The faithful will be allowed to participate in the Divine Liturgy, as well as in other church services, in the Metropolis of Sweden, from the 6th of June, Metropolitan Cleopas of Sweden stated in an encyclical.
The Metropolitan of Sweden underlined the conditions under which the churches will operate in order to avoid overcrowding which could lead to the spread of the coronavirus. The maximum number of the people allowed in the Cathedral of St. George in Stockholm and in the Metropolitan Church of the Annunciation of the Theotokos in Oslo is 50 people, whereas it is 20 people in other parishes.
The Divine Liturgy and church services will not be performed at the Parishes of St. Andrew in Malmö, Sweden, St. George the New Martyr of Ioannina in Roskilde, Denmark, Saint Nectarios of Stavanger, St. Gerasimos of Trondheim, and Saint Chrysostomos of Smyrna in Bergen until the 12th September 2020.
When entering the church, the faithful must keep a distance of 2 meters between each other. It is also recommended to use different doors of the church in order to avoid overcrowding. The faithful who belong to groups at risk, especially the sick and the elderly, are kindly requested to remain in their homes. Sanitisers and disinfectants will be placed at the entrances of churches. Interior cleaning and disinfection will be carried out within the churches. In addition, churches will be ventilated and all surfaces will be meticulously cleaned.
During the Divine Communion, it is required that appropriate distances between the faithful be observed. In addition, during the distribution of antidoron, bread, koliva (boiled wheat) etc. appropriate distances as well health measures must be observed. Koliva will be distributed outside the church.
All of the above measures apply to funerals, where the maximum number of attendees is 12 people. The operation of Sunday Schools will be suspended until the 12th of September 2020 and online meetings will be held. Priests will only be allowed to enter into the sanctuary, whereas one chanter will be allowed to stand on each chanter’s stand.
