Today, 27th July 2021, Archbishop Eamon Martin has communicated with parishes in response to the Northern Ireland Executive’s decision to remove the legal requirement to wearing face-masks in some indoor contexts. Archbishop Martin recalled the Churches’ strong encouragement of the use of face coverings:
“The decision to introduce face coverings in our churches dates back to August 2020 and was taken by Church Leaders before face coverings were made mandatory by the Governments, North and South.”
Yesterday, 26 July 2021, the NI Executive decided to remove the legal requirement to wear a face covering within a place of worship with effect from 6.00pm this evening.
Despite this change to the legal position, Archbishop Martin asks that, for the time being, we continue to strongly recommend and encourage the use of face coverings at all services of worship.
