All funerals will be taken directly to cemeteries for burial in the Down and Connor diocese in an effort to help limit the transmission of the Covid-19, it has emerged.
Bishop Noel Treanor made the announcement yesterday, saying Requiem Mass was postponed for the foreseeable future.
However, he said funerals that had already been arranged will go ahead as planned.
Outlining further guidance and directives on Wednesday, the Bishop said he decided on the latest measures "to save lives and enable us all to protest eachother."
He said: "As of today, our sisters and brothers in Christ, who die will be taken directly to the cemetery for burial," he said.
"In the cemetery, a short funeral prayer service will take place, respecting the determinations of the public authorities in regard to inter-personal social distancing and any other provisions deemed necessary.
"Requiem Mass will be celebrated in memory of the deceased person at a later date, when this pandemic has passed and when the conditions permitting gatherings of people in buildings and in churches prevail.
"It is, however, necessary to recognise that if arrangements have been made at this point and time for funerals, those arrangements will be honoured and carried through.
"It is simply too risk-laden to gather inside buildings even in small numbers. We must proactively exercise extreme care for each other and for ourselves. To do otherwise would be unchristian.
"I realise the pain this will cause to many, to many families, to many individuals. I ask for your forbearance, for your charity and for your care for others."
