PUBLIC worship will be suspended until next month after health officials warned the leaders of Northern Ireland's main Churches that the pandemic will "worsen significantly" in the next few weeks.
Services were suspended from midnight last night until Saturday February 6, with the decision to be reviewed later this month.
Churches will however be allowed to open for private prayer, weddings, funerals and baptisms, subject to social distancing.
The heads of the Catholic, Presbyterian, Anglican and Methodist Churches in Ireland met junior executive ministers Gordon Lyons and Declan Kearney yesterday afternoon.
The meeting also included briefings from Chief Medical Officer Dr Michael McBride and Chief Scientific Advisor Professor Ian Young.
The north's Catholic bishops, including Archbishop Eamon Martin, said they had decided to suspend public Masses "reluctantly, conscious that not being able to gather for public worship can cause pain for all the faithful, but in the hope that this limited period of sacrifice will be for the protection of life and health and for the greater good of all".
They added: "The clear message from health officials is that this situation is going to worsen significantly over the coming weeks."
There were calls for churches to be closed, as they had been during the first wave of the pandemic in March, following the closure of schools this month.
However, First Minister Arlene Foster said earlier this week that she hoped a voluntary agreement could be reached with Church leaders.
"I would much prefer that we can deal with these issues in a voluntary nature recognising the very fundamental nature of being able to worship together," she said.
Churches in Scotland are currently closed for worship but they have been allowed to remain open in England and Wales.
Rev Trevor D Gribben, General Secretary of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, said the suspension of services was "regrettable and disappointing".
"However, because of the alarming rise of Covid-19 infections in the community, this is the right decision to take, both for the safety and protection of people and also to contribute to the overall reduction of inter-person contact in line with the government’s ‘stay at home’ message," he said.
The north's Anglican bishops also said warnings of a rise in Covid cases were "of grave concern to us all".
"In making this decision for the ‘greater good’ of all within our community, we continue to remember in our prayers the sick and bereaved, all who are suffering, and those whose lives have been directly impacted by Covid-19, praying too for those in positions of responsibility who are faced with making difficult decisions at this challenging time," they said.
Methodist President Dr Tom McKnight said: "As this pandemic continues we are particularly mindful of those here and around the world whose lives are most profoundly impacted, people who are isolated, who are suffering or worried because of economic concerns, young people who carry a particular burden, those who are ill, who have lost loved ones."
