Dear All,

The Government today announced the new Tiered approach that will take effect from next week. They have not yet announced which areas will be in which tiers, so there is no change at present for any of our parishes. 

I have listed below extracts from the Government framework. 

With regards to worship, the document states that places of worship can remain open, limited to 50, in Tiers 0-3, and can remain open, but limited to 20, in the highest level, Tier 4. 

With regards to funerals and weddings, the document states that in Tier 0 these can take place with 50 present and 50 at the reception, in Tier 1-3 these can take place with 20 present and 20 at the reception, and in Tier 4, the highest level, weddings will be limited to 5 people (priest, couple, witnesses) with no reception, and funerals will be limited to 20 with 20 at the tea afterwards as well.  

Tier 3 is said to be similar to the current Central Belt restrictions, so it is likely that we will all be in Tier 3, which means there should be no change to our current practices in church. Once the Tiers are announced I will update you if there is any change. 

This announcement does mean that there is no foreseeable chance of the 50 limit being raised, but equally it means that there should also be no foreseeable chance of churches being closed down, as has happened in Ireland and Wales (barring another total lockdown).

Best wishes,

Paul 

Very Reverend Paul Canon Gargaro
Vice-Chancellor
Archdiocese of Glasgow
196 Clyde Street
Glasgow G1 4JY