used to be.

This even includes the commemoration of the dead on All Saints' Day (November 1st) - a Christian festival on which the churches are expecting many visitors again this year.

Usually on this holiday there are church services and tours of the cemeteries with a blessing of the graves.

A difficult situation for the parishes, because large crowds should actually be avoided in order to keep the risk of infection as low as possible.

On the other hand, church life should not come to a standstill.

No person limit

There is no clear regulation.

For outdoor religious events, which include the burial passages, there are no upper personal limits - provided they are part of the service.

There just needs to be an infection protection concept.

The two dioceses that are responsible for the Catholics in the Garmisch-Partenkirchen district - the diocese of Augsburg and the archbishopric of Munich and Freising - are limited to rough guidelines.

The result: In the parishes between Spatzenhausen and Mittenwald, All Saints' Day is celebrated differently this year.

Most of them, a Tagblatt survey found, stuck to the public version of the grave blessings - but with conditions.

Above all, this means that all participants in the ceremony must wear a mask and adhere to the rules of distance.

Also, some pastors only want to go through the main routes of the Gottesack or give the blessing from a few central locations.

The Murnau pastor and dean Siegbert G. Schindele (Deanery Benediktbeuern) feels well equipped.

"Our concept is entirely defensible," he explains, referring to the Murnau parish community.

“We're in the open.

And everyone has a face mask on. ”He therefore has no concerns.

In his opinion, there are more dangerous situations in some supermarkets.

The clergyman relies on the self-responsibility of the believers - and on a security service who refers to the mask requirement and, if necessary, distributes mouth and nose protection.

Only the remembrance of the dead, which usually takes place in the church before the cemetery tour, will be dispensed with.

Because: "It's going to be too tight."

Not a big ceremony

On the other hand, you play it safe in the south of the district.

In the Parish Association of Partenkirchen-Farchant-Oberau there will be no such blessing ritual on a large scale.

This also applies to Garmisch.

"That is not controllable", explains pastor and dean Andreas Lackermeier (Deanery Werdenfels) the rejection.

“We don't all have to be in the cemetery at once,” he says.

In these times it is irresponsible that several hundred people, including many older people, gathered there.

One does not want to encourage the believers to meet afterwards for a coffee round, where there may be an increased risk of infection.

Lackermeier has considered alternatives, however: At an unknown point in time, he and his colleagues from the parish association will walk alone through the cemeteries and bless the final resting places there.

In addition, holy water bottles and prayer slips are to be distributed, with which the believers can pause at the family graves - in order to keep the memory of the deceased alive even in these difficult times and to maintain the tradition of this solemn festival of the Catholic Church.