In an interview with the newspaper Vecer, the Director of CRRCG, Mr. Darijan Sotirovski answers the most important questions related to the religion in state of emergency to combat coronavirus.
Worship is not forbidden and should never be stopped. They are the pillar of the living church and faith. Measures, on the other hand, are not a repression of faith and dogmas, but a preventive system for believers and clergy. This is how the director of the Commission for Relations with Religious Communities and Groups (CRRCG), Darijan Sotirovski, MA, in an interview with the newspaper VECER, answered the question whether the governments measure to deal with the coronavirus pandemic prohibit worship services. Sotirovski commented on the restrictive measures and their impact on the religious communities, and we asked him about the liturgies of the priests in Kavadarci and Veles that caused great public attention, because in addition to spraying the streets with holy water, in the middle of a pandemic they also called for mass prayer. He says that the social distancing of believers is necessary at the moment, but it must not be interpreted as distancing oneself from God. On the eve of Easter, when asked if we will celebrate the great Christian holiday in empty temples without believers, he said: "The most important thing for me is to have hearts filled for Easter, it is the day with the deepest essence, a day that gives meaning to life."
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