TIRANA – Albanian citizens will have the opportunity to watch the Eastern Day Mass from their homes, a senior catholic cleric declared on Sunday.
Dom Gjergj Meta, Bishop of the Diocese of Rreshen in northern Albania, which is home of the highest number of catholic believers in a country home of about 3 million people, announced that the Eastern Mass will be held without the presence of citizens, but he added that everyone will watch it from home.
“Without Easter there is no Christian blessing. This week is important for us, as it commemorates the moment of the crucifixion, death and resurrection of Christ,” he said informing believer that Mass will be celebrated in the Diocese of Rreshen and all churches in Albania. “We will be with priests but without people, and the mass will develop normally,” Dom Meta said explaining that precise schedules will be made available soon for citizens to follow the celebrations from their homes.
As a matter of fact the virus has already shut down the holidays’ usual celebrations worldwide. St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City will be empty. The pope’s traditional Easter address will be live-streamed — and no doubt the virus will be a central theme. Italy’s death count from Covid-19, at more than 15,000, is the world’s highest. In Jerusalem, normally-packed Christian events have been canceled. The Western Wall, sacred to Jews, remains open, though visitors must remain at a distance from each other. The famed public crucifixions in the Philippines have been called off, and a Passion Play in Mexico City that dates back to the 19th century will be held indoors with no spectators. /argumentum.al
