Most Roman Catholic churches in Lithuania will reopen for public worship next Wednesday, Church leaders said on Friday.
“Seeing the great need to support people's spiritual lives and thus strengthen them, [...] the celebration of the Eucharist will be gradually resumed from Ash Wednesday, February 17,” Vilnius Archbishop Gintaras Grušas, president of the Lithuanian Bishops Conference, told a news conference on Friday.
He said all safety measures will be in place to minimise the risk of infection.
Churches in several municipalities with the highest coronavirus infection rates will not resume public services for now.
Public church services have been suspended since December 16 after the government introduced tight lockdown restrictions amid spiking coronavirus cases.
Next week, small non-grocery shops and services will be allowed to reopen in Lithuania.
Under an agreement with the Holy See, the Roman Catholic Church in Lithuania has wide autonomy in conducting its affairs. The Lithuanian Bishops Conference announced back in early January that public services would be resumed, but reversed the decision due to public outcry.
Public events and gatherings are still not allowed under the lockdown.
Read more: Lithuanian church backtracks on plans to resume mass after outcry
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