Kolkata: With public gatherings banned due to the coronavirus outbreak, the Church of North India (Diocese of Kolkata) has decided to go for live-streaming so that members of the community can join from home the special worship sessions, lined up till Good Friday and Easter.
The CNI has decided on webcasting live-services during the Holy Week, starting this Sunday, a spokesman said on Saturday.
"While meetings, seminars, choir practices, which involves large gatherings, have been cancelled, the mass/prayer sessions have to continue and accordingly we have instructed all parish churches under our order to go for webcasting of he holy events," the spokesman said.
The Holy Week, starts on Sunday (April 5) and ends on next Sunday (April 12), the day of Easter.
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Special prayers will be held on April 5, 9, 10 (Good Friday) and 12 (Easter Sunday) and all will be streamed live on YouTube from the Bishops House.
The spokesman said services had never been live- streamed in this fashion before the lockdown, as the situation did not warrant so.
"This time we feel the need to make community members feel together," he said.
On March 29, in a live streaming appeal to members of the community, Bishop Paritosh Canning of CNI, Kolkata asked everyone to be on guard against the coronavirus, "which has intruded into the territories of our state and country, and expressed firm belief that Jesus Christ will save us all from this pandemic."
The special session had also called upon devotees to offer prayers to Jesus to defeat the coronavirus "evil".
The Archdiocese of Calcutta on Friday said mass services during the Holy Week (from April 5 till 12) will be live streamed from the Archbishop's house.
