Church services are suspended
Church services and gatherings of public worship should no longer take place, say the Bishops of the Church in Wales in their latest guidance for clergy in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic.
They also say all weddings planned before the end of July should be postponed, baptisms should take place in small gatherings of no more than 10 people, and funerals only be conducted at the graveside or crematoria.
Confirmations services scheduled between now and June are to be postponed.
Church buildings, however, can remain open as places of prayer and contemplation.
Their advice in a Pastoral Declaration follows the latest advice from the Government calling for all non-essential social contact. It includes advice for caring for people in the community.
In a Pastoral Declaration, the Bishops say:
"At such a time as this, and during this holy season of Lent, we are mindful of the Good Shepherd, who laid down his life for his sheep. We are holding all who are anxious, all who are unwell, and all who are grieving in our prayers, asking that the presence of the risen Christ may be near to us, wherever we may be, throughout the difficult months ahead.
"We are issuing this pastoral declaration in light of new governmental advice on Coronavirus (COVID-19). On the evening of Monday 16 March 2020 the Prime Minister advised that all non-essential social contact and all unnecessary travel should cease. During questions in the House of Commons the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care confirmed that the guidance relating to non-essential social contact includes faith groups and religious gatherings."