Skip to content
The Catholic Leader
  • Home
  • News
    • QLD
    • Australia
    • Regional
    • Education
    • World
    • Vatican
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Life
    • Family
    • Relationships
    • Faith
  • Culture
  • People
  • Subscribe
  • Jobs
  • Contribute
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • QLD
    • Australia
    • Regional
    • Education
    • World
    • Vatican
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Life
    • Family
    • Relationships
    • Faith
  • Culture
  • People
  • Subscribe
  • Jobs
  • Contribute
No Result
View All Result
The Catholic Leader
No Result
View All Result
Home News

Faithful gathering safely as more churches open their doors and restrictions ease on funerals in Queensland

byJoe Higgins
18 June 2020
Reading Time: 4 mins read
AA

Doors opening: Parishioners gather, suitably distanced, outside St Brigid’s after Mass for the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi) on Sunday, June 14.

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Doors opening: Parishioners gather, suitably distanced, outside St Brigid’s after Mass for the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi) on Sunday, June 14.

PARISHIONERS are returning to Queensland churches in the flesh, and at St Brigid’s Church, Red Hill, there was no better day to celebrate that than the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi) last Sunday.

About 50 people gathered after Corpus Christi Mass, suitably distanced, to be present with Missionary Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament Father Rony Chacko who celebrated Mass.

St Brigid’s Church, part of Jubilee parish, was using an online booking system, Eventbrite, to manage the restrictions on numbers in each of its six churches.

Parishes across Brisbane were starting to open their doors to more people as coronavirus restrictions continued to ease.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced that up to 100 people could attend funerals across the state from June 16.

This number was the same for parishes operating under either the COVID-19 Safe Plan for Parish Communities or the Industry COVID Safe Plan for Places of Worship in Queensland.

Funeral mourners would still need to follow usual hygiene and social distancing procedures.

The next of kin also must keep a record of attendees for 56 days, in case it was needed for contact tracing. The 100 attendees rule applied only to funerals, it did not apply to wake – wakes were considered a gathering and were to follow relevant venue requirements.

Deputy Premier and Minister for Health and Ambulance Services Steven Miles said he hoped the lifting the maximum number from 50 to 100, in effect from June 16, would “provide some level of comfort for people in mourning”.

“This has been an incredibly tough time for everyone, let alone those grieving the loss of a loved one,” Mr Miles said.

Related Stories

Passion Play is a part of village life for actor who will play Jesus

Navigating the first few weeks of school in a Covid storm

School start delayed by two weeks

“This latest easing of restrictions is yet another indication of how well Queenslanders have responded to our directions and advice.”

Queensland’s chief health officer Dr Jeannette Young said limiting attendances at funerals was the most difficult direction she had to impose.

“There have been occasions where I have had to decline exemptions because of the COVID-19 risk,” Dr Young said.

“These are tough, heart-wrenching decisions to make but they’ve unfortunately been necessary to prevent transmission of this disease, particularly among gatherings that include a lot of vulnerable people.

“I’m relieved that we have contained COVID-19 to the point where we can begin lifting limitations on important events like funerals.”

Dr Young said funeral organisers needed to keep a record of attendees for eight weeks in case contact tracing was necessary at a later date.

Weddings remained capped at 20 guests because they could be postponed unlike funerals.

But as COVID-19 cases in Australia dwindle, elsewhere in the world death tolls continue to climb.

The United States’ death toll hit more than 118,00 people last week – surpassing the total number of US military deaths from the First World War.

At time of writing, the total number of global cases sat at more than eight million.

Pope Francis continued to offer Masses via livestream for an end to the pandemic and said the pandemic had revealed poverty Catholics could not ignore.

“The Word of God allows for no complacency; it constantly impels us to acts of love,” Pope Francis wrote in his message for World Day of the Poor 2020, which was released on June 13.

“This pandemic arrived suddenly and caught us unprepared, sparking a powerful sense of bewilderment and helplessness.

“This has made us all the more aware of the presence of the poor in our midst and their need for help.”

Pope Francis said that “time devoted to prayer can never become an alibi for neglecting our neighbour in need”.

“Prayer to God and solidarity with the poor and suffering are inseparable,” he said.

The economic toll of the pandemic was being felt across the world.

In Brazil, COVID-19 cases had reached more than 891,000 and it had impacted child labour exploitation.

Children were being “forced into jobs that are inappropriate for their age, so as to help their own families who are in conditions of extreme poverty”, Pope Francis said.

“Many cases are forms of slavery and confinement, resulting in physical and psychological suffering,” he said.

“We are all responsible for this.

“I appeal that every effort be made on the part of institutions to protect minors, by filling the economic and social gaps that underlie the distorted dynamic in which they are unfortunately involved.

“Children are the future of the human family: all of us are expected to promote their growth, health and tranquillity.”

ShareTweet
Previous Post

Gabrielle is walking with others in discovering their own personal relationship with God

Next Post

Stephen Kamal is sending a container filled with 30,000 books to the other side of the world

Joe Higgins

Related Posts

Passion Play is a part of village life for actor who will play Jesus
Culture

Passion Play is a part of village life for actor who will play Jesus

6 May 2022
Navigating the first few weeks of school in a Covid storm
Family

Navigating the first few weeks of school in a Covid storm

3 February 2022
Education

School start delayed by two weeks

10 January 2022
Next Post

Stephen Kamal is sending a container filled with 30,000 books to the other side of the world

Brisbane archivist Kate Ashton wants to share the Church's own historical treasure trove

Brisbane Catholics hear the message on global challenge

Popular News

  • Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI turned 95 on a ‘very happy’ day

    Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI turned 95 on a ‘very happy’ day

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Here are the stories of 10 new saints being canonised this Sunday

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Queensland election: The pro-life political parties committed to abortion law reforms

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Angel’s Kitchen serves hot meals to the hungry in Southport

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Minority Catholic woman takes pride in Asia’s overlooked saints

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
Search our job finder
No Result
View All Result

Latest News

Holiness is possible and the Church provides tools to attain it, cardinal says
Faith

Holiness is possible and the Church provides tools to attain it, cardinal says

by CNS
18 May 2022
0

HOLINESS is possible, and the Catholic Church provides the tools for attaining it. That was the theme...

Church workers have helped more than 1.2 million Ukrainians during the war, Caritas says

Church workers have helped more than 1.2 million Ukrainians during the war, Caritas says

18 May 2022
Minority Catholic woman takes pride in Asia’s overlooked saints

Minority Catholic woman takes pride in Asia’s overlooked saints

18 May 2022
Bishops call out racism, gun violence after U.S. shooting

Bishops call out racism, gun violence after U.S. shooting

17 May 2022
Parishes unite for Logan deanery family festival this Sunday

Parishes unite for Logan deanery family festival this Sunday

17 May 2022

Never miss a story. Sign up to the Weekly Round-Up
eNewsletter now to receive headlines directly in your email.

Sign up to eNews
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Jobs
  • Subscribe

The Catholic Leader is an Australian award-winning Catholic newspaper that has been published by the Archdiocese of Brisbane since 1929. Our journalism seeks to provide a full, accurate and balanced Catholic perspective of local, national and international news while upholding the dignity of the human person.

Copyright © All Rights Reserved The Catholic Leader
Accessibility Information | Privacy Policy | Archdiocese of Brisbane

The Catholic Leader acknowledges Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as the First Peoples of this country and especially acknowledge the traditional owners on whose lands we live and work throughout the Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • QLD
    • Australia
    • Regional
    • Education
    • World
    • Vatican
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Life
    • Family
    • Relationships
    • Faith
  • Culture
  • People
  • Subscribe
  • Jobs
  • Contribute

Copyright © All Rights Reserved The Catholic Leader

0
    0
    Your Cart
    Your cart is emptyChoose another Subscription
    Continue Shopping