KUALA LUMPUR: The Catholic Church in Peninsular Malaysia is suspending all public masses beginning this weekend in a bid to contain the spread of Covid 19 in the country.
The Catholic Bishops of Peninsular Malaysia announced today that all weekend and weekday public masses will be suspended from March 14 (or March 13, if the state’s weekend begins on Friday) to March 29, 2020.
“This coincides with the public school holidays. We therefore exempt all Catholics from fulfilling their Sunday obligation of assisting and attending mass during this period,” the bishops said in a statement.
The statement was jointly signed by Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur Most Reverend Julian Leow, Bishop of Penang Right Reverand Sebastian Francis and Bishop of Malacca-Johor Right Reverend Bernard Paul.
Similar suspension applies to other church activities such as catechism classes, meetings, gatherings, formations and fellowship sessions which need to be cancelled or placed on hold during the suspension period.
“Any weddings or funerals are to be conducted privately with guests limited to immediate family members and close friends,” the statement added.
The bishops said with the suspension of public masses on Sundays and weekdays, watching televised masses could serve as a form of spiritual “devotion.”
“The present crisis leaves us with only two choices, to either continue with our present measures of mitigation, or to implement the whole range of social-distancing measures, which includes shutting down all mass gatherings of individuals to prevent further transmission of this virus,” they added.
“The current measures we are taking are also in accordance with the recommendation of the Health Ministry issued on March 11 to postpone all mass gatherings.”