Weddings and baptisms return to church
Emma, 11 months, will receive this Saturday July 18, 2020 the sacrament of the baptism in the church of Our Lady of Alborada , Guayaquil after spending five months since he was declared the health emergency p or the covid-19.
The celebration will be possible after the Guayaquil cantonal COE authorized the realization of baptisms and marriages with a maximum of 25 people, under guidelines of social distancing and biosafety measures.
On the day of the sacrament Emma will take her white trousseau with a small mask made and only two parents and two godparents will be able to attend the church as part of the protocol . Her parents have already prepared everything for that day. They bought the white dress and the cake for the subsequent celebration with her closest relatives, who will not exceed 18 people.
Jimmy Valencia, father of the minor, relates that he wanted to baptize her before the pandemic but could not. “Now that they authorized it, we started all the procedures. We did not want to miss these moments of reuniting with the family, with precautions. ” Emma will have a double celebration on Saturday. The first for her baptism and the second, for completing a year of life.
Monsignor Luis Cabrera , archbishop of the Archdiocese of Guayaquil , assured that in 210 parishes baptism and marriage can be performed . He explained that since the approval of the cantonal COE, several parishes have begun to carry out the first sacrament, which is celebrated frequently. “Several requests have already been registered.” Every week six churches can perform baptisms on Saturdays.
This Saturday it is planned to carry out three in the Parish Sanctuary Nuestra Señora de la Alborada , in Guayaquil. One of them will be that of little Emma.
Likewise, it indicated that it has begun to attend to couples who were planning to get married in February and March, but they have also received requests from people who wanted to marry. “But before they must take the premarital courses via Zoom or in person respecting the social distance .”
On Saturday, Daniela Parra and Antonio León fulfilled their promise to reach the altar and link their lives. The wait of over four months was over. With the appearance of the pandemic, they had to suspend their planned marriage in March.
Daniela entered the Nuestra Señora de la Alborada church in her wedding dress, holding her father’s arm and still wearing the masks made for the occasion . Antonio, with his elegant suit and black mask , was waiting for her at the altar.
His guests and the maid of honor did the same, respecting all biosecurity measures. At the reception of a hotel where the link was held, the measures continued. Daniela was able to dance the waltz with her father and her husband. “It was a pleasant meeting, lunch type. Everything was beautiful, as a family and we knew how to cope well with the moment we lived in ”.
Delsy Hernández and her future husband, Carlos Gardea, finished the premarital course a few weeks ago under the virtual modality. They prepare their marriage for September 26. “We are very excited organizing everything in time. The details, the dress, the food and of course, the honeymoon. We are trying to make it something unforgettable, ”says Delsy.
The future spouses foresee for that day the accompaniment of 10 people in the Santa María Madre church in Guayaquil and in the meeting that 25 guests will do at home, as established by the COE.
For these three families, the authorization of the sacraments stimulates the economy of the businesses that provide events, clothing and even tourism.
265 people married
The General Directorate of Civil Registry records 265 marriages since the reopening of the service in Zone 8, which corresponds to the entire province of Guayas , except for the Milagro canton.
Andrés Fantoni , Zonal 8 coordinator, explained that the institution re-scheduled the shifts of the marriages that had been scheduled for the months of March and April and that due to the state of emergency , they were not solemnized.
Then we proceeded to contact each user and reschedule the new date according to the need of the parties. The first ceremony was held in the Daule canton, under strict biosecurity protocols .
However, it is from June 22 that the service was enabled for citizens in general, in the cantons with yellow and green traffic lights.
For this, the user must obtain a turn for the marriage interview , on the platform: virtual.registrocivil.gob.ec . Then select the tab “Scheduling shift” and later the service of “Interview for Marriage”.
The applicants should enter the data required in the system , choose the agency which will perform the procedure, the date and time and click on “schedule”, confirm the details of your appointment and select r “schedule”. For the interview, only one party should approach the agency of the Civil Registration chosen , with qualifying documents, including the certificate of original identity of the couple and their two witnesses.
After validation of the information, the user must indicate the date and time selected for the solemnization of the marriage at headquarters. Fantoni said that the solemnization of marriage takes place only with the presence of the spouses and their 2 witnesses . “All users must respect biosecurity measures , such as wearing masks and the respective social distancing .” ( I )
https://www.eltelegrafo.com.ec/noticias/society/6/sacramentos-iglesia-covid19