Faith's Rituals Challenged in the Time of SARS

RELIGION-EAST ASIA: - IPS - 4/17/03
Faith Challenged in the Time of SARS
Marwaan Macan-Markar

The Catholic Church across East Asia is placing greater faith in
pragmatism rather than religious rituals this Holy Week, in order to stall the spread of the deadly Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). For Good Friday and Easter Sunday, two of the holiest days in the Catholic calendar, the church in at least four countries in the region has informed its flock that some rituals marking this religious event from receiving communion by mouth to shaking hands to convey peace wishes -- have been suspended in order to prevent too close contact with other people.

BANGKOK, Apr 17 (IPS) - The Catholic Church across East Asia is placing greater faith in pragmatism rather than religious rituals this Holy Week, in order to stall the spread of the deadly Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).

For Good Friday and Easter Sunday, two of the holiest days in the Catholic calendar, the church in at least four countries in the region has informed its flock that some rituals marking this religious event from receiving communion by mouth to shaking hands to convey peace wishes -- have been suspended in order to prevent too close contact with other people.

These traditions are ''very important,'' says Jessica Lara, a mother of two children who lives and works in the Filipino capital Manila. ''(The rituals are) a test on how sustainable your faith in God is. It is also a means of thanksgiving as well.''

In the Philippines, the largest Catholic country in the region where 64 million people out of an 80 million population are Catholics, the suspension or limitation on church activities will include putting confessions normally held in small enclosed cubicles -- on hold as well.

Manila is worried that its healthy record thus far - with only one SARS patient detected - can change due to thousands of Filipino workers returning home for the religious holidays from Hong Kong and Singapore, where SARS has struck deadly blows.

In Malaysia, which has a Catholic minority, some parishioners have been told they will not have to kiss the cross, an act of veneration that is often part of the church service for Good Friday, which marks the day Jesus Christ was crucified by the Romans. Instead, church leaders say they are just to bow before the cross.

Also, the church has recommended a change when parishioners receive
Holy Communion they should now receive it on their hands, instead of on their tongues, as priests usually give it.

Church authorities in Hong Kong and Singapore have gone even further, a reality reflected in the 'Pastoral Guidelines' distributed by the Catholic church in Hong Kong.

''As a temporary measure, abstain from providing holy water at the Church entrance, so that the faithful need not use holy water,'' the guidelines state. This is an effort to avoid the situation of having different parishioners dipping their fingers into a common container of water located at the entrance of churches, not least since SARS is
said to be a water-borne virus.

The pastoral guidelines also call on all priests and Eucharistic ministers to wear surgical masks while giving communion -- and say that ''they may omit saying 'The Body of Christ' and the communicants may omit responding 'amen' '', in order to remove any possibility of saliva or water droplets being exchanged in the process.

''While saying or singing the 'Our Father' (during mass) do not hold hands,'' it adds, urging the congregation instead to ''express the 'Sign of Peace' bowing heads, instead of shaking hands.''

And during ''the Service of Light'' on Easter Vigil, the faithful need not hold any candles. ''In administering baptism, the rite of infusion should be used instead of the rite of immersion.''

For Catholics in Thailand and Taiwan, however, the customary rituals will be part of the weekend's religious observances. ''There have been no change in (the Thai church) schedule,'' says Sister Meg Gallagher, director of the Bangkok-based Catholic Commission on Migration.

The current changes in religious rituals come in the wake of initial moves by church authorities in Singapore and Hong Kong to respond to the atypical pneumonia in mid-March, when it became known that the just-identified killer disease could spread like the common cold.

In Singapore, for instance, Sunday schools were closed and requests were made to those feeling unwell to ''refrain from attending mass''.

In Hong Kong, pastoral services in hospitals have been suspended, with church volunteers being urged to stop hospital visits.

''Due to the SARS epidemic, precautions must be taken to contain its spread,'' wrote Nicholas Chua, the archbishop of Singapore, in a message in late March. ''Let's take all the necessary precautions and trust in the Lord.''

Since SARS gained global attention in early March, the number of cases across the world has grown to 3,293, says the World Health Organisation (WHO) in an Apr. 16 update.

As a result of the disease, 159 people have died, and 1,548 people have recovered, the U.N. health agency adds.

China, where the disease is believed to have originated in November last year, remains the worst hit, with 1,432 cases, of which 64 people died and 1,094 people recovered. In the Chinese special administrative region of Hong Kong, there have been 1,268 cases, of which 61 people died and 1,094 people recovered.

In the city state of Singapore, according to the WHO, there have been 162 cases, of which 13 people died and 85 people recovered. Malaysia
has had only five SARS cases, with one fatality.

Currently, the WHO has identified patients with SARS in 24 countries, though the disease has not been transmitted locally in all of them.

For Lara of the Philippines, who has been a regular church attendee for the past 12 years, the pragmatic measures pursued by the Catholic church are a welcome initiative. ''I am relieved that the church continues to watch over its flock in a more realistic way.''