Many temples in Jharkhand opened their doors for the devotees on Thursday after a gap of about seven months. The state government issued a set of standard operating procedures (SOP) to be followed on Wednesday night.

But most of the churches are yet to be opened. The cap of 50 persons attending a place of worship at any given time, as the SOP specified, came in the way.

A circular issued by the Catholic church in this regard has expressed reservations. “Those who prepared the SOP could have applied their mind a little more, specially regarding the number of persons that are allowed,” said the circular issued by Ranchi archdiocese on Thursday night under signatures of Archbishop Felix Toppo and Auxilliary Bishop Theodore Mascarenhas.

Many churches in the region can accommodate much more people even after maintaining social distancing.

The circular, however, expressed gratefulness that the government “finally issued SOP for opening of churches” and directed all concerned to follow it.

It also allowed churches under Ranchi archdiocese to conduct two masses on weekdays and three or even more on Sundays for accommodating more number of faithful to attend the masses.

The parish priests can decide on this after consulting with whomever they feel necessary, the circular added.

The circular directed that “no church/place of worship will be opened till the basic safety measures of sanitiser and thermal scanners are in place” and also to “find, train and prepare volunteers to meet the new condition”.

“Online masses will continue and big churches will conduct more than three masses on Sundays,” auxiliary Bishop Mascarenhas told The Telegraph when asked if online masses would now be discontinued.

Each church will take the call individually but they will open only when they have health safety measures in place, he further informed about the date of opening the churches.

The Gossner Evangical Lutheran Church, the oldest in the region that was established in 1845, was, however, expected to reopen from Sunday.