COVID-19: Christians attend Easter Sunday masses online

Kolkata, Apr 12 () Thousands of Christians herecelebrated Easter on Sunday and attended the Easter massthrough live-streaming as all religious places remained shutdue to the nationwide lockdown to curb the spread ofcoronavirus.

All churches in the city have been closed to preventlarge gatherings and spread of the virus.

Religious gatherings and processions too have beenbanned by the government.

During his address to the faithful, Archbishop ThomasD'Souza of the Archdiocese of Kolkata called upon all thefaithful to be on the side of the poor.

He addressed people from the Archbishop's houseonline.

"Serving the poor gives joy of peace," he said.

Holy masses will be held on April 19 and 26 and thefaithful will be able to attend the services through live-streaming, he said.

The Easter Sunday mass was viewed by 2 lakh people ona social media channel.

Bishop Paritosh Canning of the Diocese of Kolkata,(Church of North India), also conducted the Easter Sunday massservice from the Bishop's House and the members of thecommunity attended the service through live-streaming.

Bishop Canning called upon the Lord to give strengthto serve people and to be on the side of the poor in everysituation.

The service was viewed by 1.2 lakh people.

"I missed the Sunday Easter crowd in the church today.But this has been a new experience to watch and join theproceedings from our homes," Ankita Gomes, a young banker fromEntally area said."As the church priest chanted Amen, we all repeatedthe word and I felt as if we were all inside a prayer hall,just like the bygone days," Gomes said.

The Holy Week started on April 5 and ended on April12.

Easter marks the resurrection of Jesus Christ aftercrucifixion.

It is one of the holiest festivals of Christianitythat also witnesses a lot of social activity besides prayersand elaborate church services.

The coronavirus pandemic, however, has forced thebelievers to make the festival a private affair. SUSSBN SBN