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.

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

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.

Mourners have gathered at the cemetery of a small town in Nógrád county. They were waiting for the priest to show up and the mourning ceremony to start.

The priest arrived a little late, but he immediately felt that there were too many people there. He started counting and soon realised that there were over 50 people present, which is over the limit specified by government rules. As it would have been against official regulations to host the funeral, the priest simply left the scene, leaving confused mourners behind.

A reader of NOOL was there at the funeral, and said that

mourners were looking at each other distraught, unsure of what to do. Luckily, the chanter was there to save “the day.” He reacted extremely quickly to the strange situation and stepped in. Eventually, they performed the funeral as planned.

The local government have made an official report to the Diocese of Vác. They believe that the priest violated the memory of the deceased person with his behaviour.

Read alsoHungary’s Covid-19 death toll tops 6,000, total cases at over 256,000

Source: Nool.hu