Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser
Starring role for church in televised mass
JUDITH TONNER
Thousands of viewers across Scotland and beyond shared in Easter Sunday mass as it was broadcast from an empty St Augustine’s Church.
Father Michael Kane was filmed as he celebrated mass at the Coatbridge church, assisted by parish deacon David Harper, with the broadcast then being shown on BBC Scotland on Easter Sunday.
He told the Advertiser how they swiftly received more than 3000 appreciative messages in the following few days for what was the parish’s latest contribution to keeping communities together during the coronavirus lockdown. parish centre on Dundyvan Road are also running a major project entitled Coatbridge Stay Connected, which is prov i d i n g befriending and practical assistance to thousands of older and isolated residents across the town.
St Augustine’s is also supporting thousands of people across the town through the Coatbridge Stay Connected project – which has so far raised more than £6000 in online donations and has a group of 90 volunteers from the parish and beyond helping older, vulnerable and isolated people.
A phone line operates from 12 noon until 6pm each day and those in need are able to request help in the form of food and care packages, having prescriptions collected or simply checking in for a chat.
Father Kane said: “It’s really taken off; we thought that there would be high demand, but it’s become even busier than we thought and we’ve now helped over 3000 people.
“There are 90 volunteers from across the community
– some from St Augustine’s, some from other churches, and there are people of all faiths and none – and they’re in different teams where some will take the phone calls, some run errands, others collect prescriptions and there are those who sort all the donations into parcels.
“People work on different shifts to make sure there’s social distancing, and we’ve put out thousands of care packages all over Coatbridge; we’d love to link up with foodbanks and other groups who are also doing fantastic work in local communities, so that we can all co-ordinate and get people the help they need.
“We wanted to set things up as simply as possible, with the phone line at the parish centre every day for people to call and say what help they need.”
Supporters have donated more than £ 6000 on the project’s online donation page; and donations of supplies including all kinds of tinned food, sauces, pasta, rice, cereals – plus items including soap powder and cleaning products, pet food and toiletries – are also being sought by the busy project.
Father Kane said of the televised Easter Sunday mass: “We were contacted by the BBC and asked if we’d be willing to do it, and said that of course we would.
“The response has been incredible; there were 15,000 people watching and it’s been really well received.
“We’ve had more than 3000 messages from people up and down the country saying how grateful they were to be able to take part in mass and saying that the church looked great on TV.
“It was great to bring mass into the homes of lots of people all over Scotland and even further away – they haven’t been able to attend church for weeks, and it’s a huge cross for many people who never miss mass and certainly not Easter Sunday, the biggest day in our calendar.”
He added of saying mass in an empty St Augustine’s: “It’s very echoey and quite sombre – we really miss having the congregation there and it was strange trying to speak down the camera, just as warmly as usual. We just said mass as normal for the recording, and then the footage was intermingled with shots of the church and the wonderful music was added, which was a pre-recording of our choir.”
Father Kane said of any future relaxation of the measures which would allow churches to reopen their doors: “We just cannot
We’ve had more than 3000 messages from people up and down the country
wait – people are desperate to get back in, and it will be a celebration when we do.
“In my nine years as a priest, this has been saddest thing I’ve had to do, to announce that the church is closed; even in challenging moments and those of national tragedy, churches have always remained open, so it’s absolutely unprecedented.
“Of course, it’s right that we should shut; but it’s a big wound and we can’t wait for people to get back in.
“Fu n e r a l s at the moment are just very short commitals, which is really hard; the grief is multiplied by 10 give because families can’t give their loved one the send- off they would have wished.
“We’ve said to families that when we can, their loved one will have a memorial mass and they’ll have the celebration of their life that they would have wanted.”