The Catholic Church has asked the faithful to say namaste with folded hands instead of handshakes and avoid kissing the cross as precautionary measures against COVID-19.
The faithful have also been advised to receive the Holy Communion in hand and not in mouth.
Cardinal Oswald Gracias, president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI), has written to parish priests, priests-in-charge, and head of institutions in the Archdiocese of Bombay to follow these steps as coronavirus is rapidly spreading.
“Encourage our people not to shake hands at the sign of peace,” he wrote.
The Cardinal, also the Archbishop of Bombay, asked the priests to discourage people from kissing the cross on Good Friday at the veneration of the cross. “The blessing with a raised cross will be adequate. Those who desire, they could come in a queue, make reverence with a bow and go back,” suggested the Cardinal in his letter.
Focus on hygiene
The priests and ministers should clean their hands in a bowl of water or with a sanitiser before the distribution of the Holy Communion. He also directed them to keep the holy water stoops dry.
These temporary arrangements will be in force till Easter, which falls on April 12. The arrangements will be reviewed time to time.
The Cardinal also asked the priests to temporarily suspend the meetings of cells, sodalities, and associations if there are indications that an individual of the community has been infected.
While noting that the first response is to turn to God, the Cardinal also enclosed a prayer to be said every day.
On its part, the Kerala Catholic Bishops Council issued circulars to all bishops to give suitable instructions in their dioceses to control the spread of the virus.
The circular issued by Cardinal George Alencherry also quotes the precautionary note issued by Cardinal Oswald in the Archdiocese of Bombay.
Cardinal Alencherry urged the faithful to remember the sick and those in observation and the doctors and paramedics treating the sick in their prayers. While asking the faithful to adhere to the instructions of health authorities, Cardinal Alencherry suggested regulating travels and modifying the activities so as to control the spread of the disease.
