Italian spouses will be able to kiss again on the altar without face masks after the obligation to use them at the time of the celebration is canceled, the Italian Episcopal Conference (CEI) reported this Saturday. Instead, the indication remains for the priest to protect his airways and maintain a distance of at least one meter from the parties, the CEI said on Saturday, noting the response that the Interior Ministry gave to a question in this regard raised by the Italian bishops.
“Since they certainly cannot consider themselves foreign to each other, the spouses can avoid wearing masks, taking care that the officiant (priest) maintains the use of the respiratory protection device and respects the physical distance of at least one meter,” said the Scientific Technical Committee (CTS), since the Interior portfolio transferred the consultation. The CTS also believes that this recommendation can be extended to the celebration of marriage, according to civil ceremony or according to liturgies of other religions.
Meanwhile, this Sunday new rules will come into force in Italy for other religious celebrations, so it will no longer be mandatory for priests to wear disposable gloves for the distribution of communion. Regarding the request to “derogate the obligation of the gloves when distributing the Communion”, the Scientific Technical Committee recommended that the priest “proceed to scrupulously clean his hands with hydroalcoholic solutions”.
It was also suggested to the faithful to wash their hands before taking the offering and, in any case, the recommendation of the experts continues to be to avoid communion directly in the mouth and, on the contrary, to deliver it in the hand.
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