Christmas a muted affair this year too in Delhi

Churches in Delhi have taken steps to avoid large gatherings after Delhi Disaster Management Authority issued guidelines on Wednesday, banning Christmas and New Year celebrations in the Capital even as it allowed religious places to remain open for prayers and visitors

Amid concerns over the Omicron variant of the coronavirus and a rise in Covid-19 cases, Christmas celebrations will be a muted affair in the Capital for the second year in a row, as most churches have directed parishioners to attend mass online on Saturday. Some churches will, however, go ahead with the Christmas mass with a 50% cap on visitors.

The St James’ Church in Kashmere Gate, the oldest church in Delhi, plans to hold online mass for parishioners. (Amal KS/HT)

Churches in Delhi have taken steps to avoid large gatherings after Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) issued guidelines on Wednesday, banning Christmas and New Year celebrations in the Capital even as it allowed religious places to remain open for prayers and visitors. The order allowed devotees to offer prayers at churches in compliance with Covid-19 protocols.

Reverend Mohit Hitter, presbyter-in-charge of the Cathedral Church of the Redemption in New Delhi’s North Avenue, said that church services will be streamed online this year as well. “We will not have a mass for the public,given the current restrictions and protocol. The service will be streamed on our YouTube channel and only the technical team and people involved in the service will be present in person,” said Hitter.

Last year, too, the church held the service online as it shared videos of carols and other Christmas activities with the parishioners.

The St James’ Church in Kashmere Gate, the oldest church in Delhi, also plans to hold virtual mass for parishioners. “We have a responsibility towards each other. If cases are rising, we need take precautions and avoid large gatherings. Christmas will come next year as well. Keeping in mind everyone’s safety, we are allowing very few people to attend the service physically, the others will watch it online,” said Reverend Prateek Pillai, Presbyter in-charge of St James’ Church.

Meanwhile, some churches have set a 50% cap on those attending Christmas mass physically.

At the Christ Methodist Church near Tis Hazari, which has a seating capacity of 400, around 250 people were expected to take part in the service on Christmas Eve.

Reverend Samson R Nath, the priest-in-charge of the Christ Methodist Church, said Covid-19 protocols will be followed during the in-person service.

“Around 250 people will be present within the church, whereas for others, the order of service will be streamed online. There will be recitation of Christmas carols in remembrance of Christ, and the pastor’s prayers,” said Nath, adding that Christmas Eve before the pandemic used to be a busy affair at the church with people from other states also joining the service.

“In non-pandemic years, we used to see many people from other states as well. While we are expecting many people to turn up due to the festival, the number will be capped and not go beyond a certain number in compliance with the prevailing norms. We will be in touch with the police authorities as well so that things take place as per the norms,” he said.

Like last year, a number of virtual Christmas music concerts, on social media channels including YouTube, have already taken place.

Royall McLaren, director at Delhi Christian Chorus, the oldest choir group in the Capital, said that as the activities moved online, virtual concerts reached a much larger audience.

“We presented our virtual concert earlier this month. Last year, we had a much shorter preparation with only a handful of songs. This time, however, we conducted a complete concert virtually with around 14 songs,” said McLaren.