Limit The Congregation, Father Antonius: We Don't Want The Church To Become A COVID-19 Cluster

JAKARTA - The committee of the St. Cornelius Catholic Church in Madiun City, East Java, has limited the number of congregants attending the 2020 Christmas Mass. This is to anticipate a surge in people who are holding Christmas services amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Committee for the 2020 Christmas Celebration of the St. Cornelius Madiun Catholic Church, Father Antonius Yanuardi Hendro Wibowo, said that the limitation on the number of congregants attending mass at the church is aimed at preventing the spread of COVID-19.

"We don't want the church to become a cluster for the spread of COVID-19. That's why people who celebrate worship or mass at the church must register through the church's WA group. So that the name, address and telephone number are clear," said Father Yanuar to reporters in Madiun, as reported Between, Thursday, 24 December.

The 2020 Christmas Eve mass will be held on December 24 at 18.00 WIB and 21.00 WIB. And the 2020 morning Christmas Mass will be held on December 25 at 07.00 WIB.

To accommodate other congregants who could not attend the Christmas mass at the church, the committee also held a virtual mass via Youtube channels and other social media that had been prepared by the church committee.

In addition to limiting the number of people attending mass, the church has also prepared facilities and infrastructure to support the implementation of health protocols (prokes) during the Christmas Mass held on December 24-25, 2020.

A number of tools have been prepared for the health protocol, including body temperature detection devices, hand washing stations, hand sanitizers, requiring all congregants to wear masks, as well as adjusting seating spacing inside the church.

The same thing was expressed by the Parish Head of the Catholic Church Mater Dei Madiun, Father Robertus Joko Sulistiyo. In addition to limiting the number of mass participants and the discipline of implementing the prokes, the Christmas committee of the Catholic Church Mater Dei Madiun has formed an internal COVID-19 task force.

The internal task force involves church volunteers who are tasked with overseeing the implementation of the se prokes. The volunteer has been formed since last May.

In addition, after the worship or mass session is over, the church will be sterilized using a disinfectant so that it is clean when used for the next mass session. After the service or mass is over, people are also asked to go home immediately and not create a crowd.

He emphasized that these efforts were made to support the government to prevent the spread of COVID-19 which is still threatening.