Limited congregations for Christmas mass

By Norman Palihawadana

Christmas mass would be conducted in churches, situated outside of ‘isolated’ areas, adhering to COVID-19 prevention guidelines, Archbishop of Colombo, Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith yesterday told the media.

The churches would admit only a limited number of people, but several services would be conducted so that most people could take part in the religious ceremonies, he said.

Midnight Christmas mass will be conducted hourly starting from 6.00 p.m. on December 24. The mass will be held in all Sinhala, Tamil, and English languages and telecasted live on many television channels. Even on Christmas morning mass will be held live on television.

“I urge the people to give away the money, for celebrations, to the people who are suffering from COVID-19. The coronavirus is prevalent in the Western Province, so please don’t travel out of the province,” he said.

The archbishop of Colombo urged Christians to celebrate Christmas in their homes and to limit festive shopping.

“COVID-19 is not limited to Sri Lanka. In Sri Lanka Buddhists, Hindus and Muslims couldn’t celebrate any of their important religious ceremonies. We must act with discipline.”

The Cardinal added that there will be no representation from the Bishops House to state organized festivities, decorations and parties this year

“We call upon the government to avoid any kind of festivities, unnecessary decorations, and ceremonies.”