Relief for parents as christenings resume

PARENTS of new born babies have breathed a sigh of relief as christenings are allowed to resume from today.

In the latest easement of Covid-19 restrictions, Ministers have agreed that places of worship will be enabled to resume baptisms from Friday, July 10.

It will be up to the church to determine their precise opening dates for ceremonies, while venues will determine if they wish to provide post-ceremony celebrations.

New parents throughout Tyrone have been waiting patiently on the announcement, and an influx of christenings is expected in the coming weeks.

Fr Kevin McElhennon said the parents he has spoken to have been relieved to finally be allowed to have their newborn babies christened.

He said, “Christenings are a big thing for families and since the lockdown started, it has been at the foremost in the parents mind to get their baby christened.

“We have had constant calls about it, and we will be inundated with catching up on the backlog of baptisms in the parish.

“We will be doing them quite intensively for the first month.

“Parents are relieved and I am happy about this.

“It is a big anxiety for parents but anyone who has got in contact with us has been very relieved that they can now get their bay christened,” said Fr McElhennon.

Indoor weddings

The Executive also agreed that indoor marriage ceremonies in places of worship can resume from Friday, July 10. Local government offices and other venues can resume marriage and civil partnership services from the same date.

Numbers attending indoor marriage and civil partnership ceremonies and post-ceremony celebrations will be determined by the venue on a risk assessed basis, taking account of the individual circumstances of each and adhering to all relevant public health advice and industry guidance.

The majority of couples due to get married in 2020 have already rescheduled their weddings until next year, but the news will be welcomed by those whose big day was in doubt.

Fr McElhennon continued, “It was inconvenient and a lot of couples have already rescheduled their weddings to later in the year, or to next year so hopefully they will all go ahead now.

“We do not know what will come down the line, and further restrictions could be put in place if we are not careful about this,” concluded Fr McElhennon.