From Iceland — Catholic Church In Iceland Resumes Masses

Catholic Church In Iceland Resumes Masses

Published January 13, 2021

Andie Sophia Fontaine
Photo by
Szilas/Wikimedia Commons

In a statement from Bishop David B. Tencer on the matter, the Catholic Church of Iceland has announced that they will resume holding Sunday mass again, in light of the relaxation of some coronavirus restrictions.

The Bishop points out that the gathering ban has now been raised from 10 people to 20, as of today. If any of their priests see that too many people want to come to Mass, then priests can raise the number of Masses on any given Sunday. Each priest is capable of holding three Masses per day.

“Covid is our common enemy,” the Bishop concludes. “Let us try our best to defeat this plague, and beseech God to save us from it.”

As reported, the Catholic Church made the decision to cease Sunday Masses and Saturday evening vigils on January 4th. This was after the church was found to have broken coronavirus restrictions twice, on Christmas Day and on New Year’s Eve.

In the wake of that reporting, the Bishop issued a statement calling for consistency of coronavirus restrictions, and implored health authorities to review policy.

Note: Due to the effect the Coronavirus is having on tourism in Iceland, it’s become increasingly difficult for the Grapevine to survive. If you enjoy our content and want to help the Grapevine’s journalists do things like eat and pay rent, please consider joining our High Five Club.

You can also check out our shop, loaded with books, apparel and other cool merch, that you can buy and have delivered right to your door.

Support The Reykjavík Grapevine!
Buy subscriptions, t-shirts and more from our shop right here!

Show Me More!