UVZ: Individual Pastoral Services Should Be Sought Only Exceptionally

Bratislava, March 31 (TASR) – The Public Health Authority (UVZ) on Wednesday recommended members of the public to ask for individual pastoral services as part of a new exemption from the curfew only in exceptional cases.

UVZ listed several conditions for such an exemption, including good health of the person in question. The exemption will only concern people who aren’t in quarantine. At the same time they should schedule in advance the time and place of the meeting with the pastor, while the location should comply with anti-epidemic measures, said UVZ spokesperson Dasa Rackova.

As part of these pastoral services, people can confess to priests and have a talk. “This can include psychological first aid, strategies for coping with stress, crisis and grief for the loss of a close person,” said Rackova.

The government has allowed individual pastoral services as of April 1, while maintaining a complete ban on public religious services even during Easter.