The leaders of the recognized religions had a meeting with the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Justice of Belgium, Koen Geens, in order to discuss how the religious-liturgical life will return to normalcy in the midst of the coronavirus crisis.
Representatives of Belgium’s three monotheistic religions insist on opening churches and places of prayer to practice worship. The Orthodox Church was represented at this meeting by Metropolitan Athenagoras of Belgium, who, as Metropolitan of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, is recognized as the Representative Body of the entire Orthodox Church in Belgium.
The Minister thanked the Representatives of the six Recognized Religions (Roman Catholics, Protestants, Anglicans, Orthodox, Jews and Muslims) for their cooperation in implementing the measures imposed by his Government’s National Security Council. He also stressed how difficult it is to manage this crisis, especially with the current political situation in Belgium.
He also reminded that the measures are still in force. Churches and places of worship may therefore remain open to individual prayer.
In the churches where worship is transmitted through the existing social media, the participation of up to ten people is allowed (including the priest and the broadcasting technicians).
The National Security Council intends to relax the previous measures, only by assessing the situation every two weeks. However, it all depends on the favorable development of the coronavirus crisis.
Religious Leaders have decided to send a joint Announcement to all Belgian citizens.
Source: Metropolis of Belgium