Priest storms out of a funeral in Hungary because of COVID-19 rule violation

Mourners were left distraught after the priest refused to put the deceased to rest because there were too many people attending the ceremony. The priest referred to the current restrictions in place; the local government reported him for violating the memory of the deceased person.

Hungary has several strict coronavirus-related restrictions in place, including the curfew between 8 pm and 5 am, family and private events can be held with a maximum of ten people attending, and all leisure facilities suspend their services at the moment.

Current restrictions allow funerals to be held, as long as there is a maximum of 50 people attending it, including all the funeral staff, and the priest.

It is difficult to keep tabs on all attendees at funerals since it does not require an RSVP, anyone can come by if they know the date and place. Therefore, funeral organisers have a hard time keeping all events under check to see if all the rules are being followed. For this reason, there has been some disruption at a funeral in Nógrád county, Hungary.