Desmond Munemo, H-Metro Reporter
Catholics throughout the country on Sunday observed lockdown guidelines spelt out by the Government following the easing of restrictions on church gatherings.
The church opened the doors to its members on Sunday after a protracted 90 days absence subsequent to the Covid-19 pandemic which came at a time the body celebrates Easter season, a crucial time in the Christian church calendar.
FR Tresford Chota
In a number of parishes in Harare yesterday, priests held several services to accommodate its huge numbers in response to the church gathering limit of 50 set by the government to curb the spread of the pandemic at such crowds.
Fr Tresford Chota, a priest for a local parish in Warren Park told this publication after the Sunday Mass that he will conduct five services throughout the day.
“We are glad to resume the holy mass and we are managing the measures very well as you can notice with the markings and sanitising at the premises.
“Parishioners are social distancing during the service.
“People are turning out in decent numbers and each mass has around 40 members in attendance.
“As for the sick and vulnerable, we will try to make plans for them since there are health guidelines to carry out before we give them sacraments.
“There will be daily morning mass as well and probably another in the evening to accommodate eight small Christian communities in Warren Park.
“There are over 1000 people at this parish who need to come for Mass so it’s still a process but we’re glad the day is turning out to be well organised,” he explained.
Mai Furusa, a small Christian community leader who attended the service said she was ecstatic to be in the church after three months.
“We are all sanitised at the entrance and our names are written down in the event of contact tracing.
“This has been a long wait for us since we are used to coming for church every Sunday.
“It is a different feeling altogether seeing a few people in the church.
“We are happy for this as Catholics because physically attending mass brings about more blessing,” she said.
– HMETRO
