Jehovah’s Witnesses gather in attendance in San Marino, the Marche and Emilia Romagna
As of April 1, 2022, Jehovah’s Witnesses around the world have reopened places of worship to attend face-to-face meetings. In Italy, about 1,100 Kingdom Halls have been reopened to the public, including that of San Marino, where about 200 faithful gather.
They let me know Jehovah’s Witnesses from Marche, Emilia Romagna and San Marinoexplaining in a note that, “due to the Covid-19 pandemicin the past two years, all places of worship remained closed And the nuns were transferred to an online platform to which you can connect from home with your electronic device; in San Marino the face-to-face meetings were suspended from 6 March 2020 for reasons of caution “, but”entry will now be allowed again following some basic health safety standards, on the basis of the protocol signed with the government ”.
“A man living with our area married, a testimony from Jehovah, after learning from his wife who resumed face-to-face meetings, said: ‘We’ll go there! Because in these two years I have been missing good friends who encourage me and inspire me for good. ‘ To ensure the safety of all, they will be held in hybrid mode, combining face-to-face and online participation for those who still want to connect from home meetings. After a test period of a few months that produced excellent results both from a technical and health safety point of view, the hybrid mode was extended to all places of worship in Italy ”, reads the press release.
“The reopening of the places of worship generated great enthusiasm. We were looking forward to meeting in person everyone we only saw on screen during our virtual meetings – he said Roberto Guidotti, spokesperson for the Emilia Romagna region of Jehovah’s Witnesses -. In the past two years, despite the meetings to study at the pandemic, there has been a surprising increase in attendance at our meetings from young people, the elderly, and even many who study the Bible with us. For example, almost 520,000 people attended the most important annual meeting, the Commemoration of the death of Jesus in 2021 ”.
Not all activities will be resumed in person: “The Bible teaching work, for example, which in the past was done at home or in public places, continues at a distance by letter, telephone and Internet. ‘This will guarantee greater safety for everyone’s health for the time being – concludes Guidotti -. There are currently over 100,000 people in Italy studying the Bible with Jehovah’s Witnesses. It is therefore evident that among people there is still a great need for spirituality, which many wish to satisfy despite the physical distance “.
Information for attending meetings of Jehovah’s Witnesses locally is available on the jw.org website.