Hungary's Semjén wants more masses, services in large churches
The state does not prescribe anything for churches regarding holy masses and services, respecting the freedom of churches, Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjén told state newswire MTI on Wednesday, just after the cabinet ordered a state of emergency due to the coronavirus outbreak.
As for the ban of in-door events with more than 100 people attending, Semjén recommends larger churches to hold holy masses and services more often so that the worshipers would be distributed more evenly.
He also said they asked pubic media to consider broadcasting the masses and services.
Dear Mr. Semjén! Having faith in an unseen and unproven entity could be a good thing. And it could also have disastrous consequences. No, it’s not the crusades or 9/11, but close. Not sure if you’ve been following the news lately, but there’s a rather serious virus going around in the world. It’s highly contagious and makes no distinction between race, creed, nationality, religion, sexual orientation or if someone likes to shoot reindeers or not. It infects people; some of them recover, others die.
If you’d care to take a look at how it all started in South Korea, you’ll find that the hotbed of the coronavirus was a religious sect called the Shincheonji Church of Jesus. The number of infected people there has already reached 7,755 (of whom 66 died), largely due to the mass infection among Shincheonji followers who, only nine days ago, made up 60% of the then 4,000 confirmed cases.
So maybe, just maybe… going to church (or any crowded place for that matter), especially on a regular basis, is not such a fabulous idea right now.
Note that the mortality rate is a lot higher among elderly people, who are generally the ones you find in (Christian) churches in Hungary. Praying at home would be a better idea, don’t you think, Mr. Semjén? You might try to pray the coronavirus away. And if that goes well, you might try to pray the gay away too while you're at it.
Lajos Ócsai, who was Head of the Epidemiology Department at the Office of the Chief Medical Officer of State between 2005 and 2015, told Portfolio church "is an environment (crowded, singing, low temperatures, high humidity) that is a hotbed for all kinds of viruses and bacteria. We must be aware that collective presence benefits viruses."
Cover photo: Getty Images
