CHURCHES in Metro Manila, empty in the last two-and-a-half months and now allowed to have 10 percent attendance, will start to have many more worshippers – 50 percent – starting June 16.
The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases, the over-all group that has been managing the restrictions in the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, agreed this week that it is time to allow mass gatherings, such as those in churches.
The Philippines was among the early nations that opted for mass lockdowns to stop the spread of the virus. From March 16 to May 16, Metro Manila and the rest of Luzon were placed under an Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ), while the rest of the country was placed under a State of Calamity.
From ECQ, Metro Manila eased into a two-week Modified ECQ (MECQ) on May 17, then into a two-week General Community Quarantine (GCQ) on June 1. We will be in the next easier stage, Modified GCQ (MGCQ), on June 16.
In this next stage, we will find Metro Manila’s big churches – among them the Manila Cathedral in Intramuros, Manila, the Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene in Quiapo, Manila, and the National Shrine of Our Mother of Perpetual Help in Baclaran, Parañaque City – half-filled with people.
It was Pope Francis who decided, in those early uncertain days of the COVID-19 epidemic, to cancel his own daily messages to thousands of people gathered at St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican. Instead, he reached out to people in their homes via television and on-line communications. Evidently, he realized the danger of mass gatherings, long before many national leaders did.
The pandemic is now slowing down all over the globe, including our own country. We are now gradually easing the restrictions, including the reopening of churches. Bishop Broderick Pabillo, apostolic administrator of the Archdiocese of Manila, has now directed every parish church in the archdiocese to set up a health ministry to see to the coming 50 percent requirement, screening of churchgoers with thermal scanners, and looking after the special needs of the elderly and those who may have illnesses.
We welcome this easing of restrictions all over our land, especially the reopening of our churches, even at only 50 percent capacity. We look forward to the day the pandemic danger is finally ended, perhaps with the discovery of a vaccine and a cure. We will then see our churches full again, filled with people in thanksgiving for having survived this pandemic.
