Saint Christopher's Church in Taipei, which mainly serves the migrant community in the city, will temporarily suspend its Holy Mass services in wake of a recent surge in COVID-19 cases in northern Taiwan.
Pastoral and social purpose gatherings at the church will be suspended starting Saturday until further notice, the church announced on Friday.
The announcement was made after Taiwan confirmed 29 new domestic cases of COVID-19 on Friday, most of which were linked to infected people in Taipei, New Taipei, and cases of unknown origin involving residents in northern Taiwan.
Father Gioan Tran Van Thiet, the church's assistant parish priest and chaplain to Vietnamese migrants, told CNA that the closure is for the safety of all worshippers and others in the community.
Before the suspension, the church held Holy Mass most days of the week, with hundreds in attendance for each service on Sundays, Thiet said.
However, during the suspension of physical services, Holy Mass will be streamed online Sundays on the church's Facebook page, Thiet said.
In the meantime, he also urged people to adhere to disease prevention measures so that everyone can be responsible for the safety of themselves and others around them, Thiet said.
"We are all united and members of the same human family," Thiet said.
This is the second time during the pandemic that the church has suspended church services. The first time was a preventive measure following the confirmed infection of an undocumented migrant caretaker in February last year. -Central News Agency
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