Christians in the capital observed Palm Sunday online for the first time to respect the stay-at-home lockdown imposed in the country to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Usually, Palm Sunday, which commemorates the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, is observed through processions. Palm Sunday marks the final week of Lent, and comes just a week before Easter Sunday.
Sunday’s prayers at St Mary Cathedral led by the Archbishop Felix Toppo, along with parish priest Theodore Toppo, saw over 1.5 lakh people watching the webcast from their homes on smartphones, laptops and desktop computers.
Ratan Tirkey, former member of Tribal Advisory Committee, who played the role of server on Palm Sunday along with the Isai Mahasangh president Prabhakar Tirkey, said that St Mary Cathedral has a capacity of 3,000 people. “But thanks to technology, around 1.5 lakh persons could participate in the prayers and yet maintain social distancing. The event started at 9am and continued till 10.30am.”
Asked how many people actually participated in the rituals inside the church, he said: “Only seven.”
“Bishop Toppo in his message on the occasion of Palm Sunday asked people to remember the sacrifice of Jesus Christ to get rid of sin. He asked everyone to respect the government instruction to fight the novel coronavirus and underlined the importance of health and hygiene,” Tirkey said.
He said that the church received technical support from Shruti Visual Information, a Ranchi agency which recently got an opportunity to cover the visit of the US president Donald Trump in India.
The company’s director Arun Prakash said they gave two links, www.tiny.cc/SVI, a link to the official YouTube of the Ranchi Archdiocese, and http://svilive.in/Pavitra_Saptah. “These two links helped people watch the holy event on their smartphones, desktops and laptops. These links will be active till Easter,” he said.