IT has been a long year for us all having to face down Covid-19, but Scottish Christians with Lent to negotiate can see light at the end of the tunnel with the reopening of churches.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon spirited up some timely optimism ahead of Easter when she announced that the Government was working towards reopening churches by Easter Monday.

That has been welcomed by the Christian churches but at the same time they are pushing for a bigger flock to be allowed through the doors.

The Catholic Church is leading the push for that and for an earlier reopening for Holy Week.

A spokesperson told The Sunday National: “The church welcomes the proposed reopening of churches and hopes that the final date will allow attendance during Holy Week.

“Being able to return to church will be a source of great comfort and reassurance to many.

“The attendance cap which has been placed on congregants attending a place of worship [from April 5], variously 50 or 20, depending on which tier is in force, is both arbitrary and unreasonable.

“It also lacks any scientific basis or rationale.

“Unlike the hospitality or retail sectors where government regulations allow a capacity calculation to be made on the basis of a premises overall area, notably using a ‘social distance’ of 1m between individuals. In the case of places of worship, a distancing rule of 2m is applied together with a maximum cap on attendance.

“No rationale has ever been provided by the Scottish Government for this disparity.

“At Easter particularly, an absolute cap of 20 would see larger churches (500+ capacity) operating at between 2%-4% capacity.”

They continued: “This is invidious and unmatched by restrictions in any other sector.”

The Church of Scotland said that it is watching any developments closely.

It said: “When churches are able to reopen it may be the case that not all churches will feel able to reopen immediately but will continue to support communities with online worship and work towards a process of safe reopening.

“While we look forward to the day that many of us can be together again in person, the reality is not everyone will be able to do so for a variety of reasons.

“However, congregations across the country continue to work hard to provide alternative options for people including lively online worship services, telephone services and newsletters.

“Along with other faith groups, the Church of Scotland is working closely with BBC Scotland to ensure that a terrestrial TV Sunday service continues to be broadcast on a regular basis.”

The Scottish Episcopal Church will be glad to have worshippers returning to its churches and is looking forward to the time when restrictions lift.

The Bishop of Brechin, the Very Rev Andrew Swift, said: “If the numbers suggest it’s safe for us [to] reopen earlier than April 5 it would be wonderful.

“In our tradition we take a journey through the end of Holy Week, with each service and gathering drawing us deeper into the Christian story.

“Maundy Thursday leads to Good Friday, then the emptiness of Holy Saturday and the joy of Easter Day.

“Many of our church communities are planning virtual Holy Week journeys, but it would be excellent to be able, where churches are ready, to be able to celebrate the Holy Week journey in person.

“It will be very, very uplifting indeed for people to be able to return to church.

“For many people, gathering to worship in church might be their one time of social contact in the week, so it does bring a social as well as spiritual comfort.’’