(2020.2.13 VaticanNews Linda Bordoni and Marie Duhamel)
カトリック香港教区は13日、新型コロナウイルス対策としてミサの中止を含む対策を決め、全信徒に広報した。それによると、15日から28日まで教区の各教会のミサを日曜、週日ともに中止、四旬節の始まりを告げる灰の水曜日、26日の典礼も中止する。
教区管理者の湯漢・枢機卿は、対策発表に当たって「このような対策は極めて残念なことだが、今後二週間が新型コロナウイルス感染防止のために極めて重要な時期となる」として司祭、信徒の協力を求めた。この期間中、信徒のミサ奉献を免除するが、代わりに、インターネットでミサの実況中継し、「霊的」にミサに参加できるようにする、としている。
香港では13日現在で新型コロナウイルスの感染者は50人が確認され、1人が死亡。数百人が自己隔離ないし観察下にあるという。
(以下、英文のまま)
French missionary Father Nicolas de Francqueville, who is currently running a Hong Kong parish, told Vatican Radio it’s a time of trial, but he hopes the crisis will help people slow down and rediscover certain values.
“It is a strong measure,” he said, “and everyone is quite surprised”, but thanks also to social media everyone is already aware of the measure and of the need to react quickly in order to follow the Diocese’s instructions.“We will cancel all Masses, but on Sunday we will provide Eucharistic Adoration from 10am to 2pm,” he said, noting that the churches are open so anyone who desires can enter the church and pray on their own.
So while everyone is welcome in the Church, nothing will be organized, including, meetings, catechesis lessons and all other activities that normally take place, “because the main focus is to avoid people gathering in big groups because of the risk of contamination.”
Fear and opportunity
Father Nicolas said many people are worried, even desperate, “but at the same time we know it is a trial.” He explained that in Chinese, the word “crisis” is expressed with two characters: the first indicates something dangerous, while the second means opportunity.
“So I hope that in this dangerous time of the virus it can also be an opportunity for Christians, and for everyone, to maybe show more solidarity, to slow down their lives which are usually so busy, so that maybe people can be more with their families, have more time to pray, to reflect on the sense of their lives, perhaps spend more time doing other things,” he said.
The French priest concluded expressing his hope that “in this crisis we do not only think about danger and fear, but that we may also trust in the Lord: may it become an opportunity to trust in the Lord and continue to love, as Christ asks us to do.”