RELIGIOUS SERVICES RESUME AMID VIRUS

[Anchor Lead]

The Catholic church of Korea has resumed in-person services after holding them online during the stringent social distancing period. The Buddhist Jogye Order has also resumed services this week, while many Christian churches are also preparing to follow suit. However, the way religious services are held has changed profoundly.

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​The Archdiocese of Seoul had suspended its services for the first time in 189 years. Now, in-person services have been finally resumed after two months.

[Soundbite] LEE EUN-OK(PARISHIONER) : "I've been looking forward to this. I am happy and grateful to be able to attend a service."

Most of the cathedral churches of the Archdiocese of Seoul have introduced bar codes to minimize the risk of infection. The parishioners check their attendance using personal bar codes issued by the church. They no longer need to stay in long lines to check in or to share pens to write down their names.

[Soundbite] HEO YOUNG-YEOP(THE ARCHDIOCESE OF SEOUL) : "Because all of our parishioners are registered in a single program, they can check in anywhere in the church using their bar codes."

Things also look different inside the cathedral. Where there used to be holy water now sits hand sanitizers, while the seats are marked to make sure there is a fair amount of distance between parishioners. The Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism has also resumed its services after two months. Visitors inside and outside the temple make sure to maintain a distance. They stand behind the marked lines as they wait for their turn to perform a Buddhist rite.

[Soundbite] VEN. ILHAK(JOGYE ORDER) : "I don't think it's possible to halt religious activities altogether. With so many people willing to pray in person, we will disinfect our facilities so that we can allow them to attend our services."

The Jogye Order has postponed a special ceremony marking Buddha's birthday, which is just one week away and will instead hold services to pray for overcoming the COVID-19 pandemic in the next one month. Most of the Christian churches are also trying to come up with social distancing measures ahead of resuming their in-person services this weekend.