Mangaluru churches to ring bells in gratitude to corona warriors

Mangaluru: While the country will be clapping at around 5 pm on Sunday, the churches and chapels in Mangaluru will be ringing bells at the same time as gratitude to the coronavirus warriors.
 

Mangaluru diocese bishop Rev Peter Paul Saldanha, in a message to all the parish priests, requested to arrange the pealing of the bells in their respective churches and chapels at 5 pm on Sunday.

"In our Catholic tradition, church bells are rung to invite people to divine services and also to announce any good or sad news. While it is possible at the individual level to applaud by clapping hands, at an institutional level, we can express it by ringing the bells. I invite all the parish priests to arrange the pealing of the bells in their respective churches and chapels at 5 pm on Sunday,” he said. 

“This will be a humble expression of our gratitude and great appreciation of these brave men and women who render their noble and selfless service in these moments of crisis. Of course, we do also appreciate and commend the dedicated services of all the government staff," he further stated.  

Extending his supports to the PM's Janata Curfew, the bishop wrote, "The coronavirus crisis has brought a lot of sorrow, fear, and anxiety among the people of the whole world. Our prime minister, Mr Narendra Modi has given a call to observe Janata Curfew on March 22 from 7 am to 9 pm. This implies that we stay indoors during that time."

"Keeping that in mind, I request that we cancel not only our public liturgical services, as it has been already instructed, but also all private services including the visits to the churches and Blessed Sacrament chapels," the Bishop stated in the letter to all the parish priests.