Plymouth Diocese Statement:
“The Prime Minister has made our duty very clear and it’s a duty that we will wholeheartedly follow. Closing all of our churches within the Plymouth Diocese is the right thing to do because we need to play our part in stopping the spread of this virus to help protect the NHS and save precious lives.
“It is not essential for people to travel to church in order to pray. Open churches will only tempt people to travel and that is not good practice now. So we have to deepen our words of prayer, use the internet and all of these other things that we have to encourage one another. There are already many positive signs; we’ve heard of congregations watching online that are ten times the normal number visiting churches and families preparing together at home and joining in the singing or providing their own music.
“Plymouth Diocese will continue to livestream daily Mass in the Cathedral each day at 11am and, in addition, there will be a time of prayer every afternoon at 4.30pm.
“These are challenging times. Today we are to be good citizens and play our part in protection of the vulnerable, in support of the NHS and in the preserving of human life.”
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