‘Our main core of existence has been greatly challenged’
ABOUT half of the congregation at the Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in Westville have returned for services.
“The rest are still gradually coming back, and the numbers are positive,” said Father Desmond Nair.
“There has been a significant increase in congregants over the past two weeks. We have seen faces that we last saw before the pandemic. I hope the country remains on alert level 1 as this would make the attendance steady.”
Nair said while there were regular churchgoers, others viewed the service online, and there was a possibility that they may not return.
“It will take some time for people to fully occupy the venue. With my experience over the years, once people get out of the regular habit of going to church, to get back to the habit takes a bit of time.”
Nair said while the church’s finances have been a challenge as a result of the lockdown, one of their biggest hurdles was fully serving their members.
“Money is an obvious challenge, but our main core of existence has been greatly challenged. People were home and could not be reached, except through the streams we offered. Our biggest aim is to continue servicing our members spiritually, so they have a sense of spirituality and continue to grow,” he said.
“We tried to keep in contact with them via email and our social media platforms, and we continue with those processes for the people who prefer to be home.”
Nair said he looked forward to welcoming more members back to church.