The greeting of peace returns, with a handshake, to the Panamanian Catholic churches

The bishops of the Panamanian episcopal conference announced that as of this date the greeting of peace is restored in the celebrations of the Eucharists in all the dioceses at the national level.
By 2020 the Panamanian churches had established. in the regulations for the Reopening of the Temples and Liturgical Celebrations of May 20, 2022, that the greeting of peace represented a risk of contagion from covid-19, for which it had been decreed that this greeting should be given through an external gesture such as nodding of the head or shaking of the hands to avoid physical contact.

However, due to coverage with the covid-19 vaccine and the decrease in contagion rates, the conference decided that the handshake greeting can return to churches.

Through a decree, which repeals the dispensation from the Sunday obligation, the conference decided that vulnerable people such as the elderly, and people with chronic diseases could already return to the temples.

“The dispensation from the Sunday obligation is repealed, in all the dioceses of the country, so that every baptized person must comply with the participation in the Eucharistic celebration of the Lord’s Day,” they specified through a new decree.