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a30 feature
Monday 18 May 2020
Houses of worship gain audience by going online during virus

By ANDREW SELSKY who records on an iPhone
Associated Press perched on a stand. "I think
On a rainy evening in St. Pe- I'm getting better at it be-
ter's Square, Pope Francis cause I'm getting more
delivered a special bless- used to it."
ing, asking God for help The pope, of course, has a
against the coronavirus. more sophisticated setup,
The square in Vatican City with Vatican staffers —
would normally be packed most working from home —
with onlookers, but no one producing his homilies live,
was standing on the glisten- online and in a download-
ing cobblestones in March able booklet in five lan-
as he implored God to guages, Bruni said.
"not leave us at the mercy Speaking to a camera "is a
of the storm." Millions were challenge, of course, but
watching on TV and online, nothing the papacy is un-
however. prepared for," Bruni said.
From the Vatican, to the The priests of Notre Dame
village church, to mosques had a jump on prepara-
and temples, shuttered tions, even before the
places of worship are Paris cathedral was heav-
streaming religious services ily damaged by fire last
for a global audience seek- year. They started stream-
ing spiritual help and con- In this April 12, 2020, file photo, sacristan Michael Seewar wears a face mask and gloves as he ing evening prayers, or ves-
nections with others during prepares the altar for a livestream Easter service at Saint Mark's Episcopal Cathedral in Seattle. pers, years ago.
Associated Press
the pandemic. After the fire, the priests
Vaishno Devi, one of India's of people praying behind began streaming vespers
most revered Hindu shrines, you and you can feel it last September from Saint-
is livestreaming prayers. when they say 'Amen,'" Germain l'Auxerrois church
"We are missing the pil- said Sheikh Youssef Abu near the Louvre Museum.
grims, their hustle and bus- Sneineh, the mosque's During the pandemic,
tle. Their slogan shouting imam. they started streaming the
used to infuse new energy In Nara, Japan, priests at lengthier and more elabo-
into us," said Amir Chand, Todaiji Buddhist temple rate Mass starting in March.
a priest at the temple. "But prayed and chanted to "For them, it's really com-
... in the present scenario, it drive out the coronavirus in plicated because they are
is better to stay home, and a livestreamed event. happy when they have
therefore, we also advise Onoterusaki Shrine in Tokyo some people in front of
the devotees to stay home is offering an "online shrine" them," said Andre Finot,
and enjoy prayers." where people submit Notre Dame's spokesman.
At Jerusalem's Western prayers, each printed on a With countries starting
Wall, the holiest site where wooden tablet and offered The video production team at the Valley Ranch Islamic to relax restrictions, the
Jews can pray, prayers to the gods of Shinto by the Center mosque work a live online broadcast in Irving, Texas, pope will celebrate his last
went online as throngs of priest. Wednesday, May 13, 2020. Associated Press livestreamed Mass on Mon-
worshippers disappeared. "I thought about how peo- day. Some conservative
The three daily Jewish ple can pray and have a Vatican spokesman Mat- giving a sermon from her Catholics have blasted the
prayers were broadcast on peace of mind at a time teo Bruni told The Associat- home, of the organist play- suspension of Masses and
several platforms, garner- everyone is feeling uneasy ed Press by email. Francis' ing in the empty church inability to receive the Eu-
ing millions of views from about all the news (of the television audience also and other clips. He uploads charist.
around the world, accord- pandemic) and going has increased, including his it to YouTube and has seen After some normalcy re-
ing to Yohanna Bisraor, a through major changes to celebration of Mass every a bump in traffic. turns, places of worship will
spokeswoman for the West- life, but still cannot go out morning to empty pews. For Karen Peterson, who need to decide how far to
ern Wall Heritage Founda- to pray," head priest Ryoki "The numbers indicate that grew up in Yoder and lives dial back their online pres-
tion, which administers the Ono said. even people who would in Souderton, Pennsylvania, ence.
site. Most synagogues in Omar Suleiman, an Islamic not have participated in her Oregon community is Suleiman, the Islamic lead-
Israel are Orthodox, which leader in Irving, Texas, said religious services on a daily just a click away. er, expects the pandemic
typically do not allow YouTube videos uploaded basis in the past are attend- "My family still lives there "will change things forever,"
livestreaming on the Jewish by his Yaqeen Institute for ing a Mass every morning and goes there — it was a giving rise to better quality
Sabbath, when turning on Islamic Research had 30 and listening to the pope's connection," Peterson said. online programming.
electronic devices is forbid- million views for all of 2019 daily reflection on the gos- "I like how they do their for- Peterson, who tunes in to
den. More liberal congre- and have received 20 mil- pel," Bruni said. mat. It's nicely done and it her hometown church's on-
gations, though, have em- lion in just the last six weeks. Also reaching more people gives me solace." line service, wants to see
braced online prayer. "People in general, I think, is a tiny church with just a Religious leaders are get- that endure.
Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa are looking for more mean- few dozen parishioners in ting used to the changes. "We certainly would like
Mosque, the third-holiest ing and spirituality in the the small Oregon commu- "It's really hard to talk to to worship at our church,"
site in Islam, has been midst of all this," Suleiman nity of Yoder, 25 miles (40 ki- the camera for a long pe- she said. "But there's a lot
streaming prayers through- said. "So I think there's just a lometers) south of Portland. riod of time, especially of boundaries that I think
out the Ramadan holy general increase in religios- Tom Daniels, who grew up to give something that's we've broken down and
month, which runs through ity and consumption of reli- in Yoder and has retired in meant to stir emotion- a lot of ways that we can
next week. gious content." Oakland, California, edits ally and intellectually and be together that we didn't
"In normal times, you see Online viewership of Fran- video of the pastor of Smyr- spiritually," said Suleiman, think of and weren't doing
hundreds and thousands cis "has grown significantly," na United Church of Christ the Islamic leader in Texas, before."q