As astonishing as it may seem a year after the outbreak of the coronavirus epidemic, in Saint-Eugène-Sainte-Cécile (9th arrondissement), priests and faithful seem to be worried about the health instructions in force!
Broadcast on our site, the images of the Easter Vigil Mass celebrated on Saturday afternoon in this church show parishioners huddled together, many of whom do not wear masks.
And obviously without great respect for the rules of physical distance imposing on the one hand, to leave two empty seats between each person or family entity and on the other hand, to leave a free bench between each row.
VIDEO. Priests and faithful without masks, no distancing… A mass without sanitary rules celebrated in Paris
In this parish authorized to celebrate mass in Latin according to the rite in force before Vatican Council II, it also appears that the priests give the host directly into the mouth of the practitioners and not in the hand.
Faced with these obvious abuses, the prosecution announced on Tuesday afternoon the opening of an investigation for "endangering the lives of others".
The diocese launches an internal investigation
“We are amazed at the obvious non-compliance with the essential instructions for distancing and wearing a mask, which we unequivocally condemn.
I would add that, since the start of the epidemic, the Archbishop of Paris has asked priests to give Communion only in the hand ”, declares Karine Dalle, director of communication for the diocese.
Not without specifying: “Sanitary standards apply to all rites.
"
While recalling that "the vast majority of parishes in Paris fortunately respect the many health instructions", Karine Dalle indicates: "According to the parish priest of Saint-Eugène-Sainte-Cécile, there were 280 people in this church on Saturday. has 600 places.
"
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Are sanctions going to be taken?
“An internal investigation is launched.
Everything will depend on the decisions of the archbishop, ”replied the spokesperson.
"We have been victims of our success"
In the absence of parish priest Marc Guelfucci, Alexandre Mouci, cantor of the parish, observes: “We have been victims of our success.
We did not expect such an exceptional attendance for Easter even though we multiplied the masses with 5 services on Sunday at 8.15am, 9.45am, 11am, 4pm and 7pm.
"And the cantor explains that" the faithful should only sit on chairs with a ribbon attached to the amount of the backrest of the chairs.
As for the wearing of the mask, he blurted out: “We cannot police everyone.
"
While calling on everyone to "respect the instructions to contain the epidemic", a sexagenarian is nonetheless surprised, on leaving the church, that "we can broadcast, without blurring them, images showing the faces of people. gathered in a place of worship, especially in the current context ”.
An alert from January
Faithful to Saint-Eugène-Sainte-Cécile whose celebrations in Latin he appreciates, a parishioner duly masked, accuses, on condition of anonymity: "The sanitary rules have been around for a year (masks, spaced rows, communion in hand) are not respected in this church.
I sent an email to the diocese of Paris on January 12 to report this unacceptable situation.
I immediately received a response assuring me that my message was taken into account.
Three months later, I see that no action has been taken.
"
In the diocese, Karine Dalle agrees: “The priest was alerted by the diocese following this e-mail.
However, the video of the celebration of Holy Saturday shows that, unfortunately, the clear instructions for compliance with sanitary measures were once again not respected.
Today we see that there is a gap between what has been requested and what is being done in this church… ”