KUALA LUMPUR, 2 April 2020:
Churches in the country are to make use of the social media to enable Christians to observe the Holy Week (preceding Easter) and Easter Sunday due to the Movement Control Order (MCO) that prohibits mass gatherings.
Good Friday commemorates the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and his death at Calvary. It is observed during the Holy Week on the Friday preceding Easter Sunday. Good Friday falls on April 10 and Easter Sunday on April 12. The extended MCO period will end only on April 14.
Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has announced the government has banned all gatherings, including international meetings, sporting events, and social and religious assemblies, until April 14 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
A check of the website shows the Catholic Bishops of Peninsular Malaysia have suspended all weekend and weekday public masses from March 14 to April 14.
The website states Catholics can view live mass via https://www.youtube.com/c/ArchklOrg and https://archkl.org/index.php/tv-archkl-org. A page on the same website also shows the Archdiocesan planner for the current month.
Rev David Lourdes of the Church of St Anthony, Teluk Intan, Perak, said churchgoers are encouraged to attend mass online via https://archkl.org/.
“Catholics can view all the church services on the website. I think the online mass will be handled by two or three dioceses at the same time. This is what has been prepared for the Holy Week.”
Council of Churches of Malaysia (CCM) general secretary Rev Dr Hermen Shastri said their churches will make available the live streaming of the prayers and sermons on multiple social media platforms which the people can access through the Internet.
“Pre-recorded worship services are available as well, also a lot of prayer and meditation (clips) are made available through social media for individuals and families to use.”
He said Christians are appreciative of these measures and understand that these are extraordinary times.
– Bernama