'Unwise' to open churches just yet, says SA Catholic Bishops Conference

Many Catholic churches across SA did not open their doors on Sunday, with the parent body, the SA Catholic Bishops Conference, saying it was “unwise to do so”.

The organisation's spokesperson, Archbishop William Slattery, said it had told bishops in its 26 dioceses across the country they should not open their church doors yet.

Slattery said the elderly and sick would be required to stay at home even after it was deemed safe to resume gatherings.

Following this instruction, Archbishop Stephen Brislin of Cape Town has already told parishioners that they should not congregate for mass this Sunday.

“After a great deal of discussion, dialogue and seeking advice, I believe it is unwise at this time to open our churches for public worship,” he wrote in a letter on Wednesday.

The Our Lady of Peace Catholic church in Roodepoort said it might open its doors for mass at the beginning of July.

Parish priest Fr Lawrence Ndlovu said as a mining community with increased risk of Covid-19 infection, it would simply be irresponsible to congregate now.

“The church should do all in its power not to contribute to the increase in cases by reopening prematurely and potentially compromising the health of our parishioners, their families and the broader community.”

Prophet Sheperd Bushiri’s Enlightened Christian Gathering (ECG) church will also continue with the online services “until such a time that everyone will be able to attend”.

The church’s Terrence Baloyi said their decision is in light of the pandemic the country is battling.

On average, 30,000 people attend Sunday services in the church’s Tshwane events centre in Pretoria.

“We don’t want to put the lives of people at risk. We are happy with the online services and will only open our doors when it will be declared safe to do so for everyone.”

The NG Kerk’s Chris van Wyk said their smaller churches in rural areas and farming communities would be able to open, but bigger congregations like the one in Moreleta Park, Pretoria, and other major cities would continue with their online services for the foreseeable future.

“The limited number would create a serious problem in big congregations because who would you let in and who not?”

Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, Thabo Makgoba said their congregations were not yet ready to resume worship in church buildings.

In a letter to church members, he said the church's Covid-19 advisory team, comprising medical, legal and theological experts, had reported to him “a consensus that it is not yet time to resume worship”.

“Most reports suggest that it will take a month or two — or longer — to gather the data needed before a decision can be made.

“There is no one-size-fits-all approach to reopening for worship. Within our country, different dioceses face differing levels of infection and will have to adjust their strategies accordingly,” he said.

Though the Muslim Judicial Council (MJC) has discouraged the reopening of mosques under level 3 of the lockdown and said they should at least delay opening by a month, the Nizamiye Mosque in Midrand will open for prayers on Friday. Only 50 people will be allowed- in line with regulations — at each of the two prayer sessions on a Friday, Huseyin Demirdelen said.

They have notified that everyone arriving for prayers must bring their own prayer mat, the ablution facilities will not be available and the gathering limited to 45 minutes.

Everyone will be screened and their temperature taken on arrival, but they have requested the elderly to rather do their prayers at home.

The mosque, with a capacity of 6,000 people, has been sanitised ahead of reopening.