CNA Staff, Mar 23, 2021 / 05:00 am America/Denver (CNA).
Germany’s leading Catholic bishop on Tuesday criticized a request to halt public worship during a “hard lockdown” from Holy Thursday to Easter Monday.
Responding to an announcement by Chancellor Angela Merkel and state governments, Bishop George Bätzing, president of the German Catholic bishops’ conference, said March 23: “We were taken by surprise. Easter is the most important feast for us, services are not an afterthought. At Christmas, we demonstrated how we can celebrate Mass with care. We don’t want to do without that at Easter.”
The bishops have said that they will consult internally on how to respond to the announcement.
As Germany scrambles to contain a third wave of the coronavirus, Merkel and the state leaders said that a strict “Easter lockdown” would take place on April 1-5, reported CNA Deutsch, CNA’s German-language news partner.
All stores will be closed from April 1 for five days, except grocery stores, which will be allowed to open on April 3, Holy Saturday.