By Desiree David
KUCHING — About 350 congregation members attended the noon Ash Wednesday mass at St Mark’s Catholic Church in Batu Kawa here today to observe the Lenten Season.
The church coordinator Simon Fowel said the church provided online registration and accepted walk-ins for the morning, noon and evening for Ash Wednesday masses.
“On normal days, the church could fit in about a thousand congregation members, but during the Covid-19 pandemic, we comply with the standard operating procedures (SOP) and limit the capacity to 350 members in one mass.
“We try to maintain social distancing and still implement the one-metre distance seating in the church, and once it is full, the main gate will be closed and those who could not make it can join the evening mass instead,” he said.
Meanwhile, the church committee member David Hii explained that the priests and wardens were only allowed to sprinkle the ash on the mass goers head to curb the spread of Covid-19.
Following that sentiment, the church’s priest Father Felix Au said the SOP was still observed and hoped that people who could not make it to the noon or this evening’s mass at St Mark’s Catholic Church could make it to other churches too.
