Gokwe, 10 February, 2021 / 5:40 pm (ACI Africa).
Members of the Clergy in Zimbabwe’s Gokwe Diocese have been directed to “arrange how” to avail Ash Wednesday ashes to the faithful to bring them to their “respective homes” at the beginning of Lent, February 17.
In his Wednesday, February 10 statement, the Apostolic Administrator of Gokwe Diocese, Bishop Rudolf Nyandoro says that his decision is informed by COVID-19 restrictions, which the country’s leadership instituted last month, leading to the “unfortunate” suspension of public Liturgical celebrations.
Bishop Nyandoro has directed that those are the helm of Parishes and institutions of the Diocese “arrange how the faithful will get the blessed ashes from the church for distribution in their respective homes without risking COVID-19 infection.”
On January 2, Zimbabwe’s Vice President, Constantino Chiwenga, announced a 12-hour dusk-to-dawn curfew to contain the upsurge of COVID-19 reported cases in the landlocked country.
Only essential services that include hospitals, supermarkets and pharmacies are allowed to operate in the country, with only essential staff allowed to go to work.
