Outbreak spooks Asian places of worship
Manila, Feb. 15: In a popular Catholic church in the Philippines, nearly half of the pews were empty for Sunday Mass.
The few hundred worshippers who showed up were asked to refrain from shaking others’ hands or holding them during prayers to prevent the spread of the virus that started in China. In Hong Kong, Cardinal John Hon Tong, wearing a mask, announced the suspension of public masses for two weeks and urged churchgoers to instead watch them online. Buddhist temples, churches and mosques have been ordered closed since January 29 in mainland China, where the new coronavirus strain was first detected in central Wuhan, under an order to avoid “collective religious activities”.
The restrictions and dwindling crowds in religiously diverse places of worship underscore the extent of the scare over the outbreak that has permeated many aspects of life in the hard-hit Asian region. In Japan, where Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines are tourist destinations, a sharp decline in the number of foreign visitors has been a palpable setback. At normally popular Suzumushi, or Crickets, temple, a sign read: Due to the impact of the COVID-19, no waiting expected, using the name given to it by the World Health Organisation.
“We assimilate with parishioners and many other people. We know that the talk of the town is really this virus and it’s obvious that many are scared, said the Rev. Siegfred Arellano, a priest at the Binondo church in the Philippine capital’s Chinatown.
Attendance at masses, Arellano said “has really dropped”. After consulting health experts, the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines announced steps late last month to fight the virus. Churchgoers were advised to avoid hand contact and receive the Eucharist, which symbolises the body of Jesus Christ, in the hand instead of the mouth.
They said holy water should be replaced more often in church stoups and a protective cloth installed on the grills separating priests and worshippers in confessional boxes.
In Hong Kong, Tong initially approved precautions that included a choice for churchgoers to watch Sunday mass online. Those who opted to go to churches were asked to wear masks and told that singing is suspended, except for short hymns like Allelulia. The new virus is spread through respiratory droplets, according to health officials. He later announced the two-week suspension of masses, saying the move was crucial to suppressing the outbreak and asked Hong Kong’s 400,000strong Catholic community not to panic.
Crowds also have thinned at Bangkok’s popular Wat Pho, a centuries-old Buddhist temple complex known for its giant reclining Buddha. The temple is normally visited by thousands of tourists, many of them Chinese, during the peak travel season from December to February, but large numbers of visitors as well as locals have stayed away since the outbreak began, said Phra Maha Udom Panyapho, a monk in charge of tourism at the temple. A Protestant church in Seoul shut its doors and switched entirely to online worship services after one of its followers tested positive for the virus on January 30.
Other Protestant churches in South Korea have sprayed their halls and rooms with disinfectant, cancelled children’s Bible school programmes and asked followers to minimize socialising.