Aliwal, 18 February, 2021 / 4:33 pm (ACI Africa).
South Africa’s Aliwal Diocese is planning a five-week program on reflections that are aimed at bringing people back to Church after a protracted COVID-19 lockdown in the country.
Dubbed Small Christian Community (SCC) Notes for Reflection, the program that is being spread across the entire Lenten Season addresses different topics for reflection, exploring the experiences that the people in the Diocese within the Ecclesiastical province of Eastern Cape have gone through during the pandemic.
In an interview with ACI Africa when he spoke about the Diocese’s preparedness for Ash Wednesday, Bishop Joseph Kizito said that people are scared of going back to Church even after Prelates in the country announced resumption of public worship.
“There is a feeling of detachment among the people. You can also clearly see the fear on the faces of people who are coming to Church. This program will try to bring back the mood we had in Church before COVID-19 came,” said Bishop Kizito.
According to the Local Ordinary of Aliwal Diocese, the Church was “stigmatized” at the onset of the pandemic, making people believe that they were more likely to get infected with the virus when they went to a religious gathering than they were when they went to any other social gathering or public place.