The Bishop of Soroti Catholic Diocese, Rt. Rev. Joseph Eciru
Oliach has issued new guidelines for the Church ceremonies in the diocese.
Bishop Oliach, who has been at the helm of the Catholic faith
in Soroti for three years now, has forbidden serving alcohol at all church-related functions within the diocese.
The Bishop has also banned the serving of meals or water to mourners before liturgy and burials.
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He says that serving
meals contradicts the principle of liturgy and noble simplicity in the
Catholic faith. Bishop Oliach has been promoting the new guidelines during his recent pastoral visits across the diocese.
According to Dr. Oliach, no Church leader in the diocese will
lead a service where meals or water are served during the service. Linos Opio, the Serere District worker's representative, says the guidelines are timely for the Church to reawaken
from practices that have strayed them away.
He says that drinking alcohol has
messed up church activities and thereby watered down the relevance
of prayers at functions.
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One of the Christians at Immaculate Conception in Soroti
City, says that some of the practices like serving food to mourners before the
liturgy and burial were adapted to help the bereaved families serve distant
mourners and those who could have slept at home.
The Christian told URN on condition of anonymity because of his
position in Church that much as the guidelines are timely, some situations have forced the Christians to conduct business on the contrary.
“Serving meals and water to mourners before burial is the
only way to attend to those who could have traveled from far because
after the burial, everybody wants to leave and the food might remain. You also
notice that most people go for service providers and these fellows work with
time. When food delays, the services provider levies extra costs”, he said.
Besides issuing the new guidelines, Bishop Eciru has also issued a new policy on time management for all Church functions in the diocese. For instance,
funeral services should be conducted within two hours and must be concluded
before 3:00 pm.
