Catholic Church To Suspend Mass Indefinitely, advises public events to be suspended too
SINGAPORE – Public mass for Catholics here will be suspended indefinitely from noon on Saturday (Feb 15) in order to minimise the risk of coronavirus spread, said the Archbishop of Singapore William Goh on Friday (Feb 14).
In a letter posted on the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Singapore’s website as well as on its Facebook page, Archbishop Goh said that all other public Catholic events with large numbers of people attending, such as formation sessions, retreats and seminars, should be suspended as well.
He added that before suspending mass and other religious activities, mandatory temperature screenings for all congregants was considered.
But Archbishop Goh said screening is not “fool-proof” as people who have no symptoms could be carriers of the infection.
“Thus, implementing temperature screening may not entirely help prevent the spread of this infection even though it does mitigate the possibility of its transmission,” added Archbishop Goh.
“As Catholics, we need to be responsible in playing our part to contain the spread of this virus by avoiding large gatherings of people.”
Places of worship have come under the spotlight recently after some were linked to the coronavirus outbreak.
