The Catholic Archdiocese of Ranchi has appealed to the faithful to celebrate Christmas with sobriety, ecological responsibility and generosity to the less fortunate in view of the pandemic.

“This year has been a difficult year marked by challenges, difficulties and suffering. Covid-19 and the enforced lockdowns have brought untold misery and hardships for the common man. An economy in distress, growing joblessness and increasing poverty stare in our face as winter sets in,” said the Advent and Christmas Pastoral letter released on Sunday.

The letter, signed by Ranchi Archbishop Felix Toppo and auxiliary Bishop Theodore Mascarenhas, will be read at all Masses in cathedrals and parishes.

The Church will begin the Advent season — the time to prepare for the celebration of the birth of Jesus — on November 29.

The archdiocese also stressed on an ecological Christmas. “In view of the protection of the environment, and as a measure against air and sound pollution, we strongly request you not to use firecrackers during this festive season. The money you would burn by bursting crackers can be given in donation for the poor,” it said.

Another suggestion is for sobriety and modesty in the celebrations and expenditure.

“We call for sobriety and modesty in celebration and expenditure while celebrating Christmas in remembrance of the poor and recommend that each family and religious community contribute towards charity to help those who have been affected in Covid and the lockdown,” said auxiliary Bishop Theodore Mascarenhas.

At a meeting in Ranchi on Tuesday, bishops from the other eight Jharkhand dioceses — Jamshedpur, Hazaribagh, Gumla, Khunti, Daltonganj, Dumka, Simdega and Port Blair — were also requested to adopt the letter.

The letter commended that people become “angels of mercy to the poor, the hungry, the afflicted and the weary migrants returning home in miserable conditions” during the lockdown.

The letter said: “Through your efforts, the Catholic Church in Ranchi was in the forefront of relief services bringing hope, consolation and comfort to thousands of people and their families.”

The prelates have urged the faithful to continue the same spirit of charity based on deep spirituality in their preparations for Christmas.

The infant of Bethlehem “wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger because his parents could not find a room in the inn is the symbol of our Christmas celebration this year”, the letter said.

It said Infant Jesus “represents the poor who go to bed hungry because they have no food, the homeless that sleep on our streets because they do not have a roof, the unemployed who struggle to maintain their families because they have lost their jobs, those affected by Covid and other diseases and do not have money to pay for their medicines, parents who struggle to educate their children because they cannot provide them the necessary means”.

The letter urged the faithful to strictly maintain the standard operating procedures stipulated by the government.

The letter said the archdiocese had sent guidelines to parishes and mission centres to provide as many services as possible in the main churches as well as village chapels and centres “so that the faithful have an opportunity to actually be present for the Advent and Christmas Eucharistic Celebrations”. It allows priests to offer as many as three Masses daily, if required.