Nod for two Catholic churches and mission to reopen
PETALING JAYA: The Catholic Church has received approval from the government to reopen two churches and a mission from June 10.
They are the Church of St John Vianney, Tampin and Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Cameron Highlands, and the Catholic Mission, Kuala Terengganu.
Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur communications and media relations officer Patricia Pereira said the approval was subject to the standard operating procedure (SOP) issued by the National Unity Ministry.
“We were given to understand that the list of other churches which had been submitted to the ministry for approval was rejected due to zoning and incomplete data.
“We hope to submit a fresh list with the required additional data, if allowed to do so by the ministry,” she said in statement.
On May 21, Senior Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob announced that non-Muslim houses of worship in green zones nationwide would be allowed to reopen, starting June 10.
However, Ismail Sabri said a maximum of 30 people would be allowed in the premises at any one time while children below 12 and senior citizens above 70 would not be allowed to enter.
Pereira said they would study the requirements and discuss with the priests of the approved communities to ascertain their capacity to comply with the SOP and further guidelines issued by the Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur.
“In the event the Archdiocese or the various communities decide to reopen, we will do so in a measured and cautious manner based on a phase-by-phase rollout of the masses and other sacraments,” she said.
Pereira expressed the thanks of the Archdiocese to the government for expediting this approval and facilitating the various discussions with the heads of religions to listen to their views.
She said if the situation improved in the coming weeks and months, they hoped the government would consider easing some of the restrictions while maintaining essential measures to allow more of the faithful to return to their respective churches for public worship.