KUCHING: The Roman Catholic Church is now in the process of preparing to do live stream and broadcast for the Holy Week masses and services on Facebook or YouTube in the event that the Movement Control Order (MCO) is extended, said the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kuching Archbishop Simon Poh.

He said as the Archbishop of the Catholic Church, he had requested for the suspension of masses in Catholic Churches starting on March 15 until April 3.

“Together with Bishop Datuk Danald Jute of the Anglican Church, all Christian Churches are encouraged to do likewise. Through a letter I sent out as chairman of the Association of Churches in Sarawak on March 19, I explained the importance of the urgency to use this 14-day window to help contain the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (Covid-19) outbreak by flattening the infection curve so that the medical facilities will not be overwhelmed by cases.

“Currently all our masses and services are being broadcast online by the Catholic Bishops from Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei,” he said in a press statement.

Poh explained that he had initially announced the suspension based on this 14-day window, hoping to end the suspension on April 3 so that they will be in time to celebrate Holy Week starting on Palm Sunday on April 5 and Good Friday on April 10.

“Staying focused on my initial intention for the suspension with the single aim of helping control Covid-19 outbreak in the state, we trust that our State Disaster Management Committee has the best concern for its people and should the further extension of MCO be needed to contain the outbreak, I will give my full support as the Archbishop of Kuching as well as from the Association of Churches in Sarawak,” he said.

He also said that on March 20, Pope Francis also made an announcement to Catholic Churches and gave guidelines to prepare for the possibility of celebration of Holy Week without the presence of the faithful in Church.

Poh appealed to all Catholics who are under moral obligation to “Stay At Home” to help contain and mitigate the further outbreak of new clusters of Covid-19.

“Let us continue to pray for our front liners and for the safety and health of everyone. Imparting my blessing and invoking God’s protection on each and every one and our families,” he said.