Concern about the impact over time of Catholic livestreamed Masses

Many religious groups all over the world avoided their members having too much contact with other people and therefore chose to have their religious services online.

As the world fought to contain the spread of CoViD-19, or the coronavirus, in several countries Catholics have been dismayed that public Masses had been cancelled in a large portion of their country, as have weddings, baptisms, first Communions and confirmations. To be deprived of the Holy Eucharist is a terrible blow to Catholics.

While televised and online liturgies were a blessing for many, early in the pandemic and continue to provide benefits for parish ministries, some pastors who spoke with the National Catholic Register expressed concern about the impact over time.

Parishioners sit during Sunday Mass at St. Augustine Catholic Church on August 15, 2021 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Parishioners wore face coverings during Mass as part of COVID-19 protocols inside the historic church which is recognized as the oldest Black Catholic parish in the country. (photo: Mario Tama / Getty)

Matt McDonald writing in the National Catholic Register finds that

During COVID times, livestreamed Masses have been a blessing to many.

And whether the new Delta variant spikes or fizzles in the coming weeks, coronavirus has already changed many Catholic parishes in the United States.

In the United States of America, like in more Southern countries, much more people still want to go to mass. In Belgium we do find lots of people who are baptised in the Roman Catholic Church, but really do not believe so much, but are only member of that church out of tradition and because they want to have those celebrations of the first and second communion. The state television still keeps screening Roman masses, which made that in coronatime more people could find a church service on television. For other religious groups it was totally different. Several groups tried to organise services on the net, via Zoom or other social media.

In any case, what we could see at the Christadelphian meetings on the net, was that we had more people present at such service than at a real-life service. Providing livestreamed church services or Masses for those who cannot attend in person, due to health concerns and other serious reasons, is likely to remain a mainstay on Christadelphian but also on Catholic worship for some time.

But according to Father Jeffrey Kirby

The virus emergency not only changed the way the parish communicates with parishioners, it has even led it to unexpectedly develop a second constituency, as far-flung as California to the west and Ireland to the east.

Naturally, we all do know that there is No Substitute for The Real Thing.

Please read more how some American Catholic Churches managed the streaming of their services: Virus-Prodded Online Masses Have Changed Many Catholic Parishes — Are They Keeping Some Catholics From Returning to Church?