Minister Ank Bijleveld (Defense) attended a physical church service in Goor on Thursday evening. Although fewer than thirty people attended the church service, critics call the minister’s visit ‘not convenient in corona time’, they say RTV East.
The minister attended the church service in her hometown as a private person, the spokesperson said RTV East. “There were only 16 in total at the meeting, and because her husband does a lot for the Church, she went there.”
Although Bijleveld did not break any rules with her visit, AFMP, the union of defense personnel, among others, reacts critically. After all, the minister has an exemplary role, AFMP chair Anne-Marie Snels told the news medium.
Churches are exempted from the government’s corona measures on a constitutional basis, but are requested by, among others, the Interkerkelijk Contact in Overheidszaken (CIO), the partnership of dozens of Dutch churches. online as much as possible hold. If there is reason to hold a physical service, the CIO advises to receive a maximum of thirty churchgoers and to observe the advice of the RIVM, such as keeping your distance and wearing a mouth mask.
Minister Ferd Grapperhaus (Justice and Security) also called on the church communities to limit the services to an absolute minimum. In the Nederlands Dagblad the minister called attending physical church services last week “impossible to explain”.
The relevant church in the town of Overijssel previously indicated that it would allow the services to continue during Christmas for lonely people and churchgoers who do not have the opportunity to watch the service online. During the services, the advice of the RIVM is followed, writes the church on the website.
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